How Do You Mend A Broken Leg (Femur)?

I had just gotten home from Walmart and let my dogs out for a walk. I live in a rural area with a long driveway. I was walking with my older dog and my two "puppies" were lagging behind.

The young dogs love to chase each other. One is Budreaux, an 85 pound black lab, and the other is Tiger, his 60 pound pit bull friend.

I was walking along when all of a sudden I heard the sound of fast running. Budreaux was running as fast as he could and looking back...at Tiger, who was chasing him.

BOOM!!! They slammed into the back of my right leg...behind my knee. The impact knocked me off my feet. When I hit the ground, my right leg was twisted behind me so I pulled it forward and kind of braced it against my left leg.

I knew that something very bad had happened. I really thought that my knee was blown out. I didn't think about my leg being broken. I couldn't move or drag myself without feeling severe pain. I had my cell phone on my belt so I called my husband and he rushed home from work.

My husband called an ambulance and I was taken to the emergency room of a hospital.

They took x-rays of my leg in the emergency room. They soon came back and told me that my leg was broken right above my knee. I would need surgery the next day to re-align the bone and to insert a metal plate and screws.

They put an immobilizer on my leg and attached me to a morphine pump. That first night in the hospital was pretty rough. The morphine upset my stomach so I went into surgery gagging and heaving.

The surgery went well. They did not put a cast on my leg. There was a bandage over the incision and I continued to use the immobilizer to keep my leg from moving. I spent two more nights in the hospital and then went home.

We borrowed a wheel chair, potty chair, walker and shower chair from people at our church. I felt weak and queasy from the surgery for the first several days. My husband took a week off from work to take care of me. It is quite a shock to go from walking one day to being helpless the next day.

I gradually spent more time in the wheel chair. It was really painful to use the walker but I tried to get up on my feet a couple of times a day.

When I went back to the doctor for my two week check-up, he took the stitches out and said I didn't have to bandage my leg any longer.

I went to physical therapy for 2 weeks. They had me doing exercises to strengthen my leg muscles and improve the range of motion in my knee. This was not fun but it did help. I am still doing these exercises at home.

After 7 weeks, I could use crutches to hobble around the house. I put about half my weight on the injured leg. I drove for the first time week.

Finally, the doctor said that my injured leg was ready for full weight bearing. He told me to gradually start taking steps without the crutches. This was very scary. Those first steps felt very uncertain. My goal was to be walking without crutches by my next doctor appointment.

I am a fervent believer in the power of prayer. Many people have been praying for me over these past weeks. I have been praying that God will completely restore my ability to walk and lead a normal life.

"O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me." Psalm 30:2

It has been a year since I fell and broke my femur. I am now walking without the assistance of a crutch, cane or knee brace. I give God the glory!

I am determined to get my body in the best shape that I can. I am riding an exercise bike 30 minutes a day and hope to increase this time as I build my endurance. I am also doing stretching and muscle building exercises.

This was not the first time that I had a broken bone in my right leg. In 1992, I was in a very bad car wreck. A drunk driver swerved across the center line and hit me head-on. I had 3 broken bones in my right foot, a shattered right heel and a fractured right tibia (just below the knee). I had a metal plate and screws in my leg and pins in my foot. It took me almost a year to get back on my feet.

In March, 2003, I tripped over my dog in the kitchen and cracked my right knee cap. Luckily, it was a clean break and I didn't need surgery. I wore a knee brace for several months and went to physical therapy. I don't have very good luck with the dogs, do I?

The broken femur was the third major accident and the 7th broken bone in my right leg. You might think that I have a bone density problem but I have had this checked several times and my bones are fine.

PS - I still have my dogs and I still love them as much as ever!!!!

Every so often I dream about running through the countryside with little or no effort. I wake up in the morning feeling sad because I know I will never run like that again because of my knee injuries.

I have discoved a wonderful place where I can run, jump, skip, hop, leap and just about any other crazy thing that I want to do. I joined a water walking/aerobics class at my local recreation center.

The leader keeps us going at a good pace and the time just flies by. I love it!

This is the best thing that I have ever done for my general physical fitness and rehab for my leg. It is great for all ages. I highly recommend this for anyone recovering from a broken leg or knee surgery.