Skry and his bicycle were in a surprise battle with a car last night, most likely controlled by a drunk driver. Skry came off worse, and now has two breaks in his arm along the left shoulder. He's in a lot of pain but is otherwise okay with no other injuries - although I would not wish a broken arm on him, it's a huge relief that he didn't end up even more badly hurt.
We spent most of last night and again this morning at the hospital. I took a snap of the x-ray screen while the doctor was away from his desk. You don't need to know much about biology to know that something isn't right here!
Apparently there is no treatment for this kind of break. The hospital sent us away with a prescription for painkillers and a prescription for a shoulder restraint thingy (after we both kicked up a huge fuss about Skry being sent home with nothing but a sling, and his broken arm just hanging loose). Now that the shoulder restraint thingy - sorry, I don't know the proper term! - is in place and the painkillers are taking effect, he is a bit happier, but he has a long and unpleasant few weeks ahead of him still.
6 comments:
I spoke to him his afternoon - glad he's well besides the breaks - could have been worse. I hope they catch the bastard who did it.
Keep me posted via email please.
Thanks!
That's a shocker. Hope the pain reduces soon.
Well that just really sucks.... unfortunately where that is there's little they can do for it... if its any consolation it'll start knitting properly in 4 weeks or so and he'll be able to do stuff with it... or the other option (that I took) was surgery and get some metal to bridge it.
Really sorry to hear that. I feel for the man.
OMG, I am horrified- much love to both of you and I hope K isn't feeling too bad. :( What are the chances of them catching someone?
The fracture appears to be neck of humerus but the actual shoulder joint looks a bit odd although hard to say with the quality of picture . was it subluxed or dislocated because that is common with that type of fracture?
the normal treatment is a collar and cuff rather than a sling as you want the weight of the arm to pull the two sides of the fracture slightly apart. That is why you do not use a triangular banage which you would normally think of with arm fractures. The slight movement at the fracture site actually promotes healing and the real treatment begins at about 6 weeks when you benefit from physio to avoid a lasting stiffness at the shoulder. Obviously pain killers come in helpful but it is not the most painful fracture in the world although it may seem like that at the time. The radial nerve can get involved but your fracture is above the point where it normally is so you should be OK. so sounds like the treatment is right.
Thanks Henry - great to hear from you with all your knowledge in this area! Your comments tally with those from Skry's cousin over here (who is a nurse). She was able to give us much better advice, a more suitable shoulder restraint, and better painkillers than the hospital provided. It seems that Skry probably does not convert codeine into morphine which would be why it didn't help at all, and the shoulder restraint they originally gave us was WAY too small.
I think Skry would disagree about this not being the most painful type of fracture in the world! He spent most of the weekend with the colour on his face varying between white and grey because he was in such agony. Not fun at all :(
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