Roger wrote:
I busted a leg ice skating. (broke the outer bone right off) Had to
have it screwed back together. They never even asked to see the
X-Ray. OTOH I had the cast off in 4 weeks for physical therapy, and
was back ice skating in 60. I had a removable walking cast. Once the
swelling had gone down I had no restrictions as to driving ... or what
ever.


WTH? If they plated and screwed it, what did you need a cast for? It's already
held together by the hardware.


I never did have a limp. (except with the cast on)
Only thing is, if I fly commercial I have to carry a copy of the X-Ray
as I still have the metal plate and screws in my leg.


I don't see why. I carried two plates with 13 screws in my arm and 4 screws in
my hip without ever setting off a metal detector *anywhere*. Now I'm minus one
of the plates, 6 of the screws in my arm and the 4 screws in my hip but I've
gained a prosthetic hip. Still haven't ever set off a metal detector. I figure
that must be some sort of urban legend. I've heard of others setting them off
but never talked to anyone who it happened to themselves. And I work on an
orthopedics / neuro unit, so I talk to a *lot* of folks with hardware in them.


They tell me I'll have to have it out some day, but it doesn't bother
so I've figured, why bother.


There is some evidence to suggest that long term existence of hardware may lead
to osteoporosis but it is hardly definitive. Frankly, if it ain't broke, don't
fix it. The only reason I got rid of some of my hardware was that it remained
infected for all the years I had it and it started draining spontaneously every
couple of weeks. I can't be dripping from my arm while working on a surgical
floor so it had to be fixed... and it was. No more problems. The other
remaining plate has been fine and I have no plans to remove it... don't even
know it's there most of the time. My hip got arthritic and I have a new one now
so I ditched the screws in the old one.

All of my orthopedic procedures have been well documented with the FAA. I did
not mention the EGD as it was just part of a workup for another procedure rather
than because of a particular health problem. The subsequent surgery was
disclosed though...




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE