My Boyfriend broke his femur and fractured his pelvis.
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi all,
I apologise if this isn't the place for me, as I am not the patient but talking to you on behalf of my boyfriend. He isn't the type to join forums for advice but I feel this is the best place to go, as help is far and few between. He broke his femur and fractured his pelvis in a bad car accident (a car pulled out in front of him, he was on a motorbike). That was back in October. Now, the pelvis is okay. But he's just been for a second review of the femur and been told both times it's not healing. Half a year out of work already. They're going to do a small operation next week to remove the pins they placed to keep the metal bar in his femur in place, to see if that helps. If not, they're going to have to do the whole thing all over again; remove the bar, put a new one in. That'll mean a year off work. In the mean time, housing benefits are helping him with less than half his rent and he's got a kid he pays child support for. All of this while being on statutory sick pay, means he's in a lot of trouble. I don't know what to do, don't know how to help the leg heal better and don't know how to help his money troubles. As a student, I myself have very little to live off of but often help financially and it's not at all easy. ANY advice, anything at all would be very much appreciated!
0 likes, 2 replies
henpen1980 Scheeps
Posted
Wow! Sorry to hear about the injury and the recovery! Your BF might want to check with his medical provider (billing dept) to see if there is a financial assistance program which may reduce the bills. Ask the medical provider who is going to pay for the next surgery under the circumstances. All utility companies (water, gas, electric, etc.) ought to be able to help with a payment plan or reduced monthly bills (arrears) based on the medical situation.
Your BF might need to contact his lawyer to find out if based on the medical situation is there a deferment of some sort to help lessen the financial strain for your BF and his child support. Has your BF discussed with his son's mother? If they have a hostile relationship go directly to the lawyer; keep it transparent.
Does your BF have family or relatives who might be able to provide assistance of any kind?
Has the car driver's insurance provided any support? Has your BF discussed his situation with a personal injury lawyer? Does he have a case?
Unfortunately, the financial issues need to be addressed for him to focus on his recovery.
Stress will hinder the recovery. It is important that he stays positive and maintains a healthy lifestyle during his recovery e.g. eating, drinking fluids, resting. He may bounce high and low (understandably) but make sure he finds something positive each day not matter how small.
He will be okay, and his financial stress will stabilize!! Good luck and God bless!!
Spindles Scheeps
Posted
Your boyfriend's situation certainly doesn't sound good. That's good advice from henpen, even about contacting one of those annoying personal injury lawyers! My own experience of a broken femur (but not a pelvis) is that I am a 71 year old female and two years ago I slipped in the garden and broke my femur in half. I also had a metal rod and screws put in and the day after the operation was got out of bed and told "full weight bearing" as apparently the bone heals quicker with weight on it. It was very painful to begin with and during the visits to the hospital for checkups I was told it was healing well and eventually, seven months after the fracture I was told the bone had healed. Unfortunately seventeen months after the operation I had to have the screws removed because they had been causing me problems by being too long and rubbing on my tendons etc. The recovery from this operation was quite quick and solved the problem so I now have the metal rod still in place but no screws.
I suppose it depends on whether your boyfriend's leg has even started to heal or whether it's still the same as when he broke it. As it's only six months since his accident and if there are signs of it healing then perhaps he just needs to wait a bit longer, although having said that, whenever I attended the hospital I was told that it had started to heal. If he's not doing much exercise and thinking that resting it will help maybe he should try walking on it more because of the advice I was given about it healing quicker. By the way, when I had my screws removed they were going to take out the rod as well and even suggested I could have it done under local anaesthetic! They did however change their minds and I had it done under a general but when they came to take the rod out they said the bone had grown over it and it would have been a longer and more complicated operation so that's why they left it in. If there is definitely no bone growth at all at least taking the rod out should be easier but I can't see how taking it out and putting another one in will suddenly start the bone healing process if the first one didn't work. I've read that other people have had trouble with the bone starting to heal so perhaps you could try and Google them and see how theirs was resolved.
I really hope your boyfriend's leg starts to heal so that he can get back to a normal life.