week 1



Clam shell brace



My first visit to fracture clinic, hoping I would finally get some answers to "what happens next".

Good old Public hospital system, wait in line, take a number, wait some more, go to xray, wait some more, see a Dr. Everyone was very lovely, but Wow, did i feel like "fractured humerus" not a person.

Eventually they took off the cast and put on a nice "clam shell brace". So much more comfortable, but very scary putting the "sock" on, because every tiny movement was painful.

But no words of encouragement for me...

Told it will take up to 3 months to heal! No driving for all that time. My 2 bone ends were 7.7mm apart which was why they felt it would take so long! Come back in another week, and we will check up on it!

I actually went back to work in that week as I essentially have a desk job when not driving around seeing clients - got lifts to and from work with my colleagues, just had to try to speed up my one handed typing. Needed extra panadol to be at work, instead of in my recliner, but  the pain settled quite a bit.

Day 1

I woke around 5am in terrible pain. The slightest movement of my upper body was horribly painful. Hubby got up and brought me some more "Endone" and after 30mins he had to push me up out of bed. Nobody had told me you can't lie down with a fractured humerus!!! (5 weeks later I still struggle getting out of bed.)
Once I was upright, and gravity had a chance to pull things into place I was so much more comfortable.
I spent lots of time the first day surfing the Internet, trying to find out what was in store for me.

I had to learn to do everything one handed, dressing, going to the loo, typing. Thank god i am right handed! I was only able to wear big baggy t shirts that fitted over the whole cast. I didn't need any more Endone, but took regular Panadiene forte all day. The slightest movement of the arm was extremely painful, so I alternated between the recliner chair and the computer.
In fact - that's pretty much where i spent the next 5 days!! No more attempts to lie down in bed , I could sleep reasonably well in the recliner each night. The panadiene forte was OK for pain relief, and after a few days I was only on panadol during the day, with p/f at night.
I did spend some hours on the phone to private orthopedic doctors, but with Christmas coming up, no-one could fit me in till the New Year! So the famous Qld Public Hospital system was my only choice. (tho my local GP has told me since that he would have rung around and squeezed me in with someone if I had told him I was stuck)
One of the things I found very disconcerting was that my arm was totally "disconnected". If I moved my shoulder, my head imagined my arm moving, but it stayed still. I had absolutely NO movement of my lower arm - up, down, sideways - nothing. My wrist/hand worked, so no radial palsy, but numbness all down my forearm and thumb and 1st finger. My forearm just hung around like a stroke victim!

the accident

I broke my humerus on 27/11/2010, in a silly ice skating accident. I hadn't ice skated for years, but thought I was 21 again (I'm actually in my 40's)
I have started this blog after reading another similar blog, http://fracturedhumerus.blogspot.com/ and I realised how much his helped me in the early days of my "confinement". If you havent found his blog yet, make sure you have a read.
(I am very new to this type of technology, so if things don't work properly, forgive me.)
My story is from an Australian health system perspective, which is quite different from the American one in the blog mentioned. I am currently at "week 5" but will start back at the beginning.

I was cruising to a stop on the ice rink, when for absolutely no reason i can fathom, both my skates flew out from under me, and i fell flat on my back. i must have put my left arm behind be to break my fall, and ended up with it trapped beneath me.

i knew immediately that it was broken, i was totally unable to move my arm at all! after a few seconds the pain kicked in - it was excruciating.

People came to help me, all i could say is "don't move me it hurts too much, get the ambulance with some pain killers". I did let them move the arm out from behind my back, as i could feel my hand freezing up. The pain was unbelievable!! There was an intense burning all the way down my forearm as well, which i now figure was the nerve damage/entrapment (i am still numb all down my forearm and thumb/index finger 5 weeks later)



the ambulance arrived in good time (15 mins?) and thankfully gave me a "green stick" to suck on. With this in me they lifted me into the ambulance, stuck in a cannula, and gave me some further morphine and anti nausea drug. i must have slept in the ambulance, as the next thing i knew was arriving at the hospital, with my entire family waiting for me.

Good old Australian Public Hospital Casualty, i got lined up in a "queue" along with others waiting for a bed. I was there for some time, but did get seen by a Dr, and nurse, and was given more pain relief while i was waiting in the queue.

Eventually i got a spot, was taken to x-ray, and given the verdict - "no operation, we will manipulate it under sedation, and set it in a "U" cast." I sent the family home at this stage.



transverse fracture mid shaft L humerus



Blessed relief when I woke from the sedation, with the arm in plaster - the intense pain had subsided to a more manageable level. It was very scary going home, i felt so helpless, didn't know what to expect. i had only spoken to the head ortho Dr for 1 min the whole time. The other Dr's did not really tell me anything, just gave me a sling, and script for pain killers, and told me to come back to fracture clinic on Thursday. (5 days time)

My husband picked me up (midnight, i had arrived at 4pm) and when we got home he had to help me have a shallow bath. I was still in my damp clothes from lying on the ice. he helped me dress, including pulling up my knickers - WOW, what a steep learning curve for my "Aussie bloke" husband.
I sank into my bed around 1am, and fell into a drug induced sleep.