Bill Anderson’s Blog

After the January 21 meeting with Dr. Erpelding, I thought I was on the road to recovery. I was finally to the “testing” stage to see if the breaks were healing. I was having telephone interviews for long term contracts. I was applying submitting applications for full-time or long-term contract work every day. Then, I had the appointment with Dr. Wilson on February 18.

After my last letter to Ortho Montana, I received a call from Renee asking me to come in and see Dr. Wilson and then to see her regarding the bill. Currently, Ortho Montana is the only service provider who has not granted any form of discount. I agreed to an appointment with Dr. Wilson  and to talk to her. The plan was to take in the VA CD with the January 21 X-rays.

February 18 was a cold miserable winter day. To maker sure I didn’t forget the CD, I put it on the chair along with my winter coat. It was hectic, but I managed to get the truck started, my diesel pickup hates to start when temperatures are below 20 degrees, and leave by 2pm for a 3:15pm appointment with Dr. Wilson. As I approached Billings, I realized that I had left the CD containing the X-rays on the chair.

I actually arrived at Dr. Wilson’s office 15 minutes early, and then waited, and waited. Renee was not available, so I could not speak with her. I really hate late afternoon appointments with a Doctor, as they are always late. I finally was taken back to an examining room, and was sent straight to get X-rays. The nurse didn’t even ask about the VA X-rays. As in prior visits, Dr. Wilson comes in and immediately looks at the X-rays.

His opinion was that neither break was healing. He was not concerned about the broken screw, as its breaking just meant that it did not have to be removed. Dr. Wilson was especially concerned that the upper break was not healing. He checked my leg flexibility, and asked about the pain. The recent pain that I was having in the hip and knee confirmed his diagnosis. His opinion was that it may take as many as five, and possibly more surgeries, to put in bone grafts. For some reason, he now said that he did not put in the initial bone graft. A lot of explaination about the seriousness of the injury, and the difficulties in healing.

With my Medicare starting in just a few weeks, we discussed the choices between VA Healthcare surgery versus Medicare. In the end, we agreed on another appointment in March.

I left with the same feeling that I had when I first saw Dr. Erpelding last November. The leg is not healing. The progress I felt I was making was just a myth. Facing the possibilities of multiple surgeries, how was I going to accept a full-time position or a long-term contract? How am I going to start earning money? Is this hell ever going to end?

In December, Dr. Erpelding suggested surgery, I put it off. In January, there was a chance of healing, and testing was definitely better than surgery. Denial, masked as hope, kept me from accepting the reality that my leg was not healing. I am running around on a leg with two breaks held together by a broken screw. Nothing has changed since November.

On March 4, I see Dr. Erpelding. Time to discuss Dr. Wilson’s assessment and to map out a course for healing. I need to make a decision between VA, and going to Fort Harrison, and surgery in Billings under Medicare. Need to check to see if the VA Hospital has WiFi access in the rooms. I need to keep working on ways to make money through this craziness. Now, it is short-term contracts, or find a way to work from home / hospital.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 3:33 am and is filed under Thoughts on life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.