Has anyone ever had a bone graft?
By syramoon
@syramoon (654)
United States
May 1, 2012 6:45am CST
Hi All! Nearly 14 months ago I broke my ankle, and two surgeries later it's still nonunion. Back in August of last year my doctor suggested a bone graft, which to say the least I declined to because my mental state at the time was depressed enough without trying to face something like that. Now I'm to the point where the pain is unbearable any longer and am reconsidering this option. I won't lie I'm scared to death of it. The recovery for the first two operations which were just on my ankle was bad enough, and the though of someone cutting into my hip bone makes me nearly have an anxiety attack, not to mention the prospect of not being able to walk for at least four months. I'm scared and not exactly sure what to expect or what the recovery will be like. If anyone has ever had this surgery or knows someone who has any information would be useful. Thank You.
~SyraMoon~
3 responses
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
2 May 12
A very long time ago(before you were born) I had a neck injury which required surgery to remove the damaged cartilage between my fifth and sixth cervical vertebra and a piece of bone was taken from my hip and put in to fuse the two vertebra together. Everything worked out fine for me. The pain in my neck was immediately a lot better while the pain in my hip took a week or so to go away. Since then the wife of friend of mine had a similar injury and fusion but instead of taking bone from her hip they got it from a bone bank. This eliminated the cutting out of a piece of bone from her hip and her surgery went well. I don't know if a bone bank is a possibility in your situation but perhaps you should ask if you are really worried about them taking a piece of bone from your hip. In any case it sounds like you need to do something to take care of your problem. I hope everything works out well for you whatever you decide.
@syramoon (654)
• United States
2 May 12
I'm glad it worked well for you, I've heard horror stories about it, and to hear that it worked well at least once makes me feel better. And at my next appointment I'll ask the doctor if that would be an option, because that would make me much less hesitant to have the surgery.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
1 May 12
Hi Syramoon, so sorry to hear that.
I hope you can make a good choice, so that you can enjoy the pure joy of walking without pain again.
Since you are in such pain now, nothing can be worse than the pain.
Maybe you can get a second opinion, and think about the worst that can happen, and hope for the best that will be.
All the best to you.
@syramoon (654)
• United States
1 May 12
Thanks for your reply. The specialist that suggested that was a second opinion. I know that I must sound like a whimp saying that I can't do it because it's hard, or it'll hurt even more (the cutting into the hip bone). And I do miss being able to walk, I can actually very vividly recall the day I broke my ankle - the last day I was able to something without stopping to think "Am I going to be able to handle the pain this will cause?"
