So THAT'S what a broken bone feels like

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I had plans to meet a friend for dinner last night, and rather than deal with the hassle and/or expense of parking in Center City, I decided to take the train (12 minutes from the station at the bottom of my street). I was striding confidently down the street to catch the train when suddenly I found myself flat on my back, my hat having been knocked clean off my head. “Oh sh!t,” I said, creatively, “sh!tsh!tsh!tsh!tsh!t that hurts. Ouch. Sh!t. God d–n.” (Frankly, I was a little disappointed that the stream of invective flowing from me wasn’t more varied than that. I pride myself on my vocabulary.)

I managed to sit up after a minute, and slid myself a few feet up the sidewalk to get off the ice I’d just slipped on. Three or four tries made it clear I wouldn’t be able to get up by myself since my right ankle had apparently gotten twisted in the fall. No helpful passersby (or even unhelpful ones) being available to haul me to my feet, I scooched up a few more feet on the sidewalk till I could reach the railing of a house. (Luckily I live on a street of twins and rowhouses, so I didn’t have to scooch far.) I pulled myself up, painfully, and limped back home, where I called my friend to tell him I wasn’t coming in. He decided to come out, which he did. We looked at my ankle, which was swollen and bruised, and he offered to drive me to the ER, but I didn’t think it was that big a deal, so we ordered a pizza and talked for a while before settling in to watch a MST3K tape he had. I was ensconced in my favorite chair with my ankle up and a bag of frozen peas and pearl onions wrapped around it. I even managed to fall asleep and miss the last half hour or so of “Daddio!” He left, I went to bed, and woke up this morning with my ankle still throbbing.

While wondering whether to post a thread in GQ asking if Qadgop or whoever thought I should go to the doctor, I became involved in an IM converation with the always-delightful-in-a-charmingly-wholesome-sort-of-way FairyChatMom, who recommended I get it checked out. I called my doctor, and apparently I’d just missed the Saturday morning hours (at 11:00? I thought they were there till 12:30 on Saturdays). She said, “I can’t be sure without seeing it, but if it won’t support your weight [which it wouldn’t], it might be broken. You can either go to the ER today and get it x-rayed, or come into the office Monday, at which point I’ll probably send you for x-rays.”

After some additional thought, I decided to drive myself over to the ER (not either of the two close ones, but the one that’s about 15 minutes away, and, yes, this is my right ankle that’s effed up).

Two hours later, they confirm – yep, fractured bone in your foot. They put a temporary splint on it and told me to call the orthopedist Monday to put on a real cast – which I’ll probably have for six weeks.

One of my suitors is on his way over now – we were supposed to do dinner and a movie tonight, but it looks like it’ll be pizza and a video here.

Damn. My foot hurts. And since I’m recovering, I can’t even take anything more helpful than horse-pill Motrin.

Six weeks.

Damn.

2

So the whole FairyChatSlut thing just doesn’t come across from me?? :smiley:

I’m sorry about the fracture, but I’m glad you got it checked out. Some things shouldn’t be ignored, and the whole thing of not being able to support your weight is a pretty big “do not ignore” signal in my book. I suggest now that you milk it for all it’s worth. Casts are good for lots of sympathy and offers of help from friends, or so I hear. I also suggest that you listen to your doctor’s advice about what you can and can’t do for the next six weeks. Just because you will the bone to knit faster doesn’t mean it will!

Oh yeah, and Dr. FCM* prescribes lots of chocolate.

IANAD but c’mon - it’s chocolate!!!

3

Ouch. :frowning:

I don’t know if this helps or not, but at least you can take some comfort in the fact that it wasn’t your tailbone. That would have taken a lot longer than 6 weeks.

4

Aw, twicks, so sorry to hear that.

Well, if you can’t take to your bed in a frilly bed jacket, with a cordial of laudanum and a brave smile, I’d go with Dr. FCM’s chocolate remedy. And a few more MST3K tapes.

Get well soon!

5

what a poo.

my way of deciding if an injury is bone related or soft tissue is bone injury usually make me quesy. the bone doesn’t have to break in two, just a bit of a crack and i get quesy.

chocolate is very important in a bone injury, you need all the calcium you can get.

6

Good grief, rocking chair, just how many bones have you broken that you were able to determine that beyond a reasonable doubt?

7

Heh. You know, I’ve heard that about broken bones, too. Does anyone know why it causes people to feel queasy?

8

Heck, I get queasy just thinking about it.

9

See? I told you you should’ve driven. :smiley:

I concur with Dr. FCM’s advice. Chocolate, and lots of it.

Robin

10

Sorry to hear about that “bad break.” Hyuk hyuk. It’s the being stuck recovering and hobbling around in a cast that’s really going to piss you off–though if you’re on crutches, they are great for upper-body development.

I fell and snapped my elbow in about three places last year, and had to wait 24 hours for surgery; I remember thinking, “hmmm, a broken bone doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would.” Having no use of my of my left arm (I’m left-handed) for awhile was pretty awful; and the broken ribs hurt a lot worse than the arm. Now I have more metal in me than a toaster-oven. They gonna put pins in you?

