This post is not for the faint of heart.
All photos taken with my iPhone
Travis was involved in a work related accident back on July 2nd. He arrived at work just before 7AM and was going about his morning when his supervisor asked for his aid in disassembling a rental
gantry crane that was scheduled to be picked up that afternoon. The plan was to tip the crane on its side and disassemble into three parts. They began tipping it and very quickly realized the weight of the steel frame was too much for them to handle themselves. Problem was, it was too late. In a nutshell, Trav's ankle stayed planted while the crane collapsed on top of him. His supervisor, Danny, somehow escaped the fall (but did suffer severe back strain). Danny was able to lift the crane enough for Travis to wiggle his way out from underneath it. Danny called in team assistance and they quickly decided an ambulance transport to the hospital was in order to address Travis's ankle injury.
This accident/injury took place at approximately 8:15AM.
Trav was transported to Olathe Medical Center where I arrived at the ER to see this.
The pictures really don't do it justice. His ankle was severely dislocated which you can see below and swollen as large around as a softball. No exaggeration.
He was hooked up to an IV, given pain medications, and x-rays were taken. This all took place very quickly. The ER doctor came in and gave Travis the news he was hoping to avoid. He had a trimalleolar fracture which involves breaks of the lateral and medial malleolus and the distal aspect of the tibia accompanied by ligament damage and dislocation. Pretty much the worse case scenario with an ankle break. He was sedated and a team of 3 health professionals relocated his ankle before he was transferred from the ER to the surgical floor.
Travis was given the option to have same day surgery which was advised by the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Christopher Eckland. He was cooped up in the surgical holding area the better part of the day. We played games on our iPhones to pass time and I tortured Travis every time he mentioned how hungry he was by reminding him he didn't have the luxury of eating.
He was kept overnight for pain management which was a very good thing because after the surgery his focus was redirected to debilitating neck and shoulder pain. They ordered x-rays and thankfully reported that there was no injury, just strain from the impact of the weight of the crane and the fall itself.
These were taken exactly one week post surgery.
This is the right side of his ankle where a metal place and 7 screws were placed.
This is the left side where two looong screws were placed.
This picture was taken 2 weeks post op. Again the picture doesn't reflect the intensity of the swelling and discoloration. His entire leg and foot became a deep bluish purple whenever his foot wasn't elevated above his heart.
It has been 6+ weeks since the accident and I'm happy to report Travis has made leaps in progress. He began hour long physical therapy sessions three times a week several weeks ago. The swelling has reduced and he has begun to regain mobility in his ankle. His surgeon gave orders for a three step process to weight bearing at his 5 week post operative appointment and said he'd like to have him walking without crutches or use of his knee scooter before his next appointment on August 21st. He was also cleared to remove the boot for the purposes of driving himself to and from physical therapy appts last week. Hooray!
He is eager to return to some sense of normalcy and is very ready to return to work. His team has shown wonderful support with visits to the hospital, phone calls, texts, and even a guys night out!
