Medical Update on my Broken Wing

Allow me, if you will, to join in the chorus:

owowow ow OWW owowow

...Careful not to overdo the meds, there, even though it burns off too fast....

Grrl, I don't know what else I can say to you about this except that your response describes vascular complications. This is not normal. Your pain should have been well controlled from the get-go. This is also not normal. Call the hospital where you were treated and ask to speak to the case management department - the case manager for the orthopedic service is who I would specifically ask for. Explain to her/him the date of injury, the treatment to date and your current symptoms. Ask for an immediate referral to another physician - it's d@^% obvious that the physician(s) who have treated you so far did so in an unacceptable manner.

If you have difficulty getting directly to a case manager, then ask for the patient advocate. That person also can make the system move.

The offer is always open to contact me - I'll advocate for you as I can. (And for gawd's sake, SciBlings - Grrl needs a literal helping hand so that she can bathe and dress. How about a visit or two - or daily - take her laundry to the laundromat, bring her a couple of oversized men's shirts that she can easily slide on and off over the sling, and bring her some hot nutritious takeout and fresh fruits/veggies so that she can have a shot in hell of healing.)

I thought SciecneBlogs was based out of Manhattan? Where is everybody? Some community. Feh.

I'm so worried about you - I forgot to tell you this: when you speak with an advocate or case manager, explain that you are not independent in performing ADls, which are activities of daily living. Explain that you need assistance with bathing, dressing, and whatever else in the way for eating, food preparation, etc. And if the bathroom repairs are ongoing still, explain that, too. They can get city inspectors on the landlord's rear end, and they can get a home health agency to provide you services.

How is it supposed to heal floating around in your shoulder while you (unavoidably) move it around? I have no idea and, as one person already mentioned, theirs was screwed down which makes sense.

However, I am not now nor ever have been a doctor and don't presume to know how such things are supposed to work. It does not seem like a good injury to have when you are home alone, however.

Wish I lived closer, to help. Sorry... listen to Annie, though!

I'll just second Annie.

Please get back to the hospital and get it sorted.

ER, yeah, they have a point. Your arm should not be so swollen as that. And I also fail to understand why they haven't pinned your shoulder, unless that maps directly to lack of insurance.

I hope you are at the hospital, even as I write this....

I agree, this isn't going well. I'm quite surprised that all you have is a sling.

I've already mentioned that when a similar injury occurred to me, I had a surgical plate attached to my bone as they had to open me up anyway because of the simultaneous dislocation. Following this, I didn't have a cast on, but I had a sort of harness. This was like a wide belt fastened tightly around my waist, with a bracket that firmly pinned my right elbow against my side, just below the ribs. There was a second bracket on the left side of my stomach where my wrist was normally secured, but this bracket could be easily opened, allowing me to pivot my forearm enough to reach a computer keyboard or do everyday activities. My elbow never left my side for about a week, even though I had all that new metal hardware in my arm. This wasn't to protect the surgical incision, this was to ensure that my shoulder didn't move while it was starting to heal.

The harness was really just elastic fabric, velcro, and hard plastic to grip my elbow. I could have bathed while wearing it, though I chose not to because it would have been messy, there was quite a bit of dried blood on it due to a small accident with the incision draining tube while I was in hospital. That would have left horror-movie marks over anything I sat on until it dried.

The doctors told me to sleep in such a way as to ensure I didn't roll onto the shoulder. I moved some furniture around next to a couch to make a constrained area, like a child's crib but very close on the sides to forestall any motion to the sides.

Putting on a shirt meant wearing it over top of my arm, you can't put an arm through a shirt sleeve if your elbow is attached to your side. I had relatives and co-workers who could bring me groceries, and I probably ordered in food once or twice.

After a week, I graduated to a sling, but I still made a point of keeping my elbow close to my side, and I wasn't shy about using the handicapped seating on the bus.

