Hematoma - 5 months after BTKR

[richfriz]

Hi Guys and girls

I haven't been on the forum much as my wife and I have been traveling darkest Africa for the past couple of months. When my OS gave me the all clear in February my wife and I set out on a bit of an adventure. We flew to South Africa, borrowed a 4X4 and set off on a trip of a lifetime.

All was going great, we had been all through south Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and were at Victoria falls in Zimbabwe when "Lefty" started to swell! If any of you know that part of the world medical facilities are almost non existent but after a couple of hours I tracked down a doctor who diagnosed a DVT. He gave me a shot of Heparin and suggested I get to South Africa ASAP. Luckally there was a flight leaving in 2 hours so I caught it and headed to a Private hospital in Johannesburg where, on arrival they gave me 2 shots of Klaxin? before shipping me of to have an ultrasound done. As it turned out it was not a DVT but a large hematoma in my left calf (12cm X 7cm X 2.9cm)

I was scheduled for surgery next morning and had it drained. (400ml came out) Now 5 days later I am feeling 100% but the surgeon wont let me fly for another week!!! My wife is stuck up in Zimbabwe and I am stuck here! Bummer!

Does anyone know if flying is detrimental or dangerous after a hematoma?? I really want to get back to my wife in Zimbabwe ASAP

Thanks
Richard

 

[Josephine]

Hello, Richard. What a trip you've been on and such a shame it ended up like that. And that's one big collection of blood you had. Getting on for a pint - wow!

Flying wouldn't be detrimental to the haematoma itself but you need to know the reason for the bleed. What causes a haematoma is a blood vessel popping or getting torn and to be honest, I cannot envisage a reason for it. Did you have any falls or stumbles? Or twists of your leg? Knocks or blows? And you're confident that the diagnosis of 'not' a DVT was correct? I'm puzzled.

 

[aussie]

Hi Richard,

Sorry you have had this hiccough in your trip, hope you get reunited with your wife soon.

Pleased to hear you feel 100% now.

Best wishes,

 

[richfriz]

Hi Josephine

Thanks muchly for the info. The day it happened I was cleaning out an empty pool so I was twisting and turning my leg. I am sure thats what caused the problem. The funny thing is that before it happened my left leg "Lefty" had never been as good as the right. Much more pain and less movment. After the Hematoma it is nearly as good as the right??? Who kniows?? At least it is better now. I am going to push the Doc hard to get a flight back to Zim and my wife on Saterday!!! I dont like Johanesburge very much!

Out of interest the outher two guys on the ward with me were both gunshot wounds!! One was robbbed on the way to the bank and the other was shot twice by two guys breaking into his house at 3am!

Hi Chris...

Hope your recovery is going as well as mine We get back to Aussie in about 6 weeks

Cheers
Richard

 

[Sticker Lady]

Richard-
Your adventure is astounding! The trip (without all the extra drama of an emergency trip to another country for medical treatment) sounds incredible! Hope you and your dear wife will be able to enjoy the remainder of your holiday without any further difficulties. Hope to hear more--perhaps you will post some photos when you return home.
Blessings,
Irene

 

[ship4]

Richard,
What an extraordinary trip! Glad you got your problem resolved and it seems to have helped your knee become more normal. Two full years ago in June I fell off the deck and twisted my knees along with hitting a granite fountain.....
I was a mess of black and blues on my arms, left hip, along with a huge hematoma on the front inside of my right shin along with tearing my right meniscus in the knee joint. The hematoma was large and deep but did stop bleeding from within. I did not require surgery for it. It has gradually been getting smaller over the years, but I still have a bruise about the size of a nickel and the hard interior has now shrunk to the size of a dime. Taking a long time to go away!
The Doctor may have a concern regarding the cabin pressure in the plane relating to the altitude. I sometimes have issues as my ankles will swell after flying. The doctor relates it to altitude sickness. I got altitude sickness when I skied at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Feb of 1006 at the altitude of 12,480 feet above sea level..... Highest ski lift in the USA!
Enjoy the rest of your trip once you get the OK to fly.
Best,

 

[stives]

Hi Richard

I can't contribute on the medical side, but I'm very interested in your travels! We lived in Livingstone - on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls - for 3 years, although that was in the late 1960's. I had experience of the Zambian medical system, in fact I had two babies in Livingstone. In 'our' day the medical facilities in Zimbabwe (we also lived in Harare for a year) were excellent, but I wouldn't think that applies at all these days, sadly.

I also had to visit my mother-in-law in a hospital in Johannesburg. We had a car accident with her in the car, and she ended up with a small (luckily) fracture in her neck. Jo'burg is such a huge place - I didn't like it either. Small world, eh!

How much water is going over the Falls now? We noticed huge differences between the seasons, and in fact in the years. Sometimes they were really spectacular, and at other times almost dry!

I've been warned against flying too soon after major surgery, but I assumed it was long-haul flights that are the main problem. People from the UK apparently fly to places like India for their TKRs these days, then fly back well within the three month period that I was told was advisable. Maybe it depends on how high the plane flies? I wouldn't know the answer to that.

I hope you can get your situation sorted as soon as possible. There's nothing worse than not being 100% well on a holiday (and especially when you and your wife are even in different countries).

I'd love to hear where you are planning to go for the next 6 weeks! I hope it all works out for you.

