Broken arm - healing time - Post Surgery Update post #11

[Christa_P]

I made a stupid move hooking up a back blade to a tractor yesterday and managed to break both bones in my arm just above the wrist. It looks like a neat break - no shattering or fragments floating around, wrist is not involved. It is in a splint currently and I’m going to the ortho Dr. tomorrow morning.

I am sore, but with Loritab every 6 hours it doesn’t feel too bad.

So, experiences, expectations etc.?

Christa

Who was in the middle of rehabbing a mobile home to move to. The move might be delayed a month now :(.

[DressageFancy]

Fell off a young horse and broke my arm last Sept. Had to have a plate to hold the bones together. It was my right arm and I am right handed. I was pretty much good to go in 6 weeks time and haven’t had any problems related to the break. Everyone heals at a little different rate (time) so listen to your Doc as to when he feels that you are good to go again.

[Bluey]

I had surgery to correct the bones in my left arm and I am left handed.
They cut the ulna down and put a plate and 7 screws in it.
They also did some work on the wrist.
They give you some nerve blocks, that stop pain for a day or two.
There was practically no pain afterwards, didn’t even need any pain medication.

It healed fine and once the cast came off, all was ok.

The worst was picking a color for the vetrap they used over the cast, all were neon bright colors.
Seems that most that break arms are kids.

Best I remember, the operation required a cast for four weeks.
Once the cast was off, I was good to go, but had to do some therapy for a couple or three weeks for the wrist.

I hope yours heals just as quickly and well.

[Christa_P]

Well after seeing the orthopedic dr, it turns out the wrist is affected. Surgery is scheduled for Monday.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Hoping everything goes well for you!

One caveat to Bluey’s nerve blocks—I broke my humerus ball and had surgery with a bone graft and hardware due to non-union. Surgeon used a nerve block in addition to general anesthesia. It worked so well that when I went home, it didn’t hurt and I unthinkingly walked the dogs with the leashes in my broken-arm hand.

Dogs saw a squirrel in the park and took off, jerking my arm straight, and the bone snapped in a different place on the humerus ball (weakened because of the hardware insertion). So it was back to surgery a day later, and a doubly-broken shoulder to deal with! And no nice nerve block that time!

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Christa P;7702769]
Well after seeing the orthopedic dr, it turns out the wrist is affected. Surgery is scheduled for Monday.[/QUOTE]

We will be thinking of you.
Hoping all goes as well as it did for me.

My only problem was that my tricky heart quit four times in the recovery room as I was waking up.
I had to stay overnight in observation so that didn’t happen again, plus I was very nauseated also.
The operation and the arm were fine.

[charismaryllis]

Ouch! Well, a friend of mine had to have her wrist plated; she healed up fine. (Well, until she went biking in her cast and bent the plate and had to have it redone. But she’s fine now.)

[Christa_P]

Thanks for the well wishes and warnings. Don’t worry I have a couple of people making sure I behave and I don’t have any dogs to walk. I am also used to avoiding the cats underfoot :).

The biggest irritation is the delay in getting my new property ready to move into. I was just working on painting ceilings and then drywall needs to be replaced and repaired along with some kitchen cabinets, and then flooring needs to be done. I was planning to be in 9/1, but I might end up paying rent for another month :(.

[Loopy]

I broke my leg a couple of weeks ago and had surgery to fix it. I’m hoping it won’t take long to heal as it’s really inconvenient, I think I’d rather have done my arm so I could still get on with things. I’ve not broken anything before

[Trakehner]

I broke my humerus (upper arm bone) nicely in half a year ago December coming off my horse. Seems they don’t do a cast or surgery if the approximation of the bone ends are OK. Got to sleep sitting up for 2 months…very tiring.

Good luck with the surgery.

