It's been nearly six months since my nasty fall and broken wrist. Am I all better? No, but I am doing pretty well. What is still not right? Most annoying is the tingling in my fingers. Some activities make it worse... pruning, using scissors, and hand sewing affect it the most. I hate that tingling. Several times a night it wakes me and I have to shake it and move it so I can go back to sleep. Sometimes it aches up and down my arm below the elbow and in my hand. It still hurts to rotate my arm from the elbow. I am still seeing the chiropractor once a month. He says I am doing well.
I hoped to be all the way well by six months. That is about the soonest they say an adult can fully recover. The older you are the longer it takes. A year is not uncommon so I am still hoping for full recovery.
There is another woman in the neighborhood who broke her wrist about the same time and had the pin surgery (which I refused to do). She is using a physical therapist at a hundred dollars a pop. Her total cost so far for her broken wrist is 30K... my total cost is about 3K. Our recoveries are about the same at this point although her cost is ten times mine. I know not all breaks are the same but she is younger, broke the same bone and in both cases they recommended pin surgery.
The most expensive part for me was the orthopedist. It cost over two grand for four office visits, two casts, and three x-rays. I saw the physicians assistant and never the surgeon. We figure they charged about eight hundred dollars an hour for the office visits. The casts and x-rays were add on costs. They charged way too much for what they did. Western medicine is so expensive. And they make it pretty hard to price shop.
Showing posts with label nasty fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nasty fall. Show all posts
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Three months since my nasty fall
It's been three months since my nasty fall. I still have numbness, stiffness and soreness. My symptoms seem a lot
like carpal tunnel and arthritis and that may be how it is. Carpal tunnel scares me because I don't like any of the treatments. But I hope to get over it. It takes six months to a year to recover from a broken wrist.
I especially hate the tingling. I sure hope that goes away! It gets worse if I do too much. I've been sewing and I have to be careful not to over do or it is past annoying and gets painful. It is still pretty hard to use my heavy (and beloved) iron. Most of the time (unless I over do), it is at the annoying level.
When I broke my wrist, I couldn't find much information on what recovery along the way was like. I hope that this will help someone else who might be searching.
I especially hate the tingling. I sure hope that goes away! It gets worse if I do too much. I've been sewing and I have to be careful not to over do or it is past annoying and gets painful. It is still pretty hard to use my heavy (and beloved) iron. Most of the time (unless I over do), it is at the annoying level.
When I broke my wrist, I couldn't find much information on what recovery along the way was like. I hope that this will help someone else who might be searching.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Four weeks post cast
It's four weeks since my cast came off and ten weeks since my fall. Here are the goals I had two weeks ago:
I am happy that I HAVE seen improvements in the last two weeks. I can write, draw and sleep through the night but I am still having issues using a knife. I just have so little strength in my wrist and using a knife causes me pain. I don't know about driving because I haven't driven in the last two weeks.
I've been doing some sewing and I have a very hard time using my iron (because it is too heavy for me to pick up) and using scissors. Cutting with scissors causes tingling even though I am careful to cut for very short times. It took me days to cut out the shirt I am making. And I can't use my rotary cutter at all.
My arm/wrist/hand still gives me pain from time to time, especially if I over use it. I don't mean to over use it. I don't know I am over using it until it begins to complain.
I still get that asleep feeling in various parts of my hand. I find that very annoying. The tingling is like having electricity going through my hand, and I hate shocks. The chiropractor made the tingling better with an adjustment last week. He tells me I am doing very well and that I should be patient. It generally takes six months to heal from the trauma of a wrist fracture (tendons and ligaments are especially slow to heal). The chiropractor seems confident it will heal completely. I sure hope so.
All in all it is enough better that I sometimes forget I broke it and when it hurts me, my first thought is "why does my arm hurt?"... oh yeah, I broke my wrist.
