Meet Able

Attended a follow-up appointment on 27 July regarding the severe injury to his left lower leg (tibia). He recorded that the hardware remained stable and alignment was satisfactory, with some early callus, but that the tibia remained severely fragmented and had not developed enough bridging bone for him to begin weight-bearing. He was told he would remain non-weight-bearing on the left leg until at least early September.

Max recorded that if healing did not progress sufficiently, additional treatment could include a bone stimulator or potentially another surgery involving bone grafting.

The surgeon also raised concern about the severity and character of the continuing nerve pain and discussed a possible complex regional pain syndrome pattern without making a definitive diagnosis.

The appointment therefore offered some reassurance about alignment and stability while leaving substantial uncertainty about bone healing, future weight-bearing, persistent neuropathic pain, and whether additional intervention might be required.

Severe burning nerve pain in the foot continued.

He rated it 6/10 on the morning of 27 July and 10/10 during the appointment itself.

On 31 July he woke at approximately 2:30 AM with 'excruciating pain at the top of my foot', which he rated 10/10, describing the burning sensation as extreme. He had to remove the boot and apply ice before the pain subsided enough for him to sleep again.

Despite ongoing rehabilitation, the nerve pain remained persistent and unpredictable rather than resolving.

Across the week his foot pain ranged from 5/10 to 10/10, with two recorded episodes at 10/10.

Upper-body pain returned and worsened. On 28 July shoulder pain returned after four pain-free days following chiropractic treatment; Max wrote that the chiropractor's work 'didn't last more than four days'.

On 29 July he woke at approximately 3:20 AM because his shoulders and back were hurting, and used a massage gun and a massage tool.

His ratings rose from 2/10 on 27 July to 9/10 on 30 July, when he wrote, 'I don't think I've ever been in so much pain in my traps, back and shoulders on both sides. It hurts all the way down into my biceps.'

On 31 July shoulder pain woke him again around 5:00 AM; he applied ice and returned to sleep, and it required further ice later.

He increasingly associated the discomfort with prolonged recovery positioning. He wrote that the wheelchair was 'too constricting for my body', wanted to spend more time out of it, and considered modifying it so his back could 'spread freely'. He also noticed how curved his back had become after long periods in the recliner.

These are Max's contemporaneous observations about positioning, not a medical conclusion about causation.

On 27 July his sleep tracker showed a sleep score of 49 and a little over three hours of sleep, which Max estimated closer to four.

On 28 July he woke around 2:30 AM and remained awake for roughly an hour. On 29 July shoulder and back pain woke him around 3:20 AM.

On 31 July severe foot pain woke him at 2:30 AM and shoulder pain woke him again around 5 AM; his tracker showed approximately five hours of sleep, which he estimated closer to six.

Daytime fatigue had practical consequences. That evening he napped, woke around 6:30 PM feeling physically depleted, and cancelled a planned family dinner because he did not feel able to sit through a restaurant meal and try to enjoy himself.

He also wrote that fatigue made it difficult to 'concentrate and sit and focus and read and go back-and-forth and learn'.

Max remained completely non-weight-bearing on the injured leg while beginning a transition from home physical therapy to outpatient care.

29 July was his last home physical therapy session with his physical therapist.

He continued occupational therapy, including a painful 90-minute session on 28 July, and desensitization work on the injured leg at home.

Hand rehabilitation remained repetitive and demanding: he continued using multiple splints and adjusting the intensity and duration of the finger-cranking splint because stronger pulls became excessively painful.

At the same time there were meaningful mobility gains: he was beginning to move throughout the house with a walker and was able to reach upstairs rooms and bathrooms. The week therefore included real rehabilitation progress without a return to normal function.

Improved movement inside the house did not mean normal independence had returned: he was only then beginning to reach upstairs rooms and bathrooms with a walker, and he remained completely non-weight-bearing on the injured leg.

The 31 July cancelled dinner is a concrete example: the outing was available, but fatigue and physical discomfort made sitting through an ordinary restaurant meal feel like too much.

Recovery continued to dictate whether otherwise normal social plans were actually manageable.