Getting the rod and screws out of my femur tomorrow

Jake-247
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Jake-247
Edited Date/Time 1/27/2012 3:28pm
So yeah as the title implies I'm getting the screws and rod out of my femur tomorrow. I've had this rod in my femur for just over 2 years and the Doctor recommends I get it over if I am to keep racing as breaking my leg, or bending the rod makes for a really really bad surgery.

The doctor says I'll be on crutches for the first couple of days for the pain of having my leg cut open. After that he said I'll be able to walk around fine it just depends how much pain I can take with all the soft tissue damage at my hip and knee.

Also, should only be around 6 weeks until I'm allowed back on the bike which is awesome Smile

I'll let you guys know how it all goes if you would like me to as I know quite a few guys on the board have rods in their legs.
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Antipodean 7/24/2011 8:34pm
7/24/2011 8:34pm
Good luck, mate.
500guy
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500guy 7/24/2011 8:55pm
7/24/2011 8:55pm
All the best and don't rush the come back.
Jake-247
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Jake-247 7/24/2011 10:13pm
7/24/2011 10:13pm
Thanks Smile
tobz
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tobz 7/25/2011 12:47am
7/25/2011 12:47am
All the best. Looks like MX Alive might be getting a thrashing for the next couple of days?

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johansen
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johansen 7/25/2011 1:39am
7/25/2011 1:39am
I've broken my femur twice and have taken out the rod both times. I could walk without crutches after 5-6 days and started riding after the stitches we're gone. My doctor said it was okay.

Feel so bad for Trey Canard, can't imagine to recover from the injury and then have to do it all over again. But he will be back on the track soon and winning, just look at Villopoto who missed 2 outdoor seasons and is leading the series right now.
scott_nz 7/25/2011 2:34am
7/25/2011 2:34am
i got a rod out of my femur a year after it was in, i was on crutches for only one day and was fully mobile with in 4 days, i stayed off the bike for 3 weeks to be safe,
eeazye
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eeazye 7/25/2011 3:54am
7/25/2011 3:54am
I broke my left my femur in two places at a practice track in '05. The Doc told me there was no need to remove the rod unless i smoked or was going into the military. He further told me titanium was similar to bone in that it will shatter under enough pressure, not bend. I have had no problems with it whatsoever.
jeffro503
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jeffro503 7/25/2011 6:51am
7/25/2011 6:51am
Good luck Jake. Please report back after the surgery and let us know how you are doing. A femur is about the only bone I haven't broke , so I can't imagine getting a rod and screws removed....so good luck. I'd be curious to see how they actually do this to be honest.
Fearo
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Fearo 7/25/2011 8:04am
7/25/2011 8:04am Edited Date/Time 7/25/2011 8:05am
I had a rod in there for 18 months after I broke it. I honestly felt wayyy better when they took it out. With the rod I had a lot of nagging pains like for example when I would play with a soccer ball. After that everything went away. I was on crutches for two weeks, and back riding probably 3 weeks after the surgery.
aedwards07
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aedwards07 7/25/2011 10:59am
7/25/2011 10:59am
Ive have mine in for almost 2 years now.Ive been trying to decide if I want it out or not.I wish you luck on the surgury tomorrow.
GILLETT
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GILLETT 7/25/2011 11:10am
7/25/2011 11:10am
Let us know how it goes. I have had a rod in my femur since "02 and have lots of pains. Would like to know if having it out helps with that.
teggers
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teggers 7/25/2011 11:25am
7/25/2011 11:25am Edited Date/Time 7/25/2011 11:25am
What is the "damage" from taking the rod out? I know there is soft tissue from the cuttin', but it seems that there would be some core bone re-damage to fill in the area from the rod that needs a full heal time of 6 to 8 weeks.
Dirtysmile56
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Dirtysmile56 7/25/2011 11:35am
7/25/2011 11:35am
Thanks for the update, I've got a rod and 5 screws in my femur since 07(broken mid and at the top), it does have the nagging pain from time to time and has never felt quite right, I would love to have it removed but also hear there are inherit blood clotting risks to have another surgery like that. I also have 9 screws and multiple plates in and around my acetabulum (shoved the femur ball through the socket) My doctor is actually afraid to get into removing all that mess. I will need hip replacement someday but just trying to get by on whats left for the time being. Doc also told me 3 months for recovery if I did have the rod and screws removed. I am very interested to hear about recovery and most importantly how you feel in the months after. Chronic pain/uncomfortableness can really wear on you after a while, especially in the winter.
downandup
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downandup 7/25/2011 11:53am
7/25/2011 11:53am Edited Date/Time 7/25/2011 11:55am
eeazye wrote:
I broke my left my femur in two places at a practice track in '05. The Doc told me there was no need to remove the...
I broke my left my femur in two places at a practice track in '05. The Doc told me there was no need to remove the rod unless i smoked or was going into the military. He further told me titanium was similar to bone in that it will shatter under enough pressure, not bend. I have had no problems with it whatsoever.
x2

