Just the other day, for unknown reason, memory of an old acquaintance popped into my mind, specifically her frequent use of the expression, "What fresh hell is this?" Perhaps I alerted the demon in charge my fate when I wondered if I could find a reason to say it.
Yesterday I'd just heard from my son with the new baby (little sister for three-year-old, and my third grandchild) that they'd like us to stay for supper rather than just dropping in to say hi and deliver some tulips as planned. Thrilled, I headed out the door to get some ingredients for an offertory salad. Just like about 25 years ago I had a freak accident when the tread of my sneaker gripped the pavement and caused me to fall. That other time as I fell I remembered you aren't supposed to put your arms out. The result of that was two broken teeth and eyeglasses with three deep gouges across one lens. So clearly this time I put out my hands to save myself, and the result was a broken left wrist. "What," I ask myself, "fresh hell is this?"
Have discovered it is much more inconvenient losing the use of an arm rather than a leg. Still in half of yesterday's clothes as the afflicted, now plaster-wrapped arm, is too painful to allow for the manouevres required to get out of them. Also, naturally, physically shaken up from the ordeal and lengthy stay at the ER. I'm still in the phase of waiting to find out if zero prednisone is permanent this time around, so hardly need an event like this. Still, could be worse. Shh, hope my demon didn't hear that!
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Oh nooo. I said that last week and ended up admitted with gall bladder for which I have to see a surgeon. 2 large gall stones and a bunch of small ones. Just when you think you've experienced all the pain you can tolerate, "what fresh hell" rears it's ugly head. Discharged Thursday at supper time. Saturday morning had bad rectal bleed. Ended up at ER again. Both trips by ambulance at $146 a pop. Released around supper. Bleeding has stopped, but gall bladder is making its presence known. They think the bleeding was a diverticular blood vessel burst. My thought was probably all the wretching from the gb attack. My heart goes out to you Heron. Huge hugs!🌷
I can sympathise with you, I broke my wrist 8 years ago age 64 when I fell off the monkey bars at the local park. I had been showing my grandkids how to do it and missed a bar landing on my wrist! My four grown up kids thought it was hilarious! I was in very little pain once my arm was in plaster so, like PMRpro, I am concerned that you are still in so much pain and recommend you see your doctor asap. Fingers crossed for you that the trauma doesn’t wake up your PMR.
It was going to be supper. No, I was at ER from about 3 to about 11 pm, which these days actually isn't bad. But in more pain than at other visits. In fact I'm still in extreme pain and may have to go back if it doesn't improve over the next few hours. Better get there before the Friday night crowd shows up I suppose. As I still can't get out of all yesterday's clothes, let alone wash and put on fresh, I'm in no rush to get going. Just wish I could sleep.
Are you sure the pain is not due to the stookie being too tight? Once it is in plaster the pain should be a lot less - so continuing and especially worsening pain is of concern.
No home visit - what is that?! But I just had a nice call from a community support person, which is a first. Wanted to make sure that I have help with things like groceries, cooking, laundry and so forth. With my partially sighted hubby things are not as good as they might be, but he has actually asked what he can do, which is nice. Sent him off to the local market for bread, eggs and frozen soups. The support person also discussed pain management with me so hopefully will be managing better now. It's not entirely the cast, which I observed was being gently wrapped around an already very swollen limb. They'd filled the area with lidocaine and I still had significant pain even when told I shouldn't. Tylenol 3 appears to have kicked in, and can actually take more Tylenol than is in one of them, which I will do from now on, just not exceeding daily maximum. Have an appointment with orthopod in a few days. Same chap I saw for my hurt knee in 2020.
Silly me. No, no littles being brought here but my adult sons have been great I must say. I have met the baby, she was born nearly a month ago, and the missed meal was the beginning of what we hoped would be a more satisfactory early acquaintance than we were able to have with her older brother who was born early in 2021 just before vaccines were available to us.
Oh noo! What you should have done was a deft judo roll to spread out the momentum and avoid a single point of deceleration. Simple. The issue I find is that by the time I realise I’m falling I can get as far as saying, “what the fr…” before the world comes up and hits me. One goes from possibly counting one’s blessings to counting limbs. These days falling demands planning involving a spreadsheet and a few days notice.
It was a three point landing. Two hands and one knee. Discovered last night that knee was somewhat abraided through intact jeans. Time does slow down. I definitely had time to think about what I should do, but obviously I don't know!
Several years ago I tripped on a stony path and was thrust forward with great force. My immediate thought was to protect my face and teeth so I shot my arms out in front of me. I grazed an elbow and the heel of my hand. I’d do it like that again if need be 😉.x
I wish that's how my accident had turned out yesterday.