[Christa_P]

Surgery went well and I was home around 9 last night. I was able to eat a little so that felt better. I don’t even have a cast on, just a Velcro on splint. I also have minimal pain - I took a pain pill with breakfast, the first since they gave me one around 6:30 last night, so 12+ hours. Back to the doctor in 10 days to check progress.

[monalisa]

I broke my ulna badly last July. Long story but if your wrist is involved it can be a totally different ball game. I had a bad surgeon and a gap was left between the ulna and the wrist - which basically disabled my hand. If you don’t have someone who knows what they are doing (I would consider seeing a hand surgeon) it can be a huge mess. Two surgeries later I am still disabled to a degree. One more surgery to go. My surgeon (the first one) told me my operation was routine and it was far from routine. Months and months and months of PT, 3 surgeries, thousands of dollars wasted. I could go on. Just make sure you are in good hands. Not every surgeon is capable.

[jen-s]

Glad to hear it went well. Healing long bone breaks can be tricky. If there isn’t definite progress in 6-8 weeks, make sure they get aggressive sooner rather than later. Non-unions suck.

[Christa_P]

[QUOTE=jen-s;7709750]
Glad to hear it went well. Healing long bone breaks can be tricky. If there isn’t definite progress in 6-8 weeks, make sure they get aggressive sooner rather than later. Non-unions suck.[/QUOTE]

I KNOW about non-unions. My collarbone was in 2 pieces for 6 months before I had surgery. That was over 2 years ago and it is doing great. This is why when the surgeon recommended surgery on the arm I said “How soon can we schedule it?”. So far the arm feels very good and all my fingers are working fine.

[toady123]

The lady who owns the horse I PB had a similar break - did surgery to insert a dog bone shaped plate, in cast for two weeks and was back in the saddle the day after the cast came off (with Dr’s blessing). She is taking it easy, but has no pain or major issues. I think it depends on the kind of break, and the kind of repair.

[walktrot]

Ten years ago, right before Christmas, I broke my right arm into 4 pieces just above the elbow joint and required 2 plates and 9 screws to put it back together. I was in a cast from my armpit to the tips of my fingers for the 1st 4 days, but was switched to a hinged brace on day 5 and sling. But only because I had a nurse coming daily to care for me and the wound. My recovery was long, partly because I was in the OR and recovery for 4.5 hours and spent 3 days in the hospital. So it took a while before I was able to function normally. I didn’t ride for 5-6 weeks. I have a spooky horse who managed to dump me too frequently due to lack of a good seat on my part. So I was really afraid that something would go wrong if I got back on too soon.

I still have the hardware in because if I have it taken out it’s as big an operation as the original one, and I don’t want to be walking around with all of those holes in the bone, waiting for them to heal.

But wow was my horse glad to see me when I got back out to the barn just walking around and enjoying the smells. He was dancing around licking me to death (he does that anyway). It made the long layoff easier to take.

[wateryglen]

Wouldn’t hurt to up your Calcium intake too while you’re healing. So many of us don’t take in enough Calcium…and vit D…and iron…etc, etc, etc

[Christa_P]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7714302]
Wouldn’t hurt to up your Calcium intake too while you’re healing. So many of us don’t take in enough Calcium…and vit D…and iron…etc, etc, etc :)[/QUOTE]

Good point. I already take iron, but was thinking this morning some extra calcium would be a good idea. I have that and Vit D here so will plan to start taking them.

[Graymaresrule]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7714302]
Wouldn’t hurt to up your Calcium intake too while you’re healing. So many of us don’t take in enough Calcium…and vit D…and iron…etc, etc, etc :)[/QUOTE]
FWIW the surgeon who worked on my son’s broken ankle also said to lay off the carbonated beverages (soda/pop depending on your part of the country)

[Christa_P]

[QUOTE=carolprudm;7715715]
FWIW the surgeon who worked on my son’s broken ankle also said to lay off the carbonated beverages (soda/pop depending on your part of the country)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip, I gave up pop ~5 years ago, so this isn’t an issue.