My doc said to keep it in.

I'm surprised anyone gets them taken out. What a waste of having to go through another surgery! Seems like your leg would be stronger with it still in? Why are you getting it taken out if it doesn't bother you now?
crashnburn11 7/25/2011 11:56am
7/25/2011 11:56am
eeazye wrote:
I broke my left my femur in two places at a practice track in '05. The Doc told me there was no need to remove the...
I broke my left my femur in two places at a practice track in '05. The Doc told me there was no need to remove the rod unless i smoked or was going into the military. He further told me titanium was similar to bone in that it will shatter under enough pressure, not bend. I have had no problems with it whatsoever.
downandup wrote:
x2 My doc said to keep it in. I'm surprised anyone gets them taken out. What a waste of having to go through another surgery! Seems...
x2

My doc said to keep it in.

I'm surprised anyone gets them taken out. What a waste of having to go through another surgery! Seems like your leg would be stronger with it still in? Why are you getting it taken out if it doesn't bother you now?
I think the problem is when the titanium shatters, you have a much more invasive procedure to remove the chips and the lower fragment that is inside the bone. I don't really want to think about what happens if it bends. My doc told me to leave mine in too, even brought up studies of people who have it removed being more likely to rebreak it afterwards, although I am sure that didn't have a huge sample size.
sxf138
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sxf138 7/25/2011 12:48pm
7/25/2011 12:48pm
I've had mine in for about a year and a few months now. My Doc told me it is a high risk surgery to remove the rod as the heads on the screws have a big chance of breaking off while backing them out. It does not bother me while riding although cycling and ceartain movements irritates my hip.

I have heard about this situation from a few doctors
Fearo
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Fearo 7/25/2011 1:28pm
7/25/2011 1:28pm
My doctor told me that in a regular human being he usually doesn't take it out. He said "but you're not a regular human being, you're a motocross racer". Not trying to scare anyone here, but he told me if I would break my femur again with the rod still in there, it would be a complete disaster. With a chance that it would be so bad, that they would be unable to fix the bone.

Anyway, I probably would have had him take it out anyway. He said it was a minor surgery with little risks. The surgery itself took less that one hour and like I said it got rid of a lot of nagging pains.
Jake-247
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Jake-247 7/25/2011 5:13pm
7/25/2011 5:13pm
Hey guys quick check in before I leave for the hospital in around 10 mins.

Thanks for the kind words first of, I'll keep you guys updated.

First off, the main reason I got it out was because of his recommendation to do so. Because if I had broken my leg again with the rod in there it would have been a complete disaster, as Fearo pointed out earlier. Another reason, but less major was because whenever I would exercise on it, whether it would be on my mountain bike or in the gym I was getting pains at my knee which was caused by the screws holding the rod in place.

Anyway, I've gotta run I'll check in again after I have my surgery.

Quickly, @ Teggers. The main damage is just the soft tissue at the hip and knee area as you said, but to the bone the damage will be minimal as in my case the bone is completely 100% and looks like I've never broken it.

