I fractured 4 metatarsals a few weeks ago - 2 of which were misplaced. The Orthopedic surgeon in the ER reviewed the X-rays and simply sent me home with a walking boot, crutches, pain medicine, and blood thinners, and then scheduled a 6-week follow up.
My wife saw the x-rays and said that one of the fractures was pretty displaced and, after doing some research online I found that many other patients of simialr injury's had surgery done within 10-14 days. So I asked to be seen again and his office took me in after 3 weeks afterwards - xray showed that fracture was still at least 50% displaced. However the PA who saw me suggested to continue giving it time and see what the 6-week appt shows.
At my 6-week appt, the fracture is still about 50% displaced. So the surgeon suggested waiting another 4 weeks and to follow up. If after this 10 week assessment there's still no noticable healing, he will refer me to a podiatrist to do surgery and "plate" the fracture. He also ordered to stop using the crutches and begin weight-bearing and provided my with an orthopedic shoe (very uncomfortable).
I'm pretty frustrated because I feel like it's very doubtful that the fracture has any chance to heal on its own. In the meantime, I'm prolonging the inevitable surgery and doing my best to manage the discomfort.
A coworker of mine suggests that this is all pretty negligent. Has anyone else dealt with this sort of ordeal? What are your thoughts? For what it's worth, I'm 40 years old, 5' 10", 220 lbs, don't smoke, and work a desk job in the state of PA.
My wife saw the x-rays and said that one of the fractures was pretty displaced and, after doing some research online I found that many other patients of simialr injury's had surgery done within 10-14 days. So I asked to be seen again and his office took me in after 3 weeks afterwards - xray showed that fracture was still at least 50% displaced. However the PA who saw me suggested to continue giving it time and see what the 6-week appt shows.
At my 6-week appt, the fracture is still about 50% displaced. So the surgeon suggested waiting another 4 weeks and to follow up. If after this 10 week assessment there's still no noticable healing, he will refer me to a podiatrist to do surgery and "plate" the fracture. He also ordered to stop using the crutches and begin weight-bearing and provided my with an orthopedic shoe (very uncomfortable).
I'm pretty frustrated because I feel like it's very doubtful that the fracture has any chance to heal on its own. In the meantime, I'm prolonging the inevitable surgery and doing my best to manage the discomfort.
A coworker of mine suggests that this is all pretty negligent. Has anyone else dealt with this sort of ordeal? What are your thoughts? For what it's worth, I'm 40 years old, 5' 10", 220 lbs, don't smoke, and work a desk job in the state of PA.