July 9 - Lee Update

Lee Acree

Hello again. I had another doctors appointment yesterday 7/8. This one was with my orthopedic. It wasn't a bad appointment but it wasn't as good as the appointment with my plastic surgeon last week. The soft tissue is still doing fantastic, but looking at new x-rays yesterday revealed that the bones have not started to knit together yet. My tibia is held together with a plate and 14 screws but to date no metal has been installed to connect the two halves of my fibula. I have actually been feeling some movement of my fibula over the last week. The x-rays confirmed that it is still completely separated. My orthopedic is hopeful that both bones will noticeably start filling in by my next appointment with him in 7 weeks. If not he will look at plating the fibula and potentially have to do some bone graft work on my tibia. So I guess there is a pretty good chance that there will be another orthopedic surgery but it is not a definite yet. My next appointment with my plastic surgeon is in 3 weeks. I have to keep my leg elevated until then. If the muscle that was transplanted from by abdomen to my leg continues to progress as good as it has been, hopefully he will release me to have my leg down more so I can go back to using my crutches exclusively and retire my wheelchair and foot prop. That will also probably free me up to be able to drive again. Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers. I will keep everyone posted as I learn more. Talk to everyone soon

Lee