I hurted my arm
Feb. 27th, 2010 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lostcarparkSome of you have heard snippits on Facebook or Twitter, but I thought I'd post the full story here to bring people up to date.
Two weeks ago, I slipped running for a train, landing hard on my left arm. It was a frosty morning and I think there may have been a little ice on the platform. It hurt quite a lot, but the friendly station master held the door open for me, while asking was I sure I wouldn't prefer to get the next train. I said I was okay, thinking I'd be fine once I got on the train.
So I sat on the floor of the packed express train feeling sorry for myself. It wasn't hurting too badly by the time I got to Dublin - providing I didn't try to move.
I made it to work. I had a couple of importantish things to do as there was a system change I'd prepared going live that day. But I was limited to typing with one hand, and it was clear that my left arm wasn't right.
After consulting some of my colleagues, I remembered I have a physiotherapist friend in town, so I gave her a call. She said to pop over and she'd take a look. Once I'd made sure everything looked okay at work, I headed over. She examined my arm, and said that she thought it was most likely just muscle damage, but that she couldn't rule out a break to one of the bones in my wrist, so her advice was to head to casualty and get it x-rayed.
So I headed over to the hospital. After I found the A&E department, things proceeded quite quickly. I hadn't even finished checking in when the nurse called me for an initial examination. This was just to determine the urgency of my case, but she said there weren't too many others ahead of me. I was only waiting about twenty minutes before I was called again. This time an "advanced nursing practitioner" did a detailed examination of my arm, determining exactly where it hurt and what range of movement I had.
I was sent off for an x-ray. Again, I was waiting just a few minutes. The x-ray person positioned my arm a couple of different ways, zapped it, then sent me back to A&E. I sat there for another fifteen or so minutes, then was called back by the advanced nursing practitioner who informed me I have fractured my distal radius. He showed me the x-ray, which looked a little like this (you can see a little crack across one of the main arm bones).
I waited outside for another few minutes while he consulted with an orthopaedic specialist. When I came back, he said they were reasonably happy with the angle it was at, but he wanted me back for the next available fracture clinic. He then put me in a back slab - a cast along half my arm - apparently they don't do a full cast at first in case there's swelling that could cut off the blood supply. In total I was in the hospital for just over two hours. I made an appointment for the "next available" fracture clinic on my way out. Unfortunately, that was over a week away, which in hindsight might not have been ideal and perhaps I should have checked with the practitioner if that was okay.
They also told me I could take a week off if I needed it. I didn't think I would, but I had a slightly uncomfortable week, with difficulty sleeping, a useless left arm, and did not feel up to going to work. I did think about updating LJ, but the effort of one handed typing put me off.
So on Monday I was back in hospital (thanks to Angie who gave me a lift in). The doctor took a quick look at the x-ray from my first visit, then sent me for a new cast and an x-ray. I asked plasterer (a somewhat anachronistic title since they don't use plaster any more) should they not do the x-ray first, but he said there was no point since they have to x-ray after the cast is on to make sure nothing has moved, and it's cheaper to take a few casts off than x-ray everyone twice. Encased in a new cast (in a fashonable blue colour), I headed down to the x-ray area, where there seemed to be a big queue, but I got called relatively quickly. Once zapped, I was back to the doctor, thinking how smoothly it had all gone, and I'd be out in no time.
Unfortunately the doctor had other ideas. He wasn't happy with the angle the bones were knitting at, which had shifted in the wrong direction from my first visit. He thought it best to bring me in to insert some metal wires to hold it in place. Because it had been ten days since the accident, it had to be done in a hurry. I waited while he rang around to find somewhere for me. Eventually I got out with a booking for the day surgery unit the next morning.
The next morning I arrived in at 7:30 (thanks to my sister, Brenda, who kindly gave me a lift). I was seen by nurses and doctors, and changed into embarrassing gowns. Finally I was walked to the theatre, which seemed to be miles away. I asked the nurse if they ever lose patients. There was a brief discussion about whether the glass of water I drank that morning was okay - apparently I shouldn't have listened to the information sheet day surgery had given me saying no food after midnight, but liquids were okay till 6am. Eventually they decided it would be okay to go ahead, injected me with something, and the next I knew was waking up in the recovery area.
They left me there a while, then wheeled me back to day surgery. I did a quick check to make sure I had the right number of limbs. My arm was back in a back slab, wrapped up firmly in a stretchy bandage. I was given a prescription for painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine, and told to come back in two weeks.
So I've been off work since. I've to ring the hospital if I feel like going back to work, though that looks unlikely for a few days yet. My arm is still quite sore, and it's not easy to get to sleep at night. Occasionally I forget and try to use my left hand, which usually results in a painful reminder. Typing this has taken an age.
Hopefully will be back to normal functioning soon.