- write longhand, even for a short time, without pain
- write/draw with smooth motions instead of small jerky motions
- sleep through the night without pain in my arm waking me up
- drive without it hurting when I turn the wheel for a corner
- cut up a raw carrot
- peel potatoes
I am happy that I HAVE seen improvements in the last two weeks. I can write, draw and sleep through the night but I am still having issues using a knife. I just have so little strength in my wrist and using a knife causes me pain. I don't know about driving because I haven't driven in the last two weeks.
I've been doing some sewing and I have a very hard time using my iron (because it is too heavy for me to pick up) and using scissors. Cutting with scissors causes tingling even though I am careful to cut for very short times. It took me days to cut out the shirt I am making. And I can't use my rotary cutter at all.
My arm/wrist/hand still gives me pain from time to time, especially if I over use it. I don't mean to over use it. I don't know I am over using it until it begins to complain.
I still get that asleep feeling in various parts of my hand. I find that very annoying. The tingling is like having electricity going through my hand, and I hate shocks. The chiropractor made the tingling better with an adjustment last week. He tells me I am doing very well and that I should be patient. It generally takes six months to heal from the trauma of a wrist fracture (tendons and ligaments are especially slow to heal). The chiropractor seems confident it will heal completely. I sure hope so.
All in all it is enough better that I sometimes forget I broke it and when it hurts me, my first thought is "why does my arm hurt?"... oh yeah, I broke my wrist.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Two Weeks Post Cast
I am more or less a two armed person. I can do my wrist flexibility exercises with more ease. I can do more cooking tasks but still all too often need assistance. I am still a limited two arm person.
Here are some things I want to be able to do and still cannot do
This week my arm has been bothering me a lot at night when I am trying to sleep. It's actually been worse, not better. I wonder if it is because I have been working more than I should, assuming that I want to sleep at night. And I DO want to sleep at night. It doesn't hurt like that when I am awake. Last night I had to get up because that was the only way to get it to stop hurting.
Here's a link for wrist physical therapy exercises with good directions and photos. Best ones I found, anyway.
Update: It IS bad for me to work. I was told to back off. And I am sleeping through the night now.
Here are some things I want to be able to do and still cannot do
- write longhand, even for a short time, without pain
- write/draw with smooth motions instead of small jerky motions
- sleep through the night without pain in my arm waking me up
- drive without it hurting when I turn the wheel for a corner
- cut up a raw carrot
- peel potatoes
This week my arm has been bothering me a lot at night when I am trying to sleep. It's actually been worse, not better. I wonder if it is because I have been working more than I should, assuming that I want to sleep at night. And I DO want to sleep at night. It doesn't hurt like that when I am awake. Last night I had to get up because that was the only way to get it to stop hurting.
Here's a link for wrist physical therapy exercises with good directions and photos. Best ones I found, anyway.
Update: It IS bad for me to work. I was told to back off. And I am sleeping through the night now.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
One week post cast
It's been one week since my cast came off. The physician's assistant (at the orthopedist office) said to measure my progress in weeks, not days. It's much improved in a week.
Pain in my arm woke me a lot in the first week but finally last night it didn't. Yea!!! My wrist is not as stiff though it has much further to go. The pain mostly comes from the outside of my wrist where there is a bump but the bone that broke was the inside (radius) bone... there was a small bone fragment noted in the original x-ray. I always imagine that is what hurts but who knows. The wrist has lots of ligaments and tendons and joints and bones and complexity. It hurts like something is being stretched, so probably not a bone fragment.
At least it is getting better. And it feels good to work it. Sometimes by the end of the day it complains that I've used it too much but I just love using it! I really do. I can use a dust pan. I can cut my nails. I can use a knife some. So many every day things. I can only work with a keyboard for a fairly short time but it is getting longer.
The sidewalk where I fell is on one of our regular errand routes and today the people were outside. It was nice to talk to them. They were very glad to see me doing better. It was sweet.
Back to playing with my silly putty...
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| the bump |
Pain in my arm woke me a lot in the first week but finally last night it didn't. Yea!!! My wrist is not as stiff though it has much further to go. The pain mostly comes from the outside of my wrist where there is a bump but the bone that broke was the inside (radius) bone... there was a small bone fragment noted in the original x-ray. I always imagine that is what hurts but who knows. The wrist has lots of ligaments and tendons and joints and bones and complexity. It hurts like something is being stretched, so probably not a bone fragment.
