the Price of Doctors

Two days after a snow/ice storm, the weather changed drastically, the temperature rising to almost 60 degrees. My 5 year old son and our 60 lb. put bull puppy were very restless after being stuck inside for days, so we all went for a walk right around dusk. About a block from home, I was walking between two left over snow piles, and slipped on black ice. I heard something pop on the way down, and thought my ankle was broken. My son had to run back up to the house and get my husband to call an ambulance. As it turned out, both the bones in my lower leg (tibia and fibula) were broken. I had surgery to repair the latter. A metal plate and seven screws were put in to hold it together (the tibia repairs itself apparently). I was in the hospital for 5 days. It has been three months, and I am still hobbling around on crutches. The doctor says these are the slowest bones in the body to heal. Just my luck! He says that hopefully in another 2-3 months I will be able to walk. The price quoted above included my surgery and the subsequent doctor visits.

The only bones I had broken prior to this little incident were my finger at age 5, and a rib about 8 years ago. Therefore, I really had no experience in this. I was scared to death! I never knew you could break your leg so badly just by slipping on ice! Initially, the ER doctor told me that he didn't think anything was broken, that my ankle was just 'stretched out really good'. My leg never hurt - only my foot, and there were no obvious deformations. It wasn't even red. When the x-ray technicians lifted my leg to x-ray my ankle, I felt the bone in my leg move, which is the only reason they decided to x-ray it. I thought they would put an Ace bandage on and send me home. Boy was I surprised when the doctor came in a few minutes later and said I would be having surgery in just a few hours! The surgeon was very nice and very good about explaining what had happened, and what was going to happen. He checked on me frequently, and never got impatient, even though my whole family, including my 5 year old, were there asking a million and one questions. When I received the bill, I was floored. I couldn't believe that breaking my leg cost almost twice as much as my car! It has been very difficult, and more annoying than anything. I am very thankful that I had the excellent doctors that I did, and I would have paid more if it was a choice of being able to walk or not.

I'm not sure of any tips on breaking a bone. Be careful when walking around snow and ice! If, God forbid, something like this does ever happen to you, make sure the surgeon has a good history, and is someone you trust and who will answer your questions. Even if they seem like unimportant questions, ask anyway. It is very scary to have metal and screws put into your bone, believe me. You have the right to ask anything you want - especially at those prices! If the doctor doesn't seem to know the answers, doesn't want to answer them, or gets easily irritated with your inquiries, you may want to consider finding an alternate surgeon. Good luck!