Two weeks ago, I slipped running for a train, landing hard on my left arm. It was a frosty morning and I think there may have been a little ice on the platform. It hurt quite a lot, but the friendly station master held the door open for me, while asking was I sure I wouldn't prefer to get the next train. I said I was okay, thinking I'd be fine once I got on the train.
So I sat on the floor of the packed express train feeling sorry for myself. It wasn't hurting too badly by the time I got to Dublin - providing I didn't try to move.
I made it to work. I had a couple of importantish things to do as there was a system change I'd prepared going live that day. But I was limited to typing with one hand, and it was clear that my left arm wasn't right.
After consulting some of my colleagues, I remembered I have a physiotherapist friend in town, so I gave her a call. She said to pop over and she'd take a look. Once I'd made sure everything looked okay at work, I headed over. She examined my arm, and said that she thought it was most likely just muscle damage, but that she couldn't rule out a break to one of the bones in my wrist, so her advice was to head to casualty and get it x-rayed.
So I headed over to the hospital. After I found the A&E department, things proceeded quite quickly. I hadn't even finished checking in when the nurse called me for an initial examination. This was just to determine the urgency of my case, but she said there weren't too many others ahead of me. I was only waiting about twenty minutes before I was called again. This time an "advanced nursing practitioner" did a detailed examination of my arm, determining exactly where it hurt and what range of movement I had.
I was sent off for an x-ray. Again, I was waiting just a few minutes. The x-ray person positioned my arm a couple of different ways, zapped it, then sent me back to A&E. I sat there for another fifteen or so minutes, then was called back by the advanced nursing practitioner who informed me I have fractured my distal radius. He showed me the x-ray, which looked a little like this (you can see a little crack across one of the main arm bones).
I waited outside for another few minutes while he consulted with an orthopaedic specialist. When I came back, he said they were reasonably happy with the angle it was at, but he wanted me back for the next available fracture clinic. He then put me in a back slab - a cast along half my arm - apparently they don't do a full cast at first in case there's swelling that could cut off the blood supply. In total I was in the hospital for just over two hours. I made an appointment for the "next available" fracture clinic on my way out. Unfortunately, that was over a week away, which in hindsight might not have been ideal and perhaps I should have checked with the practitioner if that was okay.
They also told me I could take a week off if I needed it. I didn't think I would, but I had a slightly uncomfortable week, with difficulty sleeping, a useless left arm, and did not feel up to going to work. I did think about updating LJ, but the effort of one handed typing put me off.
So on Monday I was back in hospital (thanks to Angie who gave me a lift in). The doctor took a quick look at the x-ray from my first visit, then sent me for a new cast and an x-ray. I asked plasterer (a somewhat anachronistic title since they don't use plaster any more) should they not do the x-ray first, but he said there was no point since they have to x-ray after the cast is on to make sure nothing has moved, and it's cheaper to take a few casts off than x-ray everyone twice. Encased in a new cast (in a fashonable blue colour), I headed down to the x-ray area, where there seemed to be a big queue, but I got called relatively quickly. Once zapped, I was back to the doctor, thinking how smoothly it had all gone, and I'd be out in no time.
Unfortunately the doctor had other ideas. He wasn't happy with the angle the bones were knitting at, which had shifted in the wrong direction from my first visit. He thought it best to bring me in to insert some metal wires to hold it in place. Because it had been ten days since the accident, it had to be done in a hurry. I waited while he rang around to find somewhere for me. Eventually I got out with a booking for the day surgery unit the next morning.
The next morning I arrived in at 7:30 (thanks to my sister, Brenda, who kindly gave me a lift). I was seen by nurses and doctors, and changed into embarrassing gowns. Finally I was walked to the theatre, which seemed to be miles away. I asked the nurse if they ever lose patients. There was a brief discussion about whether the glass of water I drank that morning was okay - apparently I shouldn't have listened to the information sheet day surgery had given me saying no food after midnight, but liquids were okay till 6am. Eventually they decided it would be okay to go ahead, injected me with something, and the next I knew was waking up in the recovery area.
They left me there a while, then wheeled me back to day surgery. I did a quick check to make sure I had the right number of limbs. My arm was back in a back slab, wrapped up firmly in a stretchy bandage. I was given a prescription for painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine, and told to come back in two weeks.
So I've been off work since. I've to ring the hospital if I feel like going back to work, though that looks unlikely for a few days yet. My arm is still quite sore, and it's not easy to get to sleep at night. Occasionally I forget and try to use my left hand, which usually results in a painful reminder. Typing this has taken an age.
Hopefully will be back to normal functioning soon.
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Date: 2010-02-27 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 06:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 07:27 am (UTC)Bit shit trying to make Lego with one hand eh...
Hope you are catching up on reading.
j
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Date: 2010-02-28 10:04 am (UTC)