11

I didn’t know they did. I puked after breaking my femur, but that was quite some time after the actual break–there was waiting for the teachers to get to the playground, then wait for the ambulance, then the ER, then up to the room, then hang out for a little while. So that is a lot of trauma & drugs for a 3rd grader. But when I broke my collar bone in 6th grade it didn’t even hurt. I knew something was damaged, so I just did a one-shoulder shrug and went to the nurse’s office.

Counting an unconfirmed broken toe, I’ve had four and it’s not that big of a deal. Even though this broken hand that I’m recovering from has been more of a hassle than cancer, and I know that from first hand experience–no pun intended, it’ll be a pleasant memory before too long.

Which is not to say that it doesn’t suck; however, life is shit and you’re bound to get the royal shaft sooner or later, so you just suck it up and make do, and complain a lot if that helps.

12

Oh crap, the memories of when I double-sprained my ankle and fractured my top of my foot last summer. Pain pain pain pain. My foot was swollen to the size of a football.

Crutches sucked, but as soon as I got into an air cast, it felt much better.

Hate to tell you this, but I was limping for a couple of months. :frowning:

Hope you feel better, twicks. ODAAT.

13

Man… sorry to hear about that, it really stinks. Heal fast.

A couple of summers ago, my horse slipped and fell on me while I was riding, and we skidded along on my side. I broke a couple ribs, but it was my shoulder that really hurt. I tore the ligaments, and I couldn’t lift my arm for days. Luckily, it was my left side, as I’m right handed, but ooh it hurt. I would in most cases rather break a bone than tear ligaments, ligaments hurt!

14

Thanks for your good wishes, everyone! My suitor apparently went to the same medical school as y’all, since he arrived with several bottles of Diet Dr Pepper, per my request – plus a big honkin’ box of The Good Stuff. Luckily, I’ve been spared the queasiness, so we did some serious damage to it while watching “Merlin.”

I’ll call the orthopedist in the morning, and assume they’ll see me tomorrow – will let you know what kind of cast they put on. NAD FCM tells me I might be able to pick a cool color…

15

GOLLY!

Sorry I am late to the party! I have been writing all morning… so now that yer laid up you’ll have plenty of time to edit this chapter for me huh!? :smiley:

Jeez, Twicks I am sorry! That sucks…

I’ll get a care package off this week!
Yeah, a broken tailbone is pretty icky but at least I didnt need crutches!

Lots of chocolate and lots of smooches help the healing along nicely!

16

i haven’t broken anything all the way through, but cracked a few things. mostly volleyball finger injuries. i can usually tell if i cracked my finger or just hyperextended it by the quesy factor.

diet dr pepper is good stuff. did you use the “company” glasses?

yeah, some places will let you pick your colour. mostly lovely neon colours. be carefull getting to the docs.

17

Dearest twickster,

Thanks for all your help! I know it wasn’t your fault you slipped on the ice, twisting me hither and yon. But geez, did you have to wait until the next morning to get medical attention? What, the pain wasn’t enough for you? I’ll have to make sure I hurt even more next time. Cause there’ll be a next time, you watch. You’ll be all a-twitter about meeting another suitor and WHAM! on your back you’ll be.

But hey, it’s all right. You and me, we can bond now! You’ll be off your feet - I could use the rest! - and we can talk and gossip and laugh like we’ve never laughed before.

Get well soon!

Throbbingly yours,

Your foot

18

Sorry to hear about your injury! Best wishes for a fast recovery.

I’ve only broken three fingers on my right hand, and I know how that hurt! Well, actually, I broke my arm once, and didn’t even know it. What? you ask. A number of years ago, I had a bicycle accident. I went to the hospital for X-rays. I had not broken anything in the accident, but the doctor asked me when I broke my arm. “Broke my arm? What are you talking about?” He showed me on the X-ray where the bone had broken and healed. I was mystified. I have no memory of doing anything that would have broken my arm, ever. You’d think it would be obvious that something was wrong if your arm was broken, right? Well, not that time, for me! I still can’t think of how it could have happened.

Get well soon, and maybe while you’re out getting pain medication (chocolate, of course) you might look into a pair of boots with good, non-slip tread!

19

Wowsers twikster, that sucks, bigtime. I’m quite surprised given that this took place in Philadelphia that seventeen lawyers didn’t parachute down to the sidewalk and proceed to sue your shoe manufacturer, the retailer, the Streets Department, Mayor Street, the people in front of whose house this took place, and perky channel 6 weather girl Cecily.

I think I’ve got you all beaten in the Fx department, though. Foot-once, toes-twice, fingers-three, jaw-11 (7 the first time and 4 more recently), vertebrae-6, and tibia/fibula reassembled with 7 screws. My chances of getting through airport security without a cavity search are akin to the odds of winning Powerball without buying a ticket, what with all of this stainless and titanium. :smiley:

[John Wayne voice]You take care now, Little Missy.[/John Wayne voice]

20

twickster, so sorry to read of your broken ankle. {{{hugs}}} I hope it gets better quickly, and may you have the best of care (a daily regimen of chocolate and the SDMB would seem to be called for). And don’t jiggle things too much by laughing too hard. :slight_smile: Although that’s probably worse with an abdominal operation than with a broken ankle (don’t ask me how I know)…