So, This blog has been a long time
coming..it’s been 3 weeks after all since I’ve been able to really
write about my experiences so my brain is feeling clogged and
constipated from all of the “stuff” floating around in there I’ve
wanted to say about this experience.
As a lot of my friends already know, I fell and broke my arm 3 weeks
ago this past Saturday. The fateful evening was August, 21st 2009. My
brother and his wife came into town to stay the weekend and we had
plans to go and see Incubus at the Woodlands Pavilion. I was SO
EXCITED!!
I had a little flask of vanilla vodka in the truck on the way down
and when we got there I had a good buzz going. With beers almost 10
bucks a piece at the pavilion I knew that would be the best way to go.
Get the buzz on the way and then just maintain it while you’re
there..that’s how I roll.
I paid extra for the good garage parking right out the back gate of
the Pavilion, and when we arrived there was some really bad weather
rolling in. Reports of a Tornado on Crighton Road just a few miles away
and they moved everyone from the hill under the canopy. We all headed
for the restrooms which are BRICK and fortified. I knew if a Tornado
hit the last place I wanted to be was under that canopy.
Notice the NON BROKEN right arm I'm holding up in the air..
Eventually the weather passed and they opened up the hill for
seating and we were among the first to get there..so we got a really
good spot..They even rented lawn seats for us to sit in because the
ground was wet. We were prepared and had brought garbage bags which I
gave away to others less fortunate..
The show started with The Duke Spirit. Which was a pretty good band!
Then Incubus came on. This was the second time I’ve seen Incubus.
Both times have been with Bart, my brother and his wife. Both shows
have been Awesome, but I have to say that the last time I saw them it
was much better. The Bravery opened for them and I don’t think I sat
down once during the entire show.
Of course SOMEONE had to rain on our parade. These three prissy
little high maintenance bitches came and sat right in front of us, and
it was apparent that they not only thought they were God’s Gift to the
earth, but they were WASTED. So wasted in fact that one of them dropped
her pants right in front of us and PISSED on the ground that she was
standing on. I shit you not. We actually have photographic evidence of
this. The rest of the night she stomped around in flip flops in mud
made of her own piss and dirt..GROSS!!
Told you we had photographic evidence...how NASTY is that??
The rest of the show went off without a hitch mostly and we went to the 19th Hole afterwards.
This is where things get really fuzzy…..
I remember drinking at least 3 Jagerbombs with my brother. And that’s it.
The next thing I remember is the FALL.
I rode in the back seat of my Ford Expedition home from the 19th
hole. I NEVER ride in the back seat. My brother with his long ass legs
rode in the front of the truck with Bart. He had the seat back a good
ways so I can only guess that’s why my feet got hung up when I tried to
get out at the house.
I sort of remember opening the back passenger door on the truck. I
had been sitting with my legs crossed and as I went to uncross the door
opened further and the top half of my body lurched to the side out of
the truck. I put my right arm out to keep my face from making contact
with the blacktop and I VIVIDLY remember feeling the SNAP. Then seeing
a blinding light and that’s it.
The next thing I remember is being BACK in the truck IN THE BACK
SEAT on the way to the Emergency Room. CRYING. Inconsolable. Snot
running down my face, the whole nine yards. And the PAIN. OH GOD the
pain was unimaginable….
Bart drove me all the way from Willis back to the Woodlands to St.
Luke’s. They took X-rays and once they confirmed it was indeed broken
they hit me with a big shot of Dilaudid. I highly recommend EVERYONE
get at least ONE BIG SHOT of Dilaudid over the course of their life.
Honestly I think after it hit I tried to hug the male nurse that gave
it to me…that shit is AWESOME!! Why they didn’t give me that in pill
form to take home with me for pain I will never understand. Instead,
when I left the hospital it was with a prescription for Norco, and a
temporary cast. The bone in my arm had not been set because they
suspected I would need to see an Orthopedic doctor and have surgery to
fix it. Bummer.
This one doesn't look so bad...
This one looks BAD...OUCH!
I came home, and crashed.
When I woke up the next morning, I shuffled into the kitchen and got
some coffee going and took my first dose of Norco. This was the ONLY
dose of that medication that would every truly work. I have a weird
body and for some reason I build tolerance to stuff really fast. Over
the course of the two weeks I took Norco for pain it went from one at a
time to 3-4 at a time to control the pain. Especially after I had the
surgery..
On Saturday we went to visit some family friends for a previously
planned engagement where I slept on the couch for most of the
time…walking around with a broken bone that’s not set does not feel
good. There were times when I swore I could feel a crunching feeling in
my arm as if the two ends were rubbing together…eww, and OUCH.
Fast Forward to the following Monday. My brother and his wife left
to go home and I had an appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor to have
my arm looked at, so we went down to St. Luke’s, picked up my X-rays
and headed over to the doc. I remember being TERRIFIED that they were
going to take that cast off and mess with my arm to try to get the
bones back in place. I was relieved to find out that his office does
not do that with broken bones. Most patients who do not have their
bones set in the ER go to the OR for either closed or open reduction
depending on the break. As my luck was running I would be having
surgery. The break was just too bad to do a closed reduction, so we
went to schedule the surgery for Wednesday the 26th of August. I was to
be at the surgery center by 8:30am.
Wednesday morning I was a ball of nerves. The doctor had already
told me that the first 48-72 hours after surgery would be rough, so I
was dreading it. I do not have a high tolerance for pain at all,
although this experience has definitely raised my pain threshold. We
got to the surgery center on time and my mother showed up shortly
afterwards. I feel like we waited FOREVER for them to take me back for
surgery. It was approximately 11:15 when they Anesthesiologist came and
told me that she was going to give me something to help me relax…and
the last thing I remember was the lights going over my head as they
wheeled me down the hall to the OR.
When I woke up the first thing I felt was a sharp, searing pain in
my arm. And nausea. Great. They hit me with a huge shot of Demerol( yet
another drug I think EVERYONE should get at least once.), and a huge
shot of Phenergan, which she repeated again after 15 minutes to get the
pain and nausea under control. Bart said that after this I slept for a
bit more, and then woke up again. I asked to go to the bathroom, and
clumsily shuffled my way to the bathroom and then back to the bed. I
guess the nurses thought that because I could get up to Pee, I must be
ok to go home so I was instructed to get dressed, and put in a
wheelchair and wheeled out to the truck.
The next thing I remember is pulling into a Sonic and Bart asking me
what I wanted to eat. All I knew was