Two weeks forward, 4 weeks back

Here's a little game for you. One of the two X-rays below was taken two weeks ago, and one was taken today.

Which is which?

You would be forgiven for thinking that the left hand picture was today and the right hand two weeks ago. Unfortunately you would be wrong.  The clue is in the head of the bone near the two bolts.  Today's picture shows that the vertical split has almost healed. The bad news is 2/3rds of the way down the bone.

The series of adjustments that were started two weeks ago were intended to align the bone as seen from the front. (The lateral alignment had already been done, and is still good.) However, it appears that moving the top half of the bone laterally across the bottom half, it has opened up the fracture which was an inch or so below the main area of breakage. You can just see the break above the bolt in this picture below.

That thin line is now a major gap.

So what do we do now? The options are probably;-

1. Reverse the adjustments and hope that the bone goes back to its previous position and leave it. Or maybe stretch the leg and adjust again, hoping that this time the bones won't touch until dropped back into place. The problem is that new bone is now growing, and it may be difficult to get a leg of the original length without operating.

2. Go for another operation, and manipulate the errant bit of bone back into place. They would loosen the struts, reposition, and then reassemble. They might fit another wire through the large loose section of tibia. Given my previous experiences, I'm really not keen on having another operation.

The consultants will discuss this over the weekend, and I am expecting a call to visit the hospital on Monday.