Sophie Ashdown

Three weeks ago I blogged about my youngest son, AJ, breaking his leg and having to have an operation. At the time of writing that blog, he was in surgery and I was anxiously waiting for him to come out.

I’m happy to say that the surgery went well. He had a metal plate attached to his tibia with screws, and a new cast below the knee.

AJ was quite groggy afterwards, which is to be expected, and slept for most of the afternoon. Later he started to wake up a little bit and didn’t really open his eyes, but knew I was there. He could indicate that he wanted some water so I spent my time keeping an eye on him and giving him water when he needed it. The nurses continually checked his toes and his IV.

I stayed with him all day and his dad took over from me in the evening. There was a lovely moment as I was leaving when I told AJ that his dad was there and that I’d see him first thing in the morning. He wasn’t moving and had his eyes closed but slowly put one hand up. I wasn’t sure what he wanted and asked if he needed water. In a weak voice he said “huuuugggg” and I almost cried as I gave him a gentle hug before he fell back asleep. He doesn’t remember that moment but I always will. He might be a six foot tall young man but he still wants a hug from his mother.

After five days in hospital AJ was finally able to go home with his leg in a cast below the knee and using crutches. We had to set up the ground floor for him to sleep in since stairs were difficult, but on that floor he could sleep, get to a toilet, and access the kitchen and living room. He only had to go up some stairs when he wanted a shower so it wasn’t too bad.

The first week was a bit rough as he was in pain and struggled to get around on his crutches. He had to stay home from school so he got quite bored.

A week after the surgery some of his friends came round for a couple of hours which really buoyed his spirits, but he was completely shattered afterwards and had to have a nap.

In week two, he went to school to attend a double lesson for about an hour and a half. It was a good trial run to see how he would manage. The challenging part was that he had to keep his leg elevated at all times and couldn’t be on his crutches for too long. It was tough but he enjoyed seeing his friends.

The next day he did it again, then after that he did two mornings in a row, then managed almost a full day. His school were amazing and so helpful. The school has three floors which would have been too difficult for AJ, so they set him up in a ground floor classroom, then brought his classes to him! So the teacher and the students all moved to the room that AJ was in so that he could participate. It was amazing.

Last week he had his two week follow up check which went well. The metal plate has stayed in place and the wound is healing well. They were able to take off his heavy cast and replace it with a medical boot which is lighter and easier for him, plus he can take it off to have a shower.

So now we are all in a new routine for AJ as he continues to recover. I am driving him to school and picking him up every day, which totals about 3.5 hours per day depending on the traffic. Thankfully he finishes term this Friday before three weeks of Easter break.

This whole event has taken a lot out of all of us, and has taken up so much time and energy. However it has also brought us all closer and focussed on helping AJ to recover.

He’ll still be on crutches for the next couple of months but it will get easier over time.

For your viewing pleasure, here are his before and after xrays!

Before:

You don’t need to be a doctor to diagnose the broken bone!

The metal plate that has been screwed in to his tibia can be seen here. Weirdly it is quite close to the skin so you can see and feel it on his leg from the outside.

After 9-12 months he will have another operation to remove the metal plate. Then hopefully he will make a total recovery. We are all looking forward to that time.