I had my follow-up visit to the doctor.
It turns out that I've broken the end of the fibula in my right ankle. To repair it they need to install a metal plate to hold the bone together so that it fuses in exactly the right position so that I can make a full recovery. This involves making a smallish incision along the outside of my ankle and drilling into the bone and all that fun stuff.

The doctor told me that I have two options: general anesthetic or a nerve block. If I do general I'll be unconscious through it all, but then I'll spend a couple of days shaking off the effects and might have to stay overnight for observation. If I do the nerve block I'll be home before noon, but I'll be awake through it. He says that most prefer not to do the nerve block because of the needles and being awake through it all.

I told him that I would rather be able to go home, so I'll just man the fuck up and take the nerve block. And yes, I used those exact words.

He and the nurse were struggling hard not to laugh.

So should I go back in a year and have them remove the plate and screws, or should I go through life as Robodad?
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:14, 26 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

good lad
will the plate and screws hamper you in anyway?

if not then leave them in. unnecessary surgery FTL
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:17, Reply)

I don't know.
I'd prefer to not have a second surgery. I guess I'll find out from the doctor when he does it, but I got the impression that it was not necessary.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:23, Reply)

General anesthetic should always be the last resort.
You should get it removed though, it'll be quite close to the skin and it'll irritate.
(PsychoChomp, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:19, Reply)

I was wondering about that.
I like to be able to sit on the floor cross legged, and I don't know if the plate would make that uncomfortable. Will the bone grow around it like a tree grows around things, or will it always protrude?

Guess I'll find out tomorrow.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:38, Reply)

my ankle bones stick out as it is
which makes sitting cross legged on the floor (which I also like to do) uncomfortable enough already.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:13, Reply)

Leave them in
and make the security machines go beep.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:19, Reply)

You're so strong and manly, I'm practacly swooning in my seat, it's like a suction cup.
If you spunk up my bumhole with your twelve incher, I bet it would be like getting a berium meal in reverse.

Man, is your wife lucky to have you or what !
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:19, Reply)

She thinks so.
Me, I think I'm fucking broke and can't afford the hospital stay as I'm not sure how much of that is covered by the limited health care I get.

Maybe I'll download some Monty Python onto my iPod so I can have something funny to listen to as they drill holes in my bones.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:26, Reply)

Oh, are you American ?
If you are, could you please explain to me how anyone can be against a national health care system? I can't work it out, I just can't at all, I can't see one good reason to be against it.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:49, Reply)

Beats the fuck out of me.
I was really pissed when they pulled the public option from the reform bill. What we have is the insurance companies pulling every string they can, Republicans doing their best to whip up fear to make the Democrats look bad, idiots yelling "Socialism!" and "Communism!" like it was the McCarthy era with the Red Scare, so the Democrats had no choice but to remove it. At least they got it passed into law that pre-existing conditions and major illnesses can no longer be a basis for insurance companies to deny coverage.

I still hold hope that there will be another round of this that will get us closer to national health care. The biggest problem is that the insurance companies are very rich and can buy a lot of politicians.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:56, Reply)

But a large lot of your country voted republican, when it was with Bush it was almost 50%.
How can anyone vote for them? They seem like complete and utter idiots, and the people who vote for them do too.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:20, Reply)

Again, beats the fuck out of me.
My personal theory, formulated from my armchair where I'll be sitting for the next couple of months, is that some vote Republican because that's how they've always voted, while others have bought the bullshit that Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and the rest of those fuckwads have been spewing and are going to vote for anything that isn't Liberal and Democrat.

I've noticed something interesting, though- the people that I've spoken to who are college educated mostly voted for Obama, even the staunch Republicans. None of them wanted McCain and Palin anywhere near the White House.

The ones who still beat the Republican drum? I think you'll find a lot of them here: www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379/
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:27, Reply)

'kin 'ell,

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 21:17, Reply)

Pretty much.
Fortunately it seems that the Teabaggers are a very minimal lot, a lunatic fringe that no one is really taking very seriously. The unfortunate thing is that they're stirring up a lot of noise and mud without doing anything productive.

As far as I can tell, they're just playing right along with Limbaugh et al. And the thing about those clowns is that their livelihoods depend on generating controversy- if the Republicans and Democrats work together constructively, then Limbaugh has nothing to talk about, and his ratings drop. So he rattles as many of these dimwits as he can to make noise and grab headlines, so he can stay relevant in the political spotlight. Since the obvious target is the Democratic president who is also a Harvard educated black man, they're all screaming as much nonsense as they can and using as many buzzwords as they can to keep the dimwits riled up.

Two days ago The Daily Show had a segment in which they showed Sarah Palin coming out to support McCain and had excerpts from her speeches- and it was as though she were doing a comedy roast. Sure, she got the limelight and got a lot of laughs, but she somehow seemed to forget that she was supposed to be there in support.

If that's their queen, I'd say that they're not going to be around for much longer.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:23, Reply)

Leave the metal there
I have six titanium bolts & two rods in my lower spine from when I had 3 vertabrae fused together a few years ago. The bone grows around the metal so it is almost impossible to get it all out & it's painful to remove so best to leave it. The metal in my back is very close to the skin but it isn't at all irritating.
(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:43, Reply)

I like the thought
of being a kind of cyborg (in a cheap knockoff sort of way). I could tell my kids that now I'm officially more metal than they are.

(But mostly I like the thought of not having more surgery.)
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:50, Reply)

I like to think of it as a
"Hyper alloy super chassis"
(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:54, Reply)

Will you look like Lieutenant Dan
at the end of Forrest Gump?
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:55, Reply)

Maybe
if I get a set of running stilts. I've wanted a set of them for ages.

www.air-trekkers.com/
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:58, Reply)

What type of metal is it?
Because if it's titanium, that's really cool. If it's just some poxy steel then get it out after the year.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:01, Reply)

Good question.
I think it's titanium, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask. If I get a choice in it I know which way I'll go.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:03, Reply)

Titanium is great but
Very expensive - you may find your insurers will only pay for steel.
(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:06, Reply)

Without knowing anything about this sort of thing, I would have thought the cost of the metal would be minimal, with the installation costs being high.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:18, Reply)

That would be my thought too.
Besides, if they don't have to remove titanium, they avoid more expensive hospital work which saves them money.

I called up the doctor's office to ask, and am waiting for them to call me back.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 17:21, Reply)

Just so you know,
unpaid medical pills do not show up as a negative on your credit report. It shows up as a "warn".
If you keep the credit in good order, and pay a minimum on the medical bills, you're credit score is only affected by literally less than 10 points.
( Batshitmentalist is sane for once, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:00, Reply)

hopefully I won't get in that much trouble.
On the plus side, I've found out that it will be titanium and that they'll only take the screws out if they become a problem.
( Wanderer, Fri 2 Apr 2010, 1:26, Reply)