Watch above: A Saskatoon man spent more than a month in hospital before learning he needed surgery. Joel Senick says the family is now raising concerns about the initial diagnosis.
SASKATOON – Jesse LeClaire, 31, says he’s still recovering from surgery on his femur after being hit by a vehicle last May in Saskatoon.
“I am starting to feel a bit better,” said Jesse, while in his east-side home on a recent afternoon.
“I am still in some pain, but nothing like I was.”
Jesse, who has muscular dystrophy, was hit near Holy Cross High School while moving through a crosswalk on his motorized chair. He says he was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital, where an x-ray revealed he had two small fractures, one of which was in his hip.
He says doctors told him they would heal in time.
READ MORE: Saskatoon Health Region expanding First Nations health services
“Because I am not weight bearing there was no point in doing surgery,” Jesse said the doctors told him.
“They said if I just rest for a bit it will heal on its own.”
However, after more than a month in care, Jesse says he was still in pain. A second x-ray at a different angle found the hip fracture to be more severe than originally thought, and he would need surgery.
“I was packing up his stuff to go home, we were all excited and then his resident came in and the look on her face,” said Maureen LeClaire, Jesse’s mother, of the day the second results came in.
“If they had done the surgery day one, he would have been home in eight days and he wouldn’t have been in the hospital for forty-six days,” said John LeClaire, Jesse’s father.
Hip injuries can change over time, according to the Saskatoon Health Region’s orthopaedic surgery division head, Dr. Jeffrey McKerrell. He said a screening x-ray is taken when a patient is first admitted to the emergency room.
“It’s not unusual if things aren’t going well to repeat the x-ray somewhere down the road and see if things have changed,” said McKerrell, who added that he did not know the specifics of Jesse’s case.
“Treatment of course is a dynamic thing,” he continued.
The LeClaire’s are also raising questions about the period between the second x-ray and when Jesse received surgery. They say he was prepped for six days straight, having to fast for the majority of the period. The family says the date of Jesse’s surgery was pushed back multiple times.
READ MORE: SHR welcomes new respirologist specializing in adult cystic fibrosis
“There are people that wait much longer than that at home for fractured ankles and other fractures,” said Dr. McKerrell.
“During a peak of orthopaedic need, there’s not enough resources to do those patients right away.”
“It’s a bad cycle, because you’re feeling sick from not eating and you still can’t eat,” said Jesse of the process.
There is no limit to the number of days a patient can be prepped for surgery without it occurring, according to Dr. McKerrell. He added that the health region would like to operate on hip fractures within 24 hours of them occurring, unless a patient has a chronic or long term injury.
“We prioritize people with multiple trauma and life threatening injuries, we prioritize in orthopedics people with open fractures and we prioritize children,” said Dr. McKerrell.
Jesse says he now struggles with everyday tasks, like brushing his teeth or drinking a cup of water, because he was bed ridden in hospital for more than a month.
“With muscular dystrophy it’s hard to build your muscles back up, like even a little bit,” said Jesse.
He said he hopes health officials take note of his ordeal.
“I would hate to see anyone go through what I went through.”
Comments