 

[richfriz]

Hi Stives

Yep, a small world indeed! I was born in Kitwe in 1956. My father was a dental surgeon on the coperbelt at the time but then we moved to Rhodesia in 1961

My wife and I, with 2 kids in tow left Africa for Aussie in 1988. This is our first real trip back to this part of the world. Man has it changed!!! Jo'berg is now one HUGE city. I would put it almost on par with LA in the states. The traffic is unbelievable! The crime is horrific but most locals seem to just ignore it.

When we got here my brother in law lent us a fully equipped Toyota Landcruiser so we headed down the garden route to cape town via Hogsback (Where my parents had a hotel until 1955). Then up through Botswana to Kasane on the Chobe river where we stayed on a houseboat for a week with a couple of friends whom had flown out from Perth.

For the past few weeks we have based ourselves in Victoria falls (My brother in law has a very nice holiday house there) and done side trips to Wanki national park, Milabezi on Lake Kariba. We do most of our shopping in Livingstone because there really is not much in the shops in Zimbabwe. The game viewing has been spectacular. The Zambezi river is now at its highest recorded level since 1962. The falls are VERY impressive

The town of Livingstone is now about 10 X the size of vic falls and is where most of the tourists go. For an African town it is well organised and you can get most things there. Vic falls is a poor relative now

As soon as I can get back we are going to Mazabuka in Zambia for a few days to see old friends and then off to Lusaka and Kafue before going up to Kitwe to see if I can find where I was born. After that it gets a bit vague. We may go to Lake Malawi before heading to Harare and then back to the falls and then onto the west coast of Namibia before finally heading back to Perth at the end of June

When did you leave Zambia?
Cheers
Richard

 

[stives]

Hi Richard

Wow, you have really stirred my memories, as I can picture most of the places you mention!!

My hubby and I graduated in June 1964, got married, then started teaching in Kitwe in Sept 1964. We were there till the end of the year, then went to Harare (it was Salisbury then) to the University to study for our Post Graduate Certificate in Education. We were there for three terms, except that the middle one was spent in a boarding school in Goromonzi doing teaching practice. (That was the house that had a bad termite infection, and the door fell off one day as the termites had eaten right through the door frame - we had been wondering what all the chewing noises were!)

We were in Salisbury when UDI was declared, so were told to go back to Zambia as we were on a British/Zambia scheme, and that is when we were sent to Livingstone, to the secondary school in the compound there. We had a fantastic time living there, and as we were teachers we made the most of the school holidays and travelled all over the southern continent. Up north to Kenya, the Serengeti, Ngorogoro crater, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, and to Mozambique, south to the Kruger, Durban etc. I think we 'did' all the game reserves within a thousand miles of Livingstone! Oh those dirt roads!!!!!

We were on a government scheme, and there were about 40 of us who had started at the same time, and we were distributed all over Zambia. Hence we were able to visit various friends in many different parts of the coutry. Our 'best' friends (indeed they have just been to stay with us here) lived in what is now Mbala, and you couldn't get much further in Zambia than the distance between Livingstone and Mbala, up the Great North Road. Those same friends have been back on several different 'tours', and have until about four years ago spent most of their lives in Kitwe, so we have kept up to date with news from there for a long time.

When we lived in Harare hubby (John) had to have dental treatment - it would be very strange if your dad had treated him! We have no way of knowing from this end!

We had always promised our children to take them back to Zambia, and this happened in 1995. Our two girls were both married by that time, so we took the sons-in-law too. Zimbabwe wasn't too bad at that time, and we hired a rather dilapidated large vehicle (that kept breaking down), and spent most of the time in Zimbabwe itself - seeing the beautiful countryside, ancient ruins, game reserves, (especially Wankie), Vic Falls from the Zim side etc. Then we walked across the Vic Falls bridge and got an even more dilapidated taxi to show the girls where we used to live and teach, and where one of them was born. While we did the last bit, the men virtually walked across the top of the falls - there was so little water.

I hope you can sort out how to get back to your wife. We originally went by train from Cape Town to Lusaka. I don't suppose the train still runs? It took four days!!!

Keep in touch.

 

[richfriz]

Hi Stives

Wow, that is amasing. You certainly know this part of the world well.

I wonder if it was my father who treated your husband??? I guess we will never know.

Zim is in a rather sorry state now. This is not the forum for political debate but I fell very sad when I drive arround and see what has happened. The country has so much potential but it has been squandered by a greedy few. The catch cry in Zim these days is "everything, she is broken"

Anyway, my leg feels better than ever so I have booked my return flight for tomorow afternoon (A British airways flight out of interest). I see the doc tomorow at 8am and short of him tying me down I plan to get on the flight. My wife phoned and told me power has been out for 24 hours but it is back on again so she has water, light and TV again. Oh the joys of Africa!

Richard

 

[stives]

Hi again Richard

So glad that your leg problems seem to be improving and that you should be able to get back to your wife and continue your fantastic trip. We hear lots of news from Zim - not good, as you say.

Give my regards to Zambia. It has a very special place in our hearts.

Whereabouts in Oz do you live? We spent 8 weeks there 2 years ago. What a vast place. Have you ever been to the UK?

Keep us posted with your progress. Perhaps you ought to start a new thread in the 'social' part of the forum?