Week 15 ~ The comeback

This is my latest x-ray….

So now it looks like I’m back on track and won’t require surgery….but that’s what we said back in September.

Let’s not jinx it.  I still have a gap between my bones so there’s still potential for my healing to fall apart.  The doctor actually gave me the option to have a brace put on, but remembering what happened last time…

I didn’t want to take any chances and stuck with the cast.  So that means another three weeks in a cast, for a total of six weeks since I last wore the brace.  Add another six weeks from the beginning and that makes it 12 weeks wearing a cast. That must be a new record somewhere. 

I’ll say that I’ve been so against surgery because it would make me feel like the past 15 weeks have been wasted…and I also don’t feel like getting cut up and sliced open.

Thankfully the casts I’ve been getting have gotten lighter and skinnier each visit.  This time the technician found a way to keep my cast on without taping it to me, though the trade-off is that it is quite snug around my arm.  I have not run into this issue of encased itchiness yet.  

Because it has been so long without movement, I did worry about muscle atrophy happening, but the ortho said the physical therapist would take care of that.

Winter is now here, which means putting on more clothes, which to those of who are one-armed means even more time spent dressing.  When I put jackets on I tend to wear them unzipped and let my broken arm hang out for others to see. 

Like my friend Bono here:

But I guess that’s going to have to change.  As it gets colder I’ll have to adopt the poofy/bursting chest look:

Regardless, I’m going to be thankful and grateful in the meantime. 

Week 12 ~ Back to Square One (2.0)

Oh how life can be so cruel.  I dreaded writing this post.  All the fears I had at the beginning of this journey seemed to have come true.

Here’s my latest x-ray:

 It’s been 12 weeks (equivalent to 3 months) since my accident and I’m still not fully healed. 

The ortho has recommended surgery, but I had to convince him that I wanted some more time to heal.  I’m giving myself three more weeks to see some significant healing or else I’m going the surgery route.

I’m so disappointed by this.  I can’t really explain all the fluctuations in my healing and shifting of my bones in the last three months.  So many thoughts run though my head…(i.e. What if I had stayed in my cast longer?,  What if I had slept more on my back?)  I was given a new cast and rolls of cotton to place in between my arm and chest to help elevate the bones come closer together.  This was the same position I was in on day one.  It’s like the past 3 months never happened.

It was suggested I try a bone stimulator machine, but my insurance doesn’t cover it and it is way too expensive and there’s no guarantee that it will help.  I truly hope that elevating my arm will assist in a significant way considering this was the position I was placed in during the six-week mark, which resulted in good bone alignment.  

This sucks.

Strangers are friendly

Recently, I was sitting at a large handicap table at McDonalds waiting for my food when someone touched my shoulder from behind saying, “Excuse me...”  I turned around thinking to myself that another disabled person wanted to battle me for this table.

Instead I was greeted by an elderly lady asking me about my arm.  She was very sweet and concerned about me.  Her equally friendly and curious husband joined us and while explaining myself, she began touching and stroking my broken arm.  You get a lot of attention and stares when you wear a sling and cast in public.  Some strangers will ask you how you broke it and some apparently will be bolder.

They were very sweet, however my first thought afterwards was, “So, that’s how people get their wallets stolen.”

Week 9 ~ Something happened on the way to heaven

Guess what.  I’m back in a cast.  Yep, after seeing the ortho, he looked at my x-ray and asked how long has it been since the accident.  “9 weeks,” I said.  “9 weeks or 9 days?” he replied.  

 

He didn’t tell me what was wrong (and inside, I really didn’t want to know).  He did say it was healing, but the brace was too short and my elbow needed more protection.  Therefore, I had to go back in a cast…

After writing the last few posts and being so happy, I’m now back to being entombed.  Being back in a cast also means more tape drama and no more showers.  But, the cast technician was nice enough (after hearing my moaning and groaning) to make the cast with lighter material by combining it with fibreglass material and not putting as much tape as he normally would (though as expected, that tape wore out three days later).

I take sponge baths now.  But I look forward to showers again one day soon.

Oh well.  What can you do? Frustrating? Yes.  But, I have to be optimistic that the progress I saw with my arm those last few days meant something and this is a minor setback.

Week 8 ~ Little miracles happen everyday…or in my case, waiting 57 days

I can lift my arm.  Well, kinda.  This morning I noticed while brushing my teeth in a sling that I could lift my arm without any support.  It was a miracle!  Then I took a seat and I couldn’t do it anymore.  God pulled a prank on me.

It was the day I’d been anxiously waiting for.  Since my accident I’ve pondered what raising my arm would feel like and how it would happen.  Would I just suddenly wake up one morning and realize it?  (Which you could argue sorta did happen.)  It’s a strange and frustrating feeling when you no longer have control of one of your limbs.  You can try with all your might, stare at it, yell at it, but it just won’t move.      