One of the teeth I broke in the former incident was displaced, therefore dead (middle front tooth). Root canal, and both had damage repaired. Then dead tooth started to be resorbed, discovered last year. The final chapter in that tooth's odyssey written earlier this year with completion of work for implant. The first chapter incidentally was after the baby tooth was extracted, and it had grown in a bit strangely. I miss my snaggletooth!
I guess smashing down on concrete yesterday I got off relatively lightly.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, perhaps there is some sort of moral there about salads being "good" for you. Hope the pain becomes more manageable soon. Having just finished "helping" my OH after her broken elbow I can totally appreciate the complete inconvenience with having an arm you can't do anything with. Speedy recovery and many gentle hugs.
Well, at teatime (now, in my time zone) hubby helped by pouring my breakfast scrambled eggs into the frying pan. Better late than never. Dietitian daughter says to eat 60 g protein daily, but just did some calculations and it won't be as hard to reach that target as I thought.
So sorry to hear of your painful injury and missing out on a visit with a new grand. But sure appreciate your good humor. Thanks for the smiles! I hope the pain subsides and you mend quickly!
Oh poor you. Try the paracatemol and aspirin tablets (not separate in one tablet e.g. anadin in the uk) aspirin and and paraceatomol together increase their separate effectiveness. Less pain is always a good way to go. Speedy healing!
Key to a good night's sleep turns out to be Tylenol 3 with minimum acetaminophen but more codeine, and two extra strength aspirins. Slept until nearly 10 this morning. All the adrenaline released from the trauma must have left me totally exhausted. No energy today, but eating well and concentrating on healing....
Get well soon! I hope you are feeling a lot more comfortable, as soon as the swelling starts to go down. You might not like this idea, but maybe you need to resort to a pair of scissors to allow the removal of your current clothes. I sprained my arm very badly a few years back and I remember how unbelievably inconvenient that was. I remember that pulling up my nicks was impossible one handed. When I was having my spate of falls a few weeks ago, I discovered that with stiff sore muscles from PMR, there is very little that I can do to protect myself when I fall, so I suppose I was lucky to get away with only a couple of strains. I used to be able to roll or catch my balance before all this kicked off.
Able to wriggle out of my top this morning and have a reasonably effective wash and dress in clean clothes which did quite a lot for my self confidence. Having an arm out of commission and in a cast is exponentially more inconvenient than a leg in a removable brace. It would be a plus if hubby could see well enough to help me with buttons but apparently he can't. 🤷Was joking with my son, although it isn't really funny, that between his dad and me we don't quite add up to one complete person.
I know how tough it can be, if you have to do it all yourself, and you can't do a lot without arms. Hopefully, you will get more mobile as the pain eases.
great expression but not great news, hope the pain eases soon, hubby buys the right soup, the family visit and you see baby and get some help to change clothes soon x
hard luck! My Mum did it twice! Don’t do it again! I fell backwards two weeks ago (I fall often & have actually been taught how to fall forwards with arms folded, so I don’t break them, but save the rest, too).…off our rockery. I’ve damaged my back, my ankle dislocated & the pain in my butt is so bad I can’t sit down in any comfort at all! It’s been two weeks…I sent my Dr an email to ask if it needs x-rating or if there is any help (other than cushion), he never received it. Hubby dropped a copy in on Monday when he was there. No answer. Between us we could make a whole & do things! I have hypermobility as well as orthostatic hypotension, so I dislocate joints as well as fall! Hope you heal quickly, S x
I want to learn how to fall without breaking myself. Better not to fall, but all of my incidents so far have been caused by my own carelessness and stupidity.
it’s a good idea if you have something that means you fall a lot! I fell up the stairs (yes, up, not down!) last year, broke the knuckle bone & ripped the tendon off the knuckle. Now I fold my arms to my chest as I go down & tip my head back…or, as the last incident, fall backwards, which is happening more as my blood pressure plummets when I stand up!! Please be careful! S x
If you are using your elbows to get up from the bed you may have put the wrist out of alignment. I had that happen and I missed the prime time to correct it because the doctor ignored my complaint. Afterwards, when I saw a different hand specialist he said I could reset it or let it be. I did not go for the reset but I do not remember if the cast was changed or not. I ended up pain free with a bone on the side of my wrist that looks a tad bigger than the one on the other hand.Good Luck!
This is one instance where pain is a friend because it prevents one doing more damage. I'm sitting up to sleep which reduces some of the awkwardness of getting up and down.🙂
So sorry to hear of your fall and resulting broken wrist. How awful! As if you needed that. It is quite jarring as I remember well my sudden, unexpected fall while walking a trail in Vancouver while visiting my aunts. I ended up with a fractured elbow but got fast, amazing care.
