RE: Trying to contact ListGroup Memeber (Female) -Jo (sicklizard)

[Guest guest]

,

the woman who posted this was Jo (sicklizard) from England.

i have her contact details if you wish.

she is having such a rough time lately and is VERY scared with new

developments that i am unsure if she has been on for a while...

Sharon

> Some time in the near past one of the Ceda family, a woman, posted

an email

> and somewhat outlined the state of your knee. You were very

concerned in

> having to make a decision on having your joint fused, or at

extremes,

> choosing an amputation.

>

> In 2000, I had the same, very hard decision to make. Could not

find a

> surgeon who would touch my knee, either to fuse it, or amputate it

above the

> knee. I was at one point told by the Chief of Orthopedics at our

largest

> local hospital that if I were a horse, it would be an easy decision

for him

> to make about my grave situation; he stated that the kindest thing

he could

> think of to do for me would be to put a bullet in my head.

>

> I was trying to find a surgical solution, some method to

reconstruct my left

> knee, which was a total disaster, and a competent Ortho who had the

skill to

> achieve this. I at that time had mo patella (removed 33 years

ago), 4

> ruptured ligaments: medial collateral, lateral collateral, posterior

> cruciate, and anterior cruciate, had ground the head of both my

femur and

> tibia down to exposed bone marrow, was bleeding internally in the

knee

> joint, and a nasty abscess infection deep within the joint.

>

> I wore a full length custom leg brace, however, because of the

extreme

> condition of my knee joint, it could not hope to offer any real

needed

> support. My left leg was literally disconnected at the knee joint,

held

> together by the knee capsule, and of course muscle and skin. The

pain was

> so intense/excruciating that I was on a myriad of medications, so

much

> Morphine that, post-surgery I couldn't hardly see straight, let

alone call

> my existence at that time a 'life'.

>

> I saw the surgeon who reconstructed my left knee in October of

2000, 2 weeks

> ago for my 36 month follow-up. I spoke of your post outlining what

little

> you spoke of about your knee, and the difficult surgical decision

you were

> having to make.

> I had a similar decision back in 2000, and was at that time looking

for a

> surgeon to amputate my leg, as apposed to having it fused stiff for

the rest

> of my life.

>

> His name is Dr. Bassam Masri, Chief Orthopedic Surgeon at the

Vancouver

> Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He holds a

Professorship

> at the teaching University of British Columbia, and with his

partner Dr.

> Clive Duncan,

> he operate the Complex Joint Reconstruction Clinic, which is a

clinic run

> within the confines of the Vancouver Hospital.

>

> In short, without hesitation, he said, " Refer to me. " He would be

happy to

> consult, if someone in the profession wished to speak with him

about the

> procedure. The prosthesis and procedure he used in my

reconstruction is not

> commonly used or done.

> In fact, seven Orthopedics in Canada, and one from Boston told me

that there

> was nothing that could be done for me surgically, and not one of

them would

> attempt a fusion of the joint; I think for fear of failure, and the

high

> possiblilty of an out of control infection after the procedure.

>

> Dr. Masri, has taught in England, has traveled and taught in South

Africa,

> did his fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. I told him that I thought

you were

> situated in England, and he wanted to know where about in England,

as he

> said he has travelled to the U.K., and spent tiime there teaching

Orthopedic

> procedure.

>

> He used a Noiles S-ROM Modular Knee System as a solution to my

problems. It

> can accommodate for any degree of bone or soft tissue loss. I am

pain-free

> in that knee as of today, and am enjoying full-extension, with 110

degrees

> of flexion.

>

> I purchased my X-rays on this follow-up visit, and if you are

interested in

> viewing the prosthesis (in x-ray, as I can't get the darn thing

out), and

> were to contact me, I would be happy to allow you to view them, by

either

> mailing them to you, or having a copy center reduce their size by

photo

> copy, after which I could scan them, and send them in bmp, jpeg, of

tif, or

> some file extension.

>

> You are also welcome to a copy of the report from the surgical

procedure.

>

> Contact me at jphughes@t..., or through the listgroup if you wish to

> communicate.

>

> All the best,

>

[Guest guest]

Sharon,

If you have any details that could put me in touch with Jo, please send them

to me.

Thanks