Arm update

[helli]

When is the check up?

My check up is in 2 weeks.
I think my hospital go the extra step to avoid missed appointments. So far, I have received an SMS and two email telling me of the time. For my last appointment, I also received a snail mail letter and reminders by SMS and email.
I cannot fault the hospital and treatment I have had since breaking my arm.
Still wouldn't recommend it though.

 

[helli]

It is some time since I gave an update to anyone who is interested - is anyone interested?

The surgery I had at the start of September failed - my bone moved again and was not repairing correctly. So, 10 days ago, I returned for a more intensive surgery. The preparation was pretty similar except, I got to meet my surgeon this time and talk through what he was planning to do.
Today, I returned for a check up and I was relieved to learn it is now recovering as expected. I have three stages of recovery - flexibility, strength and endurance. For the kind of things that most people do with their least dominant arm, I will get flexibility and strength back in a couple of months. But the level of endurance I need for 3 hours of climbing could take up to a year. The good news is that he believes it is possible and is not writing me off due to my age.

I also got to see a xray of the work they did. It looks brutal (but I still took a copy because I am like that). I have a network of metalwork in my arm with 6 screw and a plate of metal.

As for my diabetes, it has been struggling with the lack of exercise so, until the weekend, I was needing 60% extra basal but that has now been nudged down and I plan to return to the gym this week although I might leave the weights for now.

 

[silver minion]

I received a phone from the hospital call this afternoon inviting me for surgery tomorrow morning.
Although I know my work colleagues will not be happy (after two days, the guy I work with most of the time told me “the broken arm excuse is wearing thin”), I am pleased to sort it as soon as possible.
Fingers crossed there is no major trauma. The hospital told me “risk of life or limb will take priority over my surgery”. Fair enough, I guess.

Good luck with the surgery @helli . I hope all goes well.The guy you work with is a selfish a#£* and should be grateful he doesn't have a broken arm.

 

[trophywench]

I'd waste some time wondering the best way to break his ruddy arm! Some folk are just bar stewards cos they haven't been brought up right.

 

[rebrascora]

Delighted to read that your last surgery was successful and you can look forward to a full, albeit long full recovery. I know you will put every effort into the physio in order to achieve that and I am sure the surgeon took that into consideration. Quite impressed that there is not even a hint of frustration in your updates. The lack of exercise and independence must have been and still be challenging to someone like yourself. Very best of luck with achieving your goal of returning to that level of arm use and fitness.

 

[helli]

Quite impressed that there is not even a hint of frustration in your updates.

I must hide it well.
I have already registered for the Spin class on Wednesday although climbing is still months away.
And I am planning my baking for the weekend, It has felt very wrong buying bread when I have so much flour and a sourdough starter getting very sour. My bandages covered part of my hand so kneading sticky dough did not seem like a good plan.
I am even excited by being able to have a shower where my arm can get wet. My LimbO arm protector has invaluable but still a pain to put on and take off every time I get in the shower, making it very hard to wash my "good arm".

Dressing is still challenging (although I do manage it), I still can only scratch my nose with my right finger and I can't use knives and forks properly (the fork in my left hand can't reach my mouth).

 

[Martin62]

It is some time since I gave an update to anyone who is interested - is anyone interested?

The surgery I had at the start of September failed - my bone moved again and was not repairing correctly. So, 10 days ago, I returned for a more intensive surgery. The preparation was pretty similar except, I got to meet my surgeon this time and talk through what he was planning to do.
Today, I returned for a check up and I was relieved to learn it is now recovering as expected. I have three stages of recovery - flexibility, strength and endurance. For the kind of things that most people do with their least dominant arm, I will get flexibility and strength back in a couple of months. But the level of endurance I need for 3 hours of climbing could take up to a year. The good news is that he believes it is possible and is not writing me off due to my age.

I also got to see a xray of the work they did. It looks brutal (but I still took a copy because I am like that). I have a network of metalwork in my arm with 6 screw and a plate of metal.

As for my diabetes, it has been struggling with the lack of exercise so, until the weekend, I was needing 60% extra basal but that has now been nudged down and I plan to return to the gym this week although I might leave the weights for now.

Great to see that you have finally got some improvement in your arm and hopefully it won't be too long until you are back to full strength.

 

[PattiEvans]

Oh my goodness... what a tale. Wishing you all the best for your recovery!

 

[helli]

Today, I had my 8 week review (that’s 8 weeks since the last surgery) with the fracture clinic.
They are happy my bone is knitting together as they would expect and I am gaining more flexibility.
My bone is now strong enough to return to climbing. However, my muscles are not there yet - you should see the comparison between my left (injured) and right biceps. I am now approved to start weights to rebuild my muscles.
I am planning to return to the climbing centre in the new year, By then, they should have cleared up the recent flood damage (in their last update they said they were putting it in a large bag of rice!).

Recovery is still slow but it is good to see it getting better.
On a diabetes note, I can now finger prick either hand and attach my CGM on either arm. And my insulin dose is back down to normal levels.

 

[silver minion]

Nice to hear that your arm is finally on the mend and you can get back to your normal routines. Good luck with muscle building and future climbing hopefully you won't need waterproofs and wellies.