Anyway, GrrlScientist, is there any chance they can get you something more immobilizing than a simple sling? There are intermediates between "sling" and "full upper-body cast".

i wrote along and detailed response to you guys and hit the "post" button to find that my wifi connection at my apartment had crashed and the entire message, typed with one hand, had disappeared. so i packed up my laptop and walked through the downpour to my local coffee shop where i am .. unable to remember everything i wrote to everyone. i really hate that these pain meds make me into an idiot but don't do much at all to relieve the pain.

anyway, i'll call the ER again, but when i called two days ago and complained about tylenol 3 not doing much for the pain, the doc, who sounded sort of exasperated, said "of course it hurts! you have a broken arm!"

You're a scientist, right? That means you're really smart.

So, WHY ARE YOU BLOGGING WHEN YOU ARE IN THIS MUCH PAIN???!!!

I broke my collarbone, and it never got set-- it never hurt as much as what you are talking about, and it certainly never swelled up like your shoulder. Please... it sounds like Annie is the Voice Of Reason on this topic--get thee to a doctory! I am no stoic--I popped darvocets like M&Ms--I really had nothing as bad as your injury to deal with.

If it is insurance and money, I don't have much but will gladly send some. You can see my email; just say the word--I am offering. I doubt very much I am the only one. As an atheist, I can hardly offer prayers and think that will do.

Ooh, awful. I hope by now you've taken Annie's advice, and the hospital has got its arse into gear. If that doesn't work, show them this thread, and tell them you'll give Annie their address....

Grrl, you're using your arm, aren't you?

Everyone else: people who are truly alone don't get health care. They don't get the helping hands they need to rest the injured part and to heal. Grrl needs someone to help her bathe, to help her dress, to help her take out the rubbish, to bring her groceries, and to do aLL of the lifting of any kind.

She's getting third class treatment - not care - and she's been cast adrift. if you are a SciBling or a NYC reader or a real world acquaintance, all I can say is that she will suffer for the want of real life assistance and support.

Likely outcomes: the shoulder does not heal, she suffers a blood clot or she suffers major blood vessel, nerve and/or bone and muscle damage. She may lose the use of the limb. She may experience permanent and severe chronic pain, she may be be permanently forced out of being able to compete for work of any kind. She may lose her ability to do the odd jobs which keep a roof over her head.

I implore you - if you are able to support her, do so. If you are remote, then contribute financially. if you are local, then get intouch with her and help her. Serve as her healthcare advocate, provide visits, meals, household help, landlord/tenant advocacy, offer her a job, giver her a lift to and from healthcare appointments, bring her some oversize shirts so that she can easily dress over the sling. Bring her some ibuprofen, some moldable ice packs, support pillows so that she can elevate her arm. organize some volunteer group visits. Take out her rubbish.

ASK HER WHAT SHE DESIRES AND WHAT SHE NEEDS. Take a genuine interest in Grrl. Advocate for Grrl.

But don't just sit there and fret. It won't mean a thing to her, even if it assures you that you are a good person and are "concerned". /soapbox rant

Grrl retains incredible dignity and the loveliest of dispositions under insufferable life circumstances. Would that you never walk a day in her shoes. But that doesn't give anyone the right to come here and use her blog for entertainment while ignoring her need.

I was frantically googling for people in NY that I could get to go check on you. Hey, guess what -- one of my cousins is a medical malpractice lawyer in NYC.

Get the hospital to take this seriously, or I will help you sic my cousin on them.

As with the others, you have my email.

Seriously, if the bone isn't fixed and you are still moving your shoulder around, even unintentionally, if/when this ever heals it will be set extremely badly, and you face anything from chronic pain and lack of mobility in the arm, to loss of use of the arm. You don't want to let this happen.

Sorry, Grrl, I understand that you don't want to hear from me again, and I will respect your wishes. All the best to you-

Annie

This does seem excessively nasty. (So does the doctor you called!)

And in any case, the swelling by itself is a major development that you need to have checked, despite the abusive nature of the health-care system.

PLEASE get your arm looked at by an orthopod if you can. An upper arm fracture will normally heal fine in a sling provided the fracture is reasonably stable, but from your description yours is not. You would expect a fair bit of pain but after a week it should be subsiding considerably if things were healing properly and severe swelling after a week is also an indication that things are not doing well in there.