Osteo Myelitis

gretta

Has anyone suffered from this problem. My son broke his leg in 2 places in a motorway accident 11 years ago. One year later he had the screws, plates & rod removed. 3 months ago he devoloped an ulcer where one of the breaks was, the ulcer has not improved much at all. He had an MRI scan at one Hospital & then was referred to another one that specialises in those problems. Told it was Osteo Myelitis & that he would have to go into Hospital for 3 days to have the leg opened up, the bone scraped if any tumours have devoped & then have plastic surgery to finish off the operation. Read on the internet that 50 years ago they had to amputate legs for this problem but that rarely happens now. Don't know how long the waiting list is but have been looking at various health providers websites with a view to going privately if the list is long. It is very worrying that this is happening, but you will pay somehow when something happens to your son won't you.

skezier

Hi Gretta,

I am sorry he has that poor lad. I shouldn't think they will keep him waiting very long though, or at least I should hope they don't. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted soon and he makes a good recovery. I hope your ok in your self? It must be very worrying. You take care and fingers crossed for your lad. Cris

woodbon

Hello,
I know its a silly thing to say, but, try not to worry too much. Your bound to worry a bit, but some of the internet sites can be depressing about the simplest of illness! Harold Wilson once said 'A week is a long time in politics', well 50 years is a very long time in medicine. I'm sure your son will be at the top of the waiting list and will be in hospital quicker on the NHS, than if you had to start again with private medicine.

I'm by no means against private care and I've had it myself and found the treatment really good. If your worried about the wait, ring the consultants secretary, she may well be able to tell you a good idea of the length of wait, if it is too long then, private may be best after all, but look at all the options first. Sorry, that sounds bossy! :oops: I don't mean to, just that I'm sure these days, medicine has got so much more to offer and its growing by the day. I often complain about the slowness of the system and the length of wait, but modern medicine has given us so much more help.
My best wishes to you and your son. Sue

gretta

Thanks Sue & Cris for your helpful comments. Probably right that it would be quicker waiting for the NHS Hospital than starting again from scratch. I hadn't thought of that. David is 40 now but he is still the baby of the family to me. You worry more about your family than yourself though don't you. I myself have Osteo arthritis in my spine & leg but cope with various medications. Have been watching the discussion about Paracetamol & Co-Codamol & might try reducing to paracetamol.
Gretta

skezier

Hi Gretta,

I honestly think they will move on this one. its probably why he had the ulcer and to be honest I think they will treat him fairly quickly. Can you ask them? I know its silly to say try not to worry but its not good for you to do too much. You take care and fingers crossed for you and David. Cris

gretta

Hi Cris
Thanks for your message. Spoke to David this morning & something I didn't know is that he is now waiting for a letter to go for a cat scan, apparantly that gives a better picture than the MRI scan he has had. Was supposed to go for that in a fortnights time from the consultation. So should be getting the letter anytime. He should be able to ask when he goes for that where he is on the waiting list. All these things make me think that it is better to wait for the NHS Hospital as you say rather than starting all over again with the private one.

regards
Margaret

gretta

Hi Cris
Forgot & put my real name on my message instead of Gretta. Anyway suppose you will have worked out who it was from.

Gretta