 

[gail2]

good news that things are at last on the mend

 

[helli]

Having just returned from another elbow physio appointment, I thought I would update this thread ... and get my frustrations off my chest.
Due to my stubborn nature and strong desire to get back to normal which includes lots of exercise such as Spin classes and climbing, I am not willing to accept what is considered to be "good enough flexibility for normal activities". So I continue to maintain my physio exercises every day. As a result, I have a lot more movement than the "good enough" standard dictates - I can bend my broken arm pretty much as far as my unbroken one. However, although it is beyond that standard, it is still far from straight which affects the way I sit on a bike (my left shoulder has to come forward so I can reach the handlebars properly) which can lead to further complications as I twist my shoulder and torso.
The splint I wear every night and for a few hours each day has been straightened further as I was no longer getting the benefit from it. Tightening the straps couldn't pull my arm any closer to the splint so it worked more as a tourniquet. Hopefully this should help as will more daily straightening exercises.
This is all pretty good and moving forward. I am confident I will be back to full movement by the end of the year.

However, my elbow is still tender. I cannot rest my elbows on the desk (my Mum is probably happy as she was always telling me to take my elbows off the dining room table!) or rest my arm on a the arm rest of a chair (it was quite sore on a long haul flight recently). So, I am being referred back to the ortho clinic and expect to need another operation. I was warned that "some people" need the metal plate removed. Looks as if I will be one of those people - the tenderness is caused by the plate.
The surgery will be more routine than aligning the bone and attaching the plate and should be possible without general anaesthetic. But I was hoping the surgery was all over.

Overall, it feels as if I am slowly inching forward but have taken one step backwards.

Let that be a lesson to anyone who is thinking about breaking their elbow - don't bother. The sympathy isn't worth it. 😎

 

[Robin]

I do hope you get back to where you want to be.
I get quite cross at 'good enough for normal activities'. When my 80 yr old mother cracked her pelvis, it seemed that as long as she could shuffle around on a walking frame, that was all that was going to be expected of her. When she stated firmly that she expected to get back to where she was before, which was caring for a 90 yr old husband and looking after a lively young grandchildren from time to time, the medics looked totally gobsmacked and sent a physiotherapist to see her. Physio produced an exercise sheet for her, mother queried whether she should be limiting her leg raises to the one or two inches it specified, or going as far as she could (demonstrating by raising her leg right up in the air). Physiotherapist, to her credit, laughed, and said, Oh, you’re way beyond this sheet, produced some proper exercises for her, and she got full mobility back.
But I was shocked that what was considered 'good enough' wouldn’t even have allowed her to live independently in her own home.

 

[Drummer]

One of the musicians in the morris side I'm in had a metal plate and screws in her arm for some time but was eventually advised to have it removed. It resolved her pain and allowed her to return to playing all her instruments, having had to work with just those she could cope with.

 

[JimmyBlue]

@helli Speed recovery and hope all goes well. Was intrigued by the nerve blocking, brings back memories of having once had an acupuncture session. Couldn't look at the needles then either.

 

[silver minion]

Good luck with the forthcoming surgery if they do remove the plate. Meanwhile I hope your recovery continues and you get the full mobility back in your arm @helli

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Gosh what a long and frustrating journey you’ve had with your recovery @helli

Hats off to you for working extra hard to regain the level of flexibility you want. Great that your determination has been paying off. Sorry to hear you’re having to go back under the knife again. Hope it resolves the pain and tenderness in your elbow.

 

[trophywench]

My kneecap rejected the pins put in it to hold the wires they used to keep the bone jigsaw in place - because it was so healthy. I also heal over stitches and staples inserted by unsuspecting surgeons despite me constantly telling them I need them removing sooner rather than later - then their nurses complain how difficult they are to get out. Yeah I know luv, sodding well hurts me like stink too but will be such a relief once it's done - and have also thought 'next time' I'd remove them myself. Despite them saying they'd sort my kneecap it took a couple of months for them to get round to it.

At long last I could apply pressure to my kneecap and bend it properly without terrible shooting pains. Get it done asap and if it drags on too long - seriously consider the private route, please.

 

[SimonP]

Having just returned from another elbow physio appointment, I thought I would update this thread ... and get my frustrations off my chest.
Due to my stubborn nature and strong desire to get back to normal which includes lots of exercise such as Spin classes and climbing, I am not willing to accept what is considered to be "good enough flexibility for normal activities". So I continue to maintain my physio exercises every day. As a result, I have a lot more movement than the "good enough" standard dictates - I can bend my broken arm pretty much as far as my unbroken one. However, although it is beyond that standard, it is still far from straight which affects the way I sit on a bike (my left shoulder has to come forward so I can reach the handlebars properly) which can lead to further complications as I twist my shoulder and torso.

I broke my wrist some years ago (ice skating after beer, not recommended - I fell over as soon as I stepped onto the ice but thankfully then managed to stay upright for the next 20min as falling on it again might have made matters worse) and had a cast for ages (16 weeks iirc, it felt like a very long time. It was a scaphoid which are slow to heal.)

When I finally had it cut off (the cast, not the wrist) it wasn't a pretty sight - wasted away and generally looking rather sorry for itself.

I had physio sessions and they also decided that once I had a modicum of movement (a bit more than +/- 45deg each way from hand in vertical plane) that was good enough. I disagreed (for similar reasons - martial arts being one of them with lots of wrist-lock techniques) so like you continued to do the exercises.

It was hard to work out what level of "this rather hurts" while doing stretching exercises was actually doing some good vs just making it ache like crazy the next day (during the physio sessions certainly, but at least one got used to someone saying that yes it should be really painful, so I continued with that approach). It did work and I did get back to martial arts though it was rather tender starting to do wrist locks and break falling for quite a while. Now it's only a change in the weather that sometimes reminds me about it, the movement is otherwise identical to the other.

Good luck 🙂