At least it is getting better. And it feels good to work it. Sometimes by the end of the day it complains that I've used it too much but I just love using it! I really do. I can use a dust pan. I can cut my nails. I can use a knife some. So many every day things. I can only work with a keyboard for a fairly short time but it is getting longer.
The sidewalk where I fell is on one of our regular errand routes and today the people were outside. It was nice to talk to them. They were very glad to see me doing better. It was sweet.
Back to playing with my silly putty...
Friday, December 28, 2012
My cast is OFF
Yesterday I got my cast off and I can type with both hands now, though not without a little pain. My wrist is still swollen and stiff. It also has a weird bump which I hope will go away. My fingers tingled some in the night. I hope this is temporary and not the start of carpal tunnel. It is awfully nice to have my old friend back even in its somewhat banged up condition.
Update: Its been three nights and my arm hurts at night. It aches all the way from my shoulder down through my thumb. Sometimes my fingers tingle. I hate things that interrupt my sleep. On the plus side, my arm and hand really are very usable though my wrist is stiff, especially in the bump area. I hope it is mostly the swelling and will get better as the swelling subsides. Yes, I am doing exercises for range of motion and strength. It is so very nice to use it fairly normally.
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| some parts are shrunken and some parts are swollen |
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| the bump |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Not so lucky... the good the bad and the ugly
Well, it's been two and a half weeks since my lfall.
the good... the orthopedist and the chiropractor both say I am healing very well, which speaks to my good health. The orthopedist is 90% sure my fracture will heal with just a cast. I don't have a lot of pain in the fracture site which i understand is unusual. My eye is looking much better. i am managing to mostly entertain myself. i am well taken care of and have been touched by the kindness of my husband, friends, and even strangers.
the bad... although the fracture site doesn't hurt much, lots of other things do...my thumb, my hand, my arm, my shoulder, my knee and my back all have pain sometimes and, at any one time, usually at least one of those places is hurting. But the cast is the worst and drives me crazy. i find myself wanting to tear it off. especially when it feels like it is lined with fiberglass insulation. i hate that i can't tie my shoes, open most containers, cook, open a can of cat food, use scissors, shower myself, zip my coat, write my name. i can dress and type a little but it is very awkward and slow. i walk a couple of times a day but am afraid of falling and of someone bumping into me. it has slowed our kitchen project to a crawl because not only can i not do my part for the household, but my husband has to do so much for me. i have worked some but sitting for more than fifteen minutes is really hard on my body. there is so much i cannot do and it already it feels like it has been forever. while all that is true, somehow it paints it worse than it feels. I can read, walk, use the internet some and it gets better every day.
the ugly... health insurance sucks. western medicine is way too expensive, mostly for reasons that do not benefit my health. The cast protects the bone, but the cast and immobility are bad for the muscles, tendons and ligaments; that makes me worry about how my arm will be when the cast comes off. Most wrist fractures take six months to a year to heal; that seems like a long time. It is possible my wrist may never be the same again... I think it WILL be okay, but it scares me to think of it being impaired. My body has always been so reliable. I like it that way.
It was a very hard fall. I've been told I am lucky my injuries weren't much worse. I didn't injure my eye or break any teeth. I could have really hurt my head. I could have had worse bone breakage.... etc, etc. And that is all true. Having it be worse would be unlucky. Not falling.... that would be lucky.
the good... the orthopedist and the chiropractor both say I am healing very well, which speaks to my good health. The orthopedist is 90% sure my fracture will heal with just a cast. I don't have a lot of pain in the fracture site which i understand is unusual. My eye is looking much better. i am managing to mostly entertain myself. i am well taken care of and have been touched by the kindness of my husband, friends, and even strangers.
