Hi,broke my arm very badly and am scheduled for surgery

[smirkymonkey]

on Friday. Can any body tell me what I am in store for? Pain? (I am already in excrciating pain - the break is right at the top of the humerous near the shoulder.), Recovery time?, Mobility?

I would just like to know what I am in for, so if anyone could share their exprience, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

[Just Saying]

1. I don't know about pain

But you'll probably get some good pain meds! Lol

Get well soon and I'm sending good thoughts for little pain and a quick recovery!

Good luck!

[longship]

2. Best wishes for you.

Heal quickly, my friend.

Pain meds are your friend for a couple of weeks or so. But they also tend to clamp your system up, if you know what I mean. When I was basically living on them during a particularly bad kidney stone episode, I would take only a half tablet (Vicodin) to take the edge off.

But your broken arm is going to have be immobile. That will help with the pain, too.

Take it easy.

[femmocrat]

3. You will feel better after surgery.

Not the same, but I am recuperating from a broken femur. I don't know if you will get a cast or a rod. I have a titanium rod in my leg and the recovery was surprisingly fast. I had almost NO pain after surgery. Physical therapy helped me a lot, too!

When I was in the hospital, I was across from a woman with a broken shoulder. She was there a couple of days and then went to rehab. I also did a week in rehab.... lots of excellent PT there, but the rest of it sucked.

Best of luck to you. I hope you have a quick and pain-free recovery. Let us know how it went, OK?

[smirkymonkey]

4. Thank you everyone!

I appreciate the advice and the well wishes!

[Flashmann]

5. like to know what I am in for

I've had 3 broken arms,all just above the wrist and all compound fractures,plus broke all 3 bones in my left ankle,crushing one with another protruding through the skin,requiring pins and screws...
All 4 injuries at separate times.
The first week-several days was a dull throbbing,made tolerable with presciption painkillers...After that,IF you're in a plaster cast,expect some rather bad itching,made worse by the fact you can't get to it to scratch.
In six weeks,or whenever the cast comes off,expect your arm to have shriveled,have much dead skin and be really weak.

Sorry you're going through it...

[libodem]

6. Have you ever had any surgery before?

Because the anesthesia experience itself can be somewhat of an experience. My first time was an emergency so I was unprepared for what to expect.

The anesthesiologist, will come talk to you before and ask about allergies and and prior experiences of being put under. They ask about nausea and what has worked for you before.

Waking up in recovery can be miserable for a while until they have you alert enough that they can begin to medicate you for discomfort.

I remember the recovery room experience from my first time because I was so cold, shivering, and could not warm up. My eyes had been smeared with an ointment to keep them from drying out, so everything was blurry. I thought I just couldn't see. I was flat on my back with a huge incision above my pelvis. I tried to sit up and that brought excruciating pain. I couldn't see, I was freezing, positioned in an uncomfortable posture and lacking pain control and had no idea how much an abdominal incision would make moving unbearable.

That being said, the recovery nurses are circulating all around you, taking your vital signs every 15 minutes, checking your level of consciousness, getting you to wake back up and respond. Now they bring warm blankets, Once you are back up to your room and are transgered into your bed they start providing pain control. I'd say opt for the PCA, patient administered analgesic, where you just push a button for pain control.

[Warpy]

7. Broken bones are awful and I can't say the surgery will be an

immediate fix. What they'll likely do is put in screws and quite possibly a plate to hold them to hold the bone together while it heals. You'll get the good drugs afterward and make sure ice on it is replenished every few hours, ice can help a lot during the first 48-72 hours. And take your drugs while you can get them.

A clot will form around the break in about 2 weeks. The clot calcifies and turns into a bony callus holding the bone together in another 4 weeks. 6 weeks is about the time period before you can start more strenuous rehab. Gentle rehab will start right after the op.

The pain of fractures is generally nasty for the first couple of weeks and really annoying for the next month or so and after that it will gradually fade. You'll have incisional pain on top of it after your op, but that will fade in a matter of days.

There is no way out of this but through it, I'm afraid. Back in the bad old days, you'd have been in traction for weeks.

[Vincardog]

8. I did major damage to my leg 3 years ago. The surgery included a 40 CM Titanium bar and 19 screws.

They gave me a morphine drip to self administer and the surgery was a good time.
A week in the hospital before I was sent home to begin walking first with a walker, then crutches, and now a cane. For the first few weeks a fly landing on my leg would put me into a frozen state of agony.

A simple clean break of your arm should be MUCH easier and fast to recover from.

I expect you will released from the hospital as soon as the same day.

Expect to go home with some decent pain pills, probably Vicodin. Use the time with the pain pills to get the most exercise you can. Pay as much attention to FLEXIBILITY as possible, and follow the Dr's instructions.

[ficuswoman]

9. try 'Heal N Soothe' by Lose the Back Pain website. It helps greatly with inflammation.

I broke my coccyx in a skating accident and it helped greatly, after a few days. Good luck.

[SheilaT]

10. PT has already been mentioned, but I want to

reinforce it. Whatever they schedule for you, DO IT. Chances are it will hurt, but will make a huge difference in the long run on the strength in that arm as well as range of motion.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Thanks everyone for the advice!

I appreciate it - big help and I learned that you were all pretty much correct. The anesthesia went off pretty well - they gave me something for nausea and a nerve block & sedative even before they put me under, so the next thing I remember was waking up in my room hooked up to an IV w/ morphine & other fluids and a large sling on my arm.

Pain when I moved in certain ways, but mostly a dull ache, difficult to function and get around. Discharged from the hospital on Sunday (surgery Fri am). Went to stay w/ my sister & family in Maine as I could not shower or dress or do a lot of other things by myself and needed to have help. They put a plate and a bone graft in, it seems to be much more stable and less painful than before.

Tomorrow will be just over 2 weeks and my sister is bringing me back to my apartment in Boston as I have another Dr's appt Mon am and I am supposed to start work next week (that was my idea, my Dr doesn't want me to go back until the 22nd) so we'll see what he says. I am thinking it might be too soon to start full time right away - I might work from home a few days a week since it is still painful and it's still kind of hard to get around.

No PT until after the Dr. sees me, but have been doing mobility exercises every day and seem to be coming along. Look forward to being back home and finally having full use of my arm agian, although this may take another month or two. (more for optimal use). Thanks again for all your messages and kind words!

[phylny]

12. Glad to hear you are on the mend!

[smirkymonkey]

15. Thank you so much!

I really appreciate it! I have had a number of knee surgerys before (used to be a ski racer), but NOTHING has ever been this painful.

Thanks again!

[SheilaT]

13. Thanks for the update.

It's my opinion that you should delay returning to work as long as is feasible, and in any case try very hard to get your employer to have you return on some kind of a part time basis at first.

You're going to be more worn out than you know from the injury and then the surgery, and even an easy job requires you to be mentally and physically present in a way that you may not be able to do full time at first.

Hope all continues well with you.

Oh, and PT is vital. I've only had a very brief experience with it, after a bout of bursitis, but one of my sons has been through it a couple of times after injuries, and I know that PT, done properly, is a real miracle.

[smirkymonkey]

14. Thank you!

Just started back at work on Monday. A bit early according to my surgeon, but I was absolutely bored out of my mind. I get free PT on site, so that is good. I am happy to be back because it distracts me from the pain and I am still in a lot of it (went off the meds a while ago).

My boss is cool and is letting me take a vacation day on Friday for my B-day to go away. At least its a short week so I can deal. I am in quite a bit of pain still, but looking into some ice wraps that I can wrap around my entire shoulder/arm area so I think that will help immensely.

Thank you so much for your concern!