Broken leg and plastic surgery (skin flap)

Hi Rachael, I think you may be in the wrong forum.  Try bones, muscles and I forget the third one.  Joints I think.  Good luck

Hi Rachel, I was run over by a lorry 7 months ago and also had a skin flap on most of my lower leg, as well as two skin grafts.

hello i have had simular following a motircycle acident i had 2 compound fractures the the fib n tib and broken femur also extensive de gloving of the lower leg the tissue was completely removed from above the knee to my ankle 2/3rds of the lower leg tissue in total was missing along with 60%of the calf muscle . i had 2 external fixators a pin in my femur 1 set of screws and a plate 2x bone grafts and 3 skin graft opporations the skin from the top of both my legs was used from the knee to just below my waist 2/3rds of the way round on both sides . i had very limited pain after the ops 12 in total

although very disfigured the leg had served me well for 30+yrs very little problems with the skin grafts apart from the tissue is very soft and if i wear wellingtons after a short perioud the rubbing against the tissue would lead to it bleeding and getting sore but this would soon heal personaly i feel major trauma to the body and the healing process is very reliant on positive attitude after the initial accident i was told my mobility would be very limited within 12 months of my being finaly disharged from the hospital i was working on site with my father and having a race accros site with a 100lb bag of cement !! unfortunately i have suffered another accident same leg and now it has very poor function and after being told by my surgeon it will never alow me proper mobility i amidiately asked to having it amputated above the knee . i will not let curcumstances dictate what i want to do no matter how drastic the steps needed to acheive my goal are . in all honesty i am looking forward to the chalenge of learning to walk again with a prosthetic after spending months limping about . PMA positive mental attitude dont let anything stand in your way of acheiving your goals . pedression and self pity can be a major problem . there is always some one worse off . i hope it go,s well and your fit n healthy in no time

Hi Rachael,

I have a compound fracture to my tibia after a motorbike accident. But also a strong bacteria caused major problems to my bone which required the removal of about 10cm of bone. Also I needed a muscle flap taken from my thigh along with an artery and a skin graft taken from my other thigh. It took about 6 surgeries to eliminate the bacteria and 3 more to replace nailings and plates. I had a few external fixings to prevent foot drop and bone support. We waited 3 months after the bacteria was eliminated before finally having a bone graft surgery. 9 surgeries in total so far. Its been almost a year since the accident and should be walking unassisted soon. The reason its taken so long is because of the bacteria and waiting time. also the fresh bone graft needs at least 3 months to harden.

Its been a challenging time and the first 6 months were daily tortures 24/7. I was close to having an amputation but I always looked on the positive side...im still alive and will lead a realitively normal life. Just lead a message if you want to know more

Hello rachel, I know its been a while since you posted on this forum so I hope your near somewhere healed by now. I fell down some steps last November and I had had to have a skin flap in Juy of this year, after several cancellations I might add!  Mine is gradually going down now but is still a big 'egg' on the side of my ankle.  I am told that this will eventually go down flatter, but not holding my breath as I saw another patient which the same  op and it was healed and pink,, but still sticking out.  All this is having a knock-on effect on my work.  As I am a supply teacher, in my 60s who was hoping to just gently wind down to retirement years, I am stymied because I can't stand up for the whole day in a school, I don't qualify for benefits because I'm over 60 and some days I can't see it ever healing.  I am not down about things though, having had breast cancer 2 years ago from which I recovered sucessfully, so I view my life in a different way now.  I would  love to know how you are going on now and if you have any positive advice or future info that I can take away with me at this time.

Dear Rachel,

Good morning. I'm Elaine, a student journalist from the University of Kent and I would like to speak to you about your experience undergoing skin flap reconstructive surgery.

I'm currently in my final year of study and am required to produce a documentary or print feature for my final project. From my past observation, I noticed that people often equate plastic surgery to beauty enhancement and are unaware that reconstructive surgery (that is part of plastic surgery) is actually useful and crucial to improve and save lives. My project will focus on the importance of acknowledging plastic surgery as a method to treat certain problems/ conditions and how reconstructive procedures have proved to be crucial to some patients and family.

For the purpose of acquiring complete information and prevent misquotes, the interview may take 30-40 minutes and I will be required to record the interview. I am currently at the beginning stages of contacting people to interview for my project, so a date for the interview can be confirmed in the near future.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my message and I hope to have the opportunity to speak to you about the topic. Please accept my apology for contacting you in this way. Due to patients' confidentiality, I am unable to search for case studies through hospitals and clinics and have to rely on the internet. If you have any questions about my project, feel free to drop me a message here or email me at. I look forward to your response soon.

Sincerely, 

Elaine Loke  

Moderator comment: I have removed the email address as we do not publish these in the forums. If users wish to exchange contact details please use the Private Message service.

http://patient.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/398331-private-messages

Hey Rachel I saw this was posted three years ago but in just gonna try any way, ....On May 17th 2017 I was involved in a similar story to yours, as well against another car while on my Motorcycle. I ended up with a broken leg. Doctor says my fibula is gone(shattered) and that my Tibia had a middle break and ended with pins and a rod going right down for the repair.Its been almost six or months since and I still hurt when walking full weight,feeling the pain under my knee cap?? Sound any familiar? If I may ask some questions maybe would be nice to know ? Becasue doctor keeps telling me "Your not out of the woods yet,with a possible second surgery." Which scares me a little.

how are you feeling after 3 years from the surgery and I do and hope your recovery went well through the beginning! 

Hello, I'm new to the skin flap family. I broke my tibia and fibula while riding a 4 wheeler. This happened on memorial day. I had a total of 5 surgeries. I guess knowing the healing time of the skin flap would help. I'm tired of the bed. Lol