the bad... although the fracture site doesn't hurt much, lots of other things do...my thumb, my hand, my arm, my shoulder, my knee and my back all have pain sometimes and, at any one time, usually at least one of those places is hurting. But the cast is the worst and drives me crazy. i find myself wanting to tear it off. especially when it feels like it is lined with fiberglass insulation. i hate that i can't tie my shoes, open most containers, cook, open a can of cat food, use scissors, shower myself, zip my coat, write my name. i can dress and type a little but it is very awkward and slow. i walk a couple of times a day but am afraid of falling and of someone bumping into me. it has slowed our kitchen project to a crawl because not only can i not do my part for the household, but my husband has to do so much for me. i have worked some but sitting for more than fifteen minutes is really hard on my body. there is so much i cannot do and it already it feels like it has been forever. while all that is true, somehow it paints it worse than it feels. I can read, walk, use the internet some and it gets better every day.
the ugly... health insurance sucks. western medicine is way too expensive, mostly for reasons that do not benefit my health. The cast protects the bone, but the cast and immobility are bad for the muscles, tendons and ligaments; that makes me worry about how my arm will be when the cast comes off. Most wrist fractures take six months to a year to heal; that seems like a long time. It is possible my wrist may never be the same again... I think it WILL be okay, but it scares me to think of it being impaired. My body has always been so reliable. I like it that way.
It was a very hard fall. I've been told I am lucky my injuries weren't much worse. I didn't injure my eye or break any teeth. I could have really hurt my head. I could have had worse bone breakage.... etc, etc. And that is all true. Having it be worse would be unlucky. Not falling.... that would be lucky.
Monday, November 26, 2012
nasty fall
A few weeks ago I tripped on a sidewalk in my neighborhood that has a big ridge. I broke my wrist on my dominant hand and hit my head which broke my glasses and caused a couple gashes in my eyebrow.
My eye looked the worst but it really wasn't painful... it was just that a lot of blood pooled there. I think the concrete may have shaved part of my eyebrow right off. I don't recommend it as a hair removal method.
I also bruised my knee and my shoulder. Those didn't bother me at first, not until after a couple of days went by, which took me by surprise.
i think it looked worst here.
The wrist has been the worst to deal with because I am in a cast. I am amazed at how hard it is to do most anything. Typing is hard, writing impossible. Eating is difficult. Sewing impossible. Reading a book is hard but my brother in law helped me out with Kindle books. Ironically, I can still walk so I do a lot of that.
Please keep your sidewalks in good repair. And if you don't, and you live where I walk, I will turn you in to the city. Yes, I've become A Sidewalk Policeman.
My wrist is healing okay and I won't need pins. Glad about that. I am not a fan of western medicine so this has been hard for me. Gotta stop now...too difficult to type.
See you soon....
Update... added photo of my cast, by request. It was hard to get a good picture.
Update 2: I have gotten a lot of support from friends and neighbors and also from a kitchen forum I participate in. The kitchen forum is a great place to get help on kitchen questions but also was very informative as well as supportive for my injury.
kitchen forum thread
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| where i tripped |
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| ridge is over an inch high |
I also bruised my knee and my shoulder. Those didn't bother me at first, not until after a couple of days went by, which took me by surprise.
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| right after it happened |
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| two days later |
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| four days after it happened |
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| twelve days after it happened |
i think it looked worst here.
The wrist has been the worst to deal with because I am in a cast. I am amazed at how hard it is to do most anything. Typing is hard, writing impossible. Eating is difficult. Sewing impossible. Reading a book is hard but my brother in law helped me out with Kindle books. Ironically, I can still walk so I do a lot of that.
Please keep your sidewalks in good repair. And if you don't, and you live where I walk, I will turn you in to the city. Yes, I've become A Sidewalk Policeman.
My wrist is healing okay and I won't need pins. Glad about that. I am not a fan of western medicine so this has been hard for me. Gotta stop now...too difficult to type.
See you soon....
Update... added photo of my cast, by request. It was hard to get a good picture.
Update 2: I have gotten a lot of support from friends and neighbors and also from a kitchen forum I participate in. The kitchen forum is a great place to get help on kitchen questions but also was very informative as well as supportive for my injury.
kitchen forum thread
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