Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Accident


On December 22 I broke my upper left arm, the humerus bone. I was ice skating and fell backwards. There was nothing special about the accident; I'm a relatively good skater. The ice was not ideal, but good enough. Anyhow, when I got up on my knees, I knew immediately that the arm was broken. My lower arm did move when I moved my upper arm. It's a terrifying feeling, not to mention the pain. Luckily, the closest person in the rink happened to be a nurse. She took me into the penalty box and called an ambulance. She did however tell me that the arm was probably not broken, as she conceived me not to be in enough pain. It was just a dislocated shoulder; I wasn't in the mode to argue.

This were to be my first of many things: ambulance trip, morphine, and IV. The ambulance personnel gave the an assessment on the opposite spectrum: that I would need surgery.

The hospital is small, yet the ER is well staffed with competent doctors. The x-ray showed a traverse mid-shaft fracture of the humerus. It was truly scary, and it still is, to see as the ends were crossing. After consultation with an orthopedist the ER doc told me that there is nothing to be done but letting the arm hang in a sling until the swelling went down, which would take a week. I thought he was joking: I believed that a broken arm was put in a plaster cast. But after a couple of months, a slight inconvenience, and multiple autographs, it would come off and life continued as if nothing ever happened.

That is not what typically happens with humerus fractures. The process to complete recovery is a long one.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch that looks painful! After you have fully healed it is important that you build muscle around the affected area to stop any future injury from occuring. Visit http://www.rsweightloss.com to find out more about building solid muscle!

Anonymous said...

Learn about building muscle to stop the injury from reoccuring

Anonymous said...

I can turkey understand It sounds like what happened to me except they opeated on me and 8 weeks later the bracket fell apart then ( first surgery Mar.7
Then in May I had surgery again a rod this time. After about 8 weeks or so I complained of pain I cried several bathtubs of tears and had tons of trays still the dr.said it's looking and healing good. No matter what. I said.d he gave me p pain pill and sent me on my way I am in another state and it is Nov. 7 2014. And after many more extras I find I am not crazy but my arm is still fractured and waiting for a date for a 3rd surgery!!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Claire O said...

I came across your blog after snapping the shaft on my left humerus in a spiral fracture doing DIY. I am incapable of doing my own blog and do would like to put some of my experiences next to some of your time lines if that's ok. I am not making as much progress as you but am optimistic. I was placed in a collar and cuff in A&E.