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rmpilot
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rmpilot 7/25/2011 5:19pm
7/25/2011 5:19pm
good luck, my rod is still in there after almost three years. funny thing is the doctor said i might have done the same thing to my hip socket as bo jackson. i should have broken it again in first race back but the rod transferred all forsce to my hip. i dont think they would take mine out because the doctors had to try twice to get it almost shattering everything and said there would have been good chance of cutting the leg off. but like i said good luck and i hope it all goes well.
eeazye
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eeazye 7/25/2011 7:32pm
7/25/2011 7:32pm
Not to harp on the subject, but the thing about titanium is yes it's a brittle material, but about a million times stronger than bone. It doesn't bend, it shatters.

The Doc told me if I was in accident/impact severe enough to shatter that rod, my leg would be the least of my worries.

But, maybe I'm just lucky. I have the occasional ache during severe weather fluctuations, but all in all, it doesn't affect my life at all. Don't notice it being there in my day to day activities.
KBehlingMX
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KBehlingMX 7/25/2011 7:33pm
7/25/2011 7:33pm
Broke my left femur along with my back in '08, 6-7 months later it had barely started healing. They removed the screws but left the rod and it started to heal a little quicker, 5 months later I was back riding. Doc wanted to remove the rod later on but so far I've put it off to keep riding / working. My femur still hurts quite a bit and often so if removing the rod would help that somehow I may just have mine removed.

Hope your surgery went well.
ocscottie
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ocscottie 7/25/2011 8:41pm
7/25/2011 8:41pm
Jake, it looks like you and Trey will be having some surgery on the same day:

TreyCanard Trey Canard
"Went to the dr. today It's a completely different break surprisingly go in for a small surgery tomorrow to get some metal removed."

Good luck to the both of you!!
manering
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manering 7/25/2011 8:58pm
7/25/2011 8:58pm
my rod used to cause pain when i went jogging, couldn't handle the jarring, got it taken out and no problems whatsoever, can jog on concrete now. every now and then when i case something real hard i'll feel it a little bit.
Jake-247
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Jake-247 7/27/2011 2:52am
7/27/2011 2:52am
Hey guys, The operation went extremely well the doctor was really happy with how easily everything came out and with no complications so I'm stoked on that!

I stayed overnight at hospital and the pain was no where near the level it was on for my last 2 operations so I had a fairly good night's sleep. Had a little bit of trouble with some blood oozing out of the wound at my hip but other than that no drama's whatsoever. Because the bone is fine I could walk a little bit a few hours after the operation until the pain was to much on my hip and knee and also because I wanted to take it easy. I can bend my knee to around 90degrees right now but I don't want to go exerting it to much when its only been just over 24hrs since the operation.

I'm on barely any painkillers at the moment and pain is easily bearable. The only thing that is uncomfortable is the amount of bandages around my hip, which makes it awkward to sit in the same spot for a while.

Thanks Scottie, cool bit of info, too bad I couldn't have the same speed as him not the same operation! Wink
Antipodean 7/27/2011 2:55am
7/27/2011 2:55am
Great news, Jake. So, how long before you can mount her?
OW38B
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OW38B 7/27/2011 8:42am
7/27/2011 8:42am
Antipodean wrote:
Great news, Jake. So, how long before you can mount her?
Hey what are we talkin' about here? Whistling

Glad things went well for you Jake.
Jake-247
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Jake-247 7/27/2011 5:45pm
7/27/2011 5:45pm
Antipodean wrote:
Great news, Jake. So, how long before you can mount her?
OW38B wrote:
Hey what are we talkin' about here? Whistling

Glad things went well for you Jake.
Wink Hope were on the same page here

Dr. recommends I stay of the bike for 6 weeks to be safe, I'm counting down the days already can't wait to get back on my new sickle' Woohoo
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ocscottie 7/27/2011 5:55pm
7/27/2011 5:55pm
Antipodean wrote:
Great news, Jake. So, how long before you can mount her?
OW38B wrote:
Hey what are we talkin' about here? Whistling

Glad things went well for you Jake.
Jake-247 wrote:
;) Hope were on the same page here Dr. recommends I stay of the bike for 6 weeks to be safe, I'm counting down the days...
Wink Hope were on the same page here

Dr. recommends I stay of the bike for 6 weeks to be safe, I'm counting down the days already can't wait to get back on my new sickle' Woohoo
Right on Jake! i was just thinking about you a few min ago when Bauer asked about my spine hardware.

Happy / speedy recovery bud!

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