Yes, you will notice how much you are impeded with a broken wrist/cast. You will have to get used to others helping you out as you heal…a big adjustment in itself. Hope your visit with the ortho doctor goes well, and wishing you a speedy recovery. I certainly hope this event doesn’t kick PMR into action given you’ve taken such time and care to slowly taper off once more. Sending big hugs and healing vibes Jean.
Thank you. My housemate is not able to help much, not at all without me telling him exactly what to do which is so frustrating and infuriating unless I physically cannot do something I'm coping by myself. It's maddening because he really is capable of doing far more but he won't even try. He was like this ten years ago when I broke my leg but at that time our younger son was staying with us and he was far more observant when I needed something. I really must stop being such a klutz!
Ten weeks ago I broke my left wrist when I tripped over a kerb! Fortunately it was a clean fracture so I was in a cast for almost four weeks. I was fitted with a brace two weeks after that but, as we were going on a long-haul holiday for several weeks, the consultant suggested I took it with me and wore it on the plane and in busy places.
I had not long come off the dreaded Prednisolone after six years but I put the fracture down to my stupidity rather than anything else.
I was very tired for the first few days following the injury. I read that this was the body putting all its energy into recovery.
During the time I wore a cast I didn't bother with a bra, wore very loose clothing and a poncho if I ventured outside. For me the worst things wee not being able to drive for six weeks (well, 10 if you count the holiday), and my son having to cut up my food at the restaurant he'd chosen for a Mothering Sunday lunch. The best thing was not being able to do any housework!!
Please be sure to do your wrist exercises and you'll soon be fully recovered. I do sympathise as I know what you're going through. Love and hugs xx
Very helpful. Thank you. Unfortunately I was not really told what the break is like and it may not be anywhere near as quick to heal as my tibial plateau fracture was. It would be fantastic if I can have a brace. We are leaving for a week away on the 15th which may be too soon to remove the cast even if it can come off as soon as we're home. But I'll have some answers on Tuesday.
As you say, maybe a little early to remove the cast. (I had a resin overlay added to the plaster cast after a couple of weeks - bright pink one!) I got a foam rubber sling from Amazon which was far easier on my neck than the NHS one.
Good luck and enjoy your holiday. Remember, soup is your friend!!
Not given a sling, so when I'm walking around our place I'm holding the injured wing close to my body. I'd better ask the orthopod how best to protect myself while traveling.
So sorry to hear about your fall. It’s so difficult in the split second that it’s happening to decide whether to put your arms out or not! I tripped 18 months ago and put a straight arm out and bumped into a wall. Apparently the worst thing I could have done. Two shoulder surgeries later and it’s still not right not helped by the PMR.
Sending you a big hug and wishing you a speedy recovery🌸
Oh dear. You have my deepest sympathy, and empathy!❤️
In spite of what might be a bad break I think my alternative this time would have been a traumatic head injury and counting myself fortunate, especially since learning about your experience, that the injury is confined to one joint. 😲
Life is cruel to us... One would think that demons had enough satisfaction while we had PMR. Hope you recovery is easy...
Little bit of advice about falling down ( for maybe next time). One can learn how to do so without hurting themself. As teen I practice judo and the first 6 months of training all we did was learn how to fall. The key was to convert fall into roll and not to be afraid of hurting yourself. Being relaxed and flexible.
Unfortunately with age our balance is not as good as before and falls are not unusual. I still do lots of activities that are risky. In last 10 years or so I have fallen several times while riding mountain bike. One of the memorable falls was when I turn the corner and hit wild goat or should I say it hit the front wheel of my bike and made me fly over the steering bar. I was going about 20 miles/h. Ended up in the ditch by the road laughing. This wild goat is so rear that was on protected species list until recently and I had a luck to "find" one
Update on arm. Because my GP had received a report on my jaunt to Emergency last week he scheduled phone visit with me today. I now know why I'm not bouncing back in my usual manner. There is a "complicated" break at the end of the radius where it meets the hand, and a smaller but simpler break on the other side. It will be clearer to me when I make the orthopod show me on his screen next week. But it explains the pain, the persistent swelling and the fact that I'm exhausted although I'm doing only the bare minimum for survival. They also made note of extensive arthritis, which in reference to fingers isn't news.
Also explains the orthopod's somewhat noncommittal response when we discussed whether I will be able to travel next week.
oh - really felt for you when I read your post. I’m sure many of us can relate to the excitement of a new grandchild and feeling wanted in the way you were at such a precious time. . Life is just a bowl of lemons sometimes. Here’s to your steady recovery, zero Pred and continued joy in your grandchildren. ❤️
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