But, later in the day I realized that my little miracle did last.  Like a magic act, it takes a lot of concentration and effort, but I can raise my arm.  It feels very foreign and eerie when doing so as I can hear and feel bones and muscles moving.  But, it’s great progress and reassures me that I am healing as I have been googling about humerus fractures and non-unions recently.  We all heal differently, right?  Now, I’m just unsure how much I should push it.  Do I try and lift my arm whenever I can?  Will that strengthen it?  Or will it get better on its own and require less effort as time goes on?

Week 7 ~ I can shower

Since the day I exchanged my arm cast for an arm brace, a bit of normalcy has returned back into my life.  It’s now easier to put on shirts; I can wear shirts that actually fit me; and I’m not bumping into door ways or having to walk sideways amongst crowds to avoid getting my arm crashed into.

But, the biggest change has been that I can now shower.  After 7 whole weeks/49 days/1176 hours, I finally had my first shower. 

It was glorious.  Showering was one of those little things I took for granted that I now truly appreciate.  However, for the broken-armed, it does take some planning and preparation if you plan on showering alone without assistance.  Slipping is probably the biggest concern.  So I suggest purchasing a slip-free bath mat.  If you’re wondering how I support my arm in the shower, I created a makeshift cuff & collar sling out of garbage bags and duct tape.

Bone medicine

"How to Speed Fracture Healing" by Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD 

Is there anything I can take to speed the healing?  Maybe.  According to this article by Susan E. Brown, there are nutritional steps and other ways that can accelerate fracture healing.  Now, I assumed that increasing my calcium through milk or calcium tablets would be helpful, but I was told by medical staff that it wouldn’t.  They said there’s nothing you can take for bone growth, and with regards to calcium intake, this article would agree in that sense…but, there are other things you can do to help.  Taking important vitamins, exercising, and increasing protein through supplements might actually be beneficial and speed up your fracture healing.  While I don’t think I would necessarily try everything laid out in this article as you do have to be critical about everything you read.  However, her arguments are convincing and it wouldn't hurt taking at least some of her advice.

Week 6 ~ More than meets the eye

So it’s now been 6 weeks since my break.  Time flies by fast…and I hope it flies by faster so more healing can happen.

Here’s the latest x-ray:

 

Now to the untrained eye it looks exactly the same as two weeks ago.  But, as my ortho pointed out there is some healing occurring:

Thank God because I initially saw it and was disappointed with the lack of alignment, but apparently tissue will start forming to create a small hump over the crack.  There’s also a lot of healing going on that is not visible in an x-ray.

Happily I was taken out of the U-slab plaster cast I’ve been dragging around since day one and put into a brace.  While being put in a brace is no fun either, being out of my cast felt like such a milestone. 

It was a moment to soak in - I spent almost 40 days in that arm tomb.  The weight of the cast was so heavy it gave me lower back pain and shoulder fatigue.  As well, I had to suffer through massive amounts of medical tape on my back, shoulder, and chest in order to secure it to my body.  The medical tape irritated my skin, gave me hives, and left me with a sticky residue that would take days to clean off.

When I came out of the cast I expected to see (and smell) the worst…..but it was nothing like that at all.  Despite losing some definition, the arm looked to be in OK shape.  It was slightly swollen and mushy feeling.  Because the cast was pretty hollow and didn't get it wet or sweaty, there was no foul smell or skin discolouration.  

It’s interesting to note that my ortho would have left me in the cast for another three weeks if I hadn’t mentioned that it’s been 6 weeks since my accident and have been wearing a plaster cast.  I assume all hospital fracture clinics are similar in that all doctors are all simply in/out the door.  All they care about is the progress on the x-ray.  I had to get the nurse to chase him down to ask about my cast.  Apparently, I was told that unless you say something, the ortho would just keep you in there…That’s comforting.

Not alone

A big reason for doing this blog was because I wanted to share my experience.  It was through reading blogs from others with similar injuries that I felt less alone and became more knowledgeable of humerus fractures and the recovery process.  Below are recent and mostly complete blogs that I enjoyed reading from people who got injured and recovered:

http://fracturedhumerus.blogspot.ca/

http://spiralhumerusfracture.blogspot.ca/

http://fracturedhumerusjourney.blogspot.ca/

http://rollercoasterri.blogspot.ca/ (Incomplete blog, but might be helpful to some.  I hope she’s doing better now.)

https://apocxxx.wordpress.com/

The Long Road

So the verdict is in…and it looks like it’s no surgery!  I was so nervous, but while the ortho was quickly scrolling through my x-rays I caught a glimpse of that near alignment of the bones and knew that something had improved.  Unless I do something to really mess up the alignment, I think I’m going to be okay.  Obviously I’m happy, as surgery could lead to infections and complications, but that means I’m taking the long way home to recovery.

I’m a frankly surprised considering all the accidental bumping into doorways I’ve been doing that my left arm has endured and shown improvement.  The one thing disappointing about this is that I have to stay in the same cast and sling.  The cast is still heavy, large, itchy and starting to show its dirrty side.  Three more weeks of suffering, but it’s a small price to pay and hopefully I get something new and less cumbersome to wear when I next see the ortho.

