www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM
Line

Tami's Broken Leg - in Australia...

On November 15, 2005 Tami severely broke her right leg, just above the ankle, after we were ten days into our Australian vacation. We were in the Northern Territory, driving south to "Alice" (Alice Springs) when Tami slipped on a rock during a roadside break (so to speak!). We quickly drove our rental car to the town of Katherine where Tami received immediate attention at their local hospital. From Katherine we then went back up north, 3 hours, to Darwin's Royal Hospital...

Click Here for my main Australia page...

Click Here for my Australia Part Two page...

Since we were many hundreds of kilometres from any large city we immediately drove to Katherine, the nearest settlement in Australia's Northern Territory. The staff and doctors, in Katherine, gave Tami immediate attention (and Morphine!) but determined the additional resources of Darwin's public hospital would be necessary.
We drove in relative comfort (thanks to the Morphine! [for Tami, not me...]) over the three hours up north to Darwin. At the Royal Darwin Hospital Tami underwent initial surgery so that Dr. Cripps (I believe senior doctors, in Australia, are actually referred to as "Mr.") could set her leg bones back into position.
Tami received excellent care and attention in Katherine and at Royal Darwin Hospital. Australia can be proud of the universal healthcare it provides its citizenry! Even visitors, such as ourselves, receive fairly priced, professional attention (daily emergency care, for foreigners, costs $1,300 [$950 USD] per day - extraordinarily reasonable compared to what most of us are accustomed to...). For elective procedures, and other alternatives, Australians have the option to pay for "private" health care. What I found interesting was that the "private" hospital was located on the same property as the public facility with both sharing many of the same doctors and staff!!
Despite all of the positives associated with Australia's public healthcare system, I still recommend travel insurance for wherever you're on holiday throughout the world - emergency flights back home, trip interruptions, and even deaths are all covered by most policies...

- Roger J. Wendell
Golden, Colorado, USA

(Okay, although I don't like making commercial recommendations many travelers have asked me which insurance agent treated Tami and I so well on that fateful trip to Australia back in '05 - it was STA Travel with Berkeley Care as the underwriter at that time. Although I, myself, wouldn't hesitate to use either again I still recommend you do your own research to find a policy that works best for you!)

(Click on any "Thumbnail" image for a larger view)
[a "mouse-over" provides additional information for each photo]

Initial visit to Katherine, Northern Territory, and then 3 hours north to Darwin:

Bent and twisted

X-rays in Katherine, Australia

Expansion joint...

Temporary cast

Helpful signs...

Hospital breakfast

Darwin's Hospital staff

Finding the hospital...

Royal Darwin entrance

Private alternative...

"Franken Foot" and follow-up in Denver:

15 Days after surgery

Tape

Removing staples...

Un-sewing...

Almost done...

Dr. Paul Docktor

Cutting the old

Removing the old

Wrapping the new

Crunchie Bar, Tami's Toes, basement living, and Roger's room in Darwin:

Crunchie bar at Qantas

Toes up-close...

At home in our basement

Roger's hotel in Darwin

Roger's hotel room...

Since the swelling in Tami's leg was somewhat persistent it was decided to use the extra time to fly back to Denver for the remaining surgery. As I mentioned earlier, travel insurance helped us out considerably - our particular policy covered Tami's hospital care, my lodging, and our travel back home ($12,000 for one-way flights to Denver!).
Of course, back at home in Denver, we've always received fantastic care from Kaiser Permanente and this incident was no exception! Dr. Paul Docktor (really!) and his staff operated on Tami's leg for over two and half hours - keeping a nervous Roger (Tami's husband, the guy writing this page....) and his parents informed every step of the way. Kaiser also provided a visiting physical therapist for Tami, at home, in additon to all kinds of follow-up care including calls at home from her doctor!!

Anyway, when we arrived at Denver's International Airport the insurance company (Berkley Care - purchased through STA Travel) had a stretch limo waiting to take us to St. Jospeh's Hospital where Dr. Docktor took Tami's case and performed the surgey on a Sunday.
Tami received excellent care in both Darwin and Denver. The final surgery, in Denver, is where her leg received a plate and pins to stabilize the severely damaged bones. The Operative Report stated, in part;
"The patient fell in Australia and just got back yesterday from a 22-hour flight. Neurovascular is intact. She had a fracture dislocation that was reduced in a hospital in Darwin, Australia.

DETAILS OF PROCEDURE:
Medial malleolar incision protecting neurovascular structures, irrigating and debriding periosteum from a rather vertical shear-type fracture of the medial malleolus that extended anteriorly and posteriorly including some of the sheath for the ______ posterior and posteromedial neurovascular structures. Small bone fragments removed.
The tibiotalar joint appeared normal.
Lateral incision in the interval between the peroneals and the posterior aspect of the fibula and the fracture had quite a bit of comminution. There was some bone missing from the anterior dietal fibular area. There appeared to be some avulsion of the anterior talofibular ligament and the anteriror tibia fibular ligaments which were sewn later. Anatomical reduction held with an eight-hole plate and one lag screw. This was a long spiral fracture. It appeared that no syndesmosis fixation was necessary once we stabilized the bone."

6 Month Follow-up

On Tuesday morning, June 20th (2006) I accompanied Tami to Dr. Docktor's office for her six month review. Her leg has healed nicely and is doing well (has good range of motion, etc.) except for a small amount of pain near some of the "hardware" that's been installed. Although this pain, too, is diminishing with time Dr. Docktor suggested that she consider having the metal removed in a few months. Tami says she'll think about it over the summer and see how the healing continues to progress...
- Roger J. Wendell, 06-20-2006

Links:

Back to Roger J. Wendell's Home Page...