Good Report

I returned to Dr. Crist, my orthopaedic surgeon, on Monday. They took a ton of X-Rays showing my various metal sculptures at various artful angles. Then a sweet little resident guy came in to do a practice round, followed by Dr Crist himself. The good news is, the news couldn't have been much better. I have bone growth in all the right places, and a few extra. All five breaks in the pelvis, including the hip socket, are bridging, as well as the clavical. They don't even look at the ribs; guess they always heal.
Perhaps the best news is that the femur is knitting together, even the floating piece that he thought may need a bone graft appears to be bridging the gap to the rest of the bone.
He said the range of motion of my left arm is amazing, as many folks never get full motion back. The leg wound he is also pleased with. It is still open in a few places, including one hole that just won't close up, largely due to drainage. (I think that's the bit that made Trish faint when she looked at my leg). He didn't seem too concerned about it though, and just put me on a course of antibiotics prophylactically. Wow, did I even approach spelling that right? Too lazy to check. Anyway, the scar will certainly turn heads if I wear swimsuit or running shorts, but he agreed it was amazing it looked that good or even could heal without skin grafts considering the beating it took and how torn up it was.
I did ask about the fact I can totally feel the fixator like a big knob if I roll on my left side. He said so much tissue was lost (mostly fat) during the injury that I may always feel that since there is very little between it and the surface. Guess that do-it-yourself liposuction was a bad idea!
He changed my physical therapy protocol to a progressive scale. I went from 20 pounds on the leg to 50, next week 100, next week 150 and begin weaning off the crutches. Yeah!!!!! I went to therapy yesterday and stood on the scale to get a feel for it. 50 pounds is quite a bit when just standing. Walking puts more than your body weight on due to momentum, so can't do that yet. I got to do a regular stationery bike though, and leg presses with one foot on the scale to watch how much I press on it.
Oh, and another big thrill, I can discontinue the daily injections of blood thinners!! Not that sticking something in your belly each morning isn't a great wake-up call, but..... Also, I asked about the fabled card that you can show airport security so they don't hassle you too much when you set off the metal detectors. Dr. Crist laughed and said they don't respect those much anymore, and I would likely have to go to a little room and show them my scars. He did give me one though and I can see why. I had imagined we would fill out a form and the card was issued from some transportation agency. Instead, it is a pre-printed card with the hospital name and info, then a blank where they wrote in my name. I will take it and copies of my X-rays along just in case they help, but not optomistic.
That's the gist of it. Hoping no crutches by February!!!!!!!