And Finally, The Fixator

Well, here it is. The long overdue Lynn post with the reveal of her external fixator. Forgive the photos, they were taken with the heepy's camera at random times along the way. Yes, I am such an evil friend I took pictures of her going into the ambulance. It made for some sorely needed laughter in the hospital as well as fine payback for Lynn's cell phone being all in French when I tried to access it to contact her family.
Anyway, Lynn is getting less self-conscious of the device, so I'm going to talk about it. It's really an update of the Ilizarov external fixator developed over fifty years ago in the Soviet bloc. If you ever wondered about ancillary costs of the cold war, here's one. Western Europe first seemed to get their hands on these in the nineties. We got them after that. Lynn's is the latest tech, with angled, adjustable suspension rods that provide for accurate bone placement in all directions. To a geek like me, the combination of science and real quality of life saving application is a beautiful thing. To Joe and Martha Schmoe, it's evidently horrifying. Lynn couldn't even look at it for the first weeks, until I got it through to her how marvelous the device actually was. It's a shame. I know people are squeamish. And if you are- ummm, don't scroll down- although there's really nothing to see. The gauze bits cover all the pin points and rods that go through to the bone. Lynn has eleven of them, which isn't bad. They hold the fractured leg bones in exact placement, allow for quick and precise regeneration of the kind you'd never get in a cast, and the fixator itself will support 1600 lbs in an emergency. This is not ugly. It is wonderful, and I think it's time more people understood that.

Comments

[Linda]

That is quite an incredible device.

[stephanie]

It's truly amazing. Once they cleaned out the fragments, the amount of bone missing from BOTH leg bones could be measured in CM. =o
This device is so accurate and so useful for regeneration that besides the tiny pin points, she will have almost no permanent scarring.
Technology can work miracles when it's used in positive applications.

[andrea]

yowza, thank god for technology and medicine!