Week 2/3 ~ Two outta five ain’t bad

I should mention that during my wait for my next fracture clinic appointment, I voluntarily went to Emergency four times in one week.  That must be a record.  But, it’s not as serious as it seems.  Three of the four times were to fix my cast and sling because they were constantly coming loose.  The solution…even more itchy medical tape!

While waiting at the hospital, I met an older gentleman wearing a sling for his broken wrist, which he fractured while trying to protect himself from boat propellers while in the water.  Ouch!  And very scary…

The other time I went to Emergency was because my hand was swollen and hemorrhaging, but it turns out that’s normal when your arm is hanging downward within a sling.  During this time I met two other orthos: one said surgery and the other seemed fairly confident that I wouldn’t need it.  So far that makes 2 out of 5 doctors.

Week 2/3 ~ Life as we know it

Having never been injured before, everyday life with one arm is quite an adjustment.  Add a heavy hanging U-slab cast, a cuff & collar sling, and a swollen bruised hand and you've earned yourself some whining rights.  Those of you who have a humerus fracture or broken arm can sympathize with the major adjustments we have to deal with that involve sleeping, bathing, cooking/eating, dressing, washrooming, driving, as well as the minor inconveniences of typing, fingernail cutting, single-hand washing, shoe-lace tying and when you drop something on the floor (the worst!).  I could go on and I’m sure you could too.  The point is…

It’s not the same anymore…at least not for now.

What I truly miss the most are hot showers and sleeping sideways on my bed.  I’ve been doing sponge bathes at the sink because I don’t trust myself wearing a garbage bag in the shower or bathtub.  My first week sleeping-wise was horrible.  My hand and arm would feel like pins and needles if I tried sleeping in a bed and there were nights I would switch through five different couches or chairs in my house to sleep in.  Eventually I settled on sleeping in a la-z-boy reclining chair for a few hours and then switching to being propped with pillows in my bed for the next few hours.  My sleep would always be disturbed by either minor neck pain or my hand/arm being too warm.  Tooth pain was another weird issue.  I don’t think I was grinding my teeth though because it was only my front teeth that felt sore and not my jaw.

Fortunately, by the end of week 2 my pain subsided and I realized that I could comfortably sleep horizontally in my bed.  Yay!  A small, but much appreciated luxury.  However, I can only sleep on my back…and I’m usually a side sleeper.  So, that’s been another adjustment.  There are times I will try and sleep on my right side while trying to balance my cast on the side of my stomach, but then it eventually feels weird, awkward and heavy.  If you’re able-bodied, please be grateful that you are able to shower and sleep in a bed sideways: I envy you.

Second (and third) opinion

After arriving, registering, and getting x-rayed all over again, I was greeted with the news that my bones might be able to heal on their own.  “Really?!”  I said.  “Maybe…there’s a slight chance,” the emergency ortho replied.  “Let’s hope that gravity’s on your side.”

So, I took that sliver of hope and decided to wait and see.  After making an appointment with the fracture clinic and a week later, I saw another ortho and his first reaction after seeing my x-ray was, “You’ll need surgery.”  “But, the other orthopedic surgeon said it could possibly mend on its own,” I mentioned.  Then he replied it was up to me and believed that we should give it another 3 weeks to see if the bones would start to mend or not, otherwise it was surgery.  Now, like with all choices there are pros and cons, with operative surgery there is quicker recovery time, but it would mean going under the knife, being part Terminator, and possible 1-2% chance of nerve damage in the hand if surgery is not 100% successful.  Non-operative surgery is all natural, but a longer recovery time.  I’m a patient person so I’ll go with the latter…if given that chance.  So I’ll play the waiting game for now and throw in a whole lotta prayer and promises to God in the mean time, despite not being a religious man…but I can be!

Sooo, what happened?

SNAP!

“I think I broke my arm!”

That’s what I said after found myself sitting atop a hanging log and staring at my eerily wobbling misaligned left arm while treetop trekking this past summer.  It happened so quickly, but I remember holding the cables with both hands and then suddenly seeing my left arm fly over my head while trying to support myself.  And then SNAP!

The obstacle course looked pretty similar to this:

Fortunately, there was a log underneath me for me to safely land on top of otherwise I think this injury could have been made worse (i.e. me tangling in the air with a broken arm).

In brief: after getting slinged up by first aid, taking a long walk to the car, a painful drive (my friend and his sharp turns) to the nearby hospital and an even longer wait for the doctor, I was given the news after looking at my x-ray that I would need surgery.  I was devastated.  This was my first major injury ever and the thought of having metal plates and screws forever inside me was not very appealing.  You see, although I initially screamed, “broken arm!” when I heard the snap, I honestly thought it was just a dislocated elbow. 

Before I could accept my outcome, the orthopedic surgeon told me that surgery could be scheduled for tonight, however if someone with say, an exploded pancreas came in, then I would get bumped.  Another deterrent was that this hospital was located an hour away from where I lived and registering at a hospital near me for surgery would be more ideal for follow-up appointments in the future.  So off I went to another hospital to see another orthopedic surgeon.