In late September I was in the backyard holding a basket for my husband. It was a small basket that he was loading up with freshly picked tomatoes and bell peppers from our garden. I was standing outside our fenced garden as he was doing the picking. Something caught my attention and I turned around quickly to see what it was and…well…I fell.
Not only did I fall but I fell hard! I mean HARD! As soon as I hit the ground you heard my bones breaking and I left out a blood curdling scream. Sam came running and it took him 10 minutes to get me off the ground. I had to carefully hold my arm with my other arm so that it didn’t move. Screaming and crying the entire time. It hurt like the dickens!
Once in the house he grabbed my wallet and car keys. We were then off for the 8-10 minute drive to the ER. Yes, I cried like a baby the entire time! Those few minutes felt like an eternity to me. After getting registered they took me back. Once gowned the nurse called X-ray and I was wheeled to X-ray before I even laid eyes on the ER Doctor. I love fast service like that!
I knew as soon as I fell that I broke a bone…I just didn’t realize how many and how badly. I broke my ulna and radius near my wrist, dislocated my wrist, ripped 2 large nerves in the palm of my hand and developed a 2cm blood clot in my carpal tunnel from the fractured bones bleeding. Ugh. Sigh. Thank god for good pain medications!
They initially tried to reset and cast the fractures. After 3 days they realized that wasn’t working as I continued to swell, my skin discolored and I cried in pain. The decision was made to take me to surgery. I ended up with 2 incisions (one inside of forearm and one through palm of hand). I got a fancy new metal plate, a few pins and some nerve repairs along with the clot removal.
The following 2 1/2 months were difficult with complications. I ended up with compartment syndrome (severe swelling) that took 2 months to come down and perm. nerve pain in my left hand. The trauma of it all set off my Porphyria twice so I had to get treatment for that too. What a nightmare.
Anyway, today I’m showing you a photograph of my arm at the ER on day one. This is before it had a chance to swell up and get all nasty. About an hour after I had fallen. You can definitely see the fractures in the forearm and wrist. Even now…it’s healed a tad crooked and stiff. I’m still dealing with pain and trying to get back to normal. I guess it will just take some time and I need to learn patience.
Yours looks like mine and I did it about 4 years ago. Long story short mine happened after a ‘routine’ procedure and I dropped and broke a bunch of bones and such. And yep osteoporosis detected later on … I sure hope yours heals although I am telling ya a surgeon never does a good of job as God did when he originally made all those bones work! I also had nerve relocation surgery in my elbow etc. Oh, and you will find the cold is not your friend so keep it warm.
Oh my gosh…that looks painful! Three months is a long time to be in pain. I hope you start feeling better soon. So glad to see 2020 go…hoping for better things in 2021.
So sorry for this horrible accident. Hoping that you will be healing and that you soon will be feeling better and back to normal. Let’s hope for a good New year. Best wishes.
I am so sorry for all that has happened to you. I will still pray for your continued healing. Please take care of yourself.
Oh, ouch! Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Sorry it’s taking so long to heal.
OMG it is so hard to believe what damage we can do to our selves with no effort. I do realize it must have been and still is a real pain. Nerve damage is hell. My sister in law was not paying attention and walked into a concrete post and hit the ground. Arm and shoulder surgery and all good stuff for months.
Stage 4 Osteoporosis. I wish I would of done more in my younger years to strengthen and protect my bones. Too late now.
Good Lord that looks so painful. I am so sorry that this happened to you. What an ordeal they put you through at the ER they should have rushed you right back and in to a room! I have been thinking of you and knew something major happened. Hang in there and be patient one day at a time.
It has been one of the worst things I’ve been through and I’ve been through a lot medically. The nerve damage is so stinking painful. I’m 3 months post-op and still having severe pain days. It healed awful and now my wrist and arm are crooked. I’m disgusted.