The Adventures of Steven Moore, "Scooter Boy"

By: Steven Moore, CIS Director of Business Development

stevenmoore@cis-partners.com

I thought it would be great to kick off the New Year with a serious article.

So my wife and I had grand plans for a house-hopping, crazy holiday --- visiting family and friends and then celebrating New Year’s Eve and heading to Jamaica on January 1st for an eight day trip (mostly because NOBODY wants to hear from the ‘Sales guy’ the first week back from the holidays).

As the commercial says, life comes at you fast…

On December 15th, with the score tied at 7 in a heated pick-up basketball game to 8, I dove for a loose ball and heard and felt a very loud “POP” in the back of my leg. I went to get up, only to fall down, to try and slug the jerk that kicked me in the back of the leg but, alas, nobody was even within 10 feet of me. Houston, we have a problem. I was no longer 30 going on 18… I was 30 going on 50...

I limped off the court and got in my car and visions of Jamaica and ‘froo froo’ drinks began to sputter. My mind raced and I called my wife:

Wifey: “Hello.”
Me: “Um. Yeah. I got hurt. Bad.”

These are the calls in life you hate to make and the worries that you don’t have because you can’t predict them. I got home and said, “I think I pulled a muscle --- maybe my calf muscle.” I iced the back of my leg and was in excruciating pain --- but still waited two days and a CIS holiday party to go to the doctor’s office. After a Google search and a “Thompson Test” (which is when you squeeze your calf muscle while lying face down --- and notice that your foot doesn’t move --- try it, it’s creepy), followed by an X-ray, MRI and visit, the dreaded but expected prognosis was given by the orthopedic surgeon:

“You have fully ruptured your Achilles tendon. It will heal over time (6
months) on its own, but re-rupture is far more likely if you go that
route. Most people who are active and healthy choose surgery. You
will not be able to put any weight on it for 6 weeks post surgery and likely
won’t walk normally for 3 or 4 months.”

My holiday Cheerios were officially peed in.

Surgery is a scary thing and I don’t have too much pride (heck, that was out the window a long, long time ago) to admit that I was nervous and, well, scared. I didn’t know what to expect or what I was supposed to be afraid of. I chose not to have surgery until 12/28 so that we could still have a semi-normal Christmas celebration and it wouldn’t effect seeing both sides of our families. It was a good move, but at any moment my mind was idle, the devil was at play in his workshop.

So I was called back into the surgery and then came the IV, then waiting and then sedatives (I think I recall saying, “Wow, now I know why the Beatles were such good song writers,” to my nurse anesthetist). The last thing I remember is hearing my surgeon say, “This may sting a little.” After that, I woke up and it was all done. I think I was given Propofol, or “Milk of Amnesia”, and I can honestly say it was the wildest experiences to wake up two hours later with ZERO recollection of what occurred. That hasn’t happened since college… Kidding, of course. You guys know I don’t drink. That often.

So here’s where the ‘Scooter’ part comes in and what is relevant to the Pharma Compliance Blog. Our industry is sweet and more people need to know about the advances that are happening. First and foremost, somebody sliced open my calf and tied my tendon together without me feeling a thing, and then I awoke to some strong pain but was given medicine to deal with it (I actually only used painkillers for about 48 hours) as well as the appropriate antibiotics to guard against wound infection and, here’s the kicker: I researched my injury and decided to rent a knee walker (which we’ll affectionately call “Scooter”) to replace crutches and it’s been a revelation for me.

I can buzz around the house, use the bathroom, take a shower with my leg hanging out and do cool ‘k’ turns with my Scooter without my leg ever touching the ground or being straight up and down as it would be on crutches (and trust me, when the blood flows to the wound, I can feel it!). My uncles and cousins made fun of me and called me ‘Scooter Boy’ during Christmas, but I didn’t care since I’ve read and heard (thanks CIS’ Amy VanDeCar) that those who use the Scooter cut their healing time down and walk sooner. Give me two extra weeks of walking and I’ll take all the derision that comes my way.

In fact, when I’m up to it, I plan to take my Scooter to the mall and do ‘laps’ as exercise and cardio while the High School kids make fun of me. Heck, I might even put one of those ‘bicycle bells’ on it and wear a helmet with cool decals. And when I physically return to work in the next week or so, I’ll buzz around the office in my Scooter and will likely be made fun of as well --- but it’s all good! The truth is, when it comes to medicine and healing, we should all take our pride out of the equation and do what’s best for the recovery process. Those suffering with crutches --- and the accompanying worn out armpits and palms --- need only 5 minutes with my Scooter and I can sell them.

I’m 8 days post-surgery and am feeling great. Sure, I was SUPPOSED to be in Jamaica right now doing the reggae walk and saying ‘yeah mon’ to every offer from the resort staff (well, almost every offer) --- but life doesn’t work that way. I’ve already learned a lot through this and plan to hold onto it. My New Year’s resolution is to not take so many things for granted, like getting dressed, going to the bathroom, showering, getting a drink, making coffee and, oh yeah, walking and exercise. My wife and caretaker has been a savior and we’re very lucky she is a college professor and home these days!

Finally, I send out a big ‘cheers’ to our industry for novel medicines and devices that will help me heal faster than the ancient Greek hero warrior Achilles could himself. I’m convinced that even this great warrior wouldn’t have minded the Romans making fun of him...

Achilles, “Scooter Boy”.

"Gotta dig the holiday beard..."

For Your Space and here’s to a Fantastic 2010!

Steven “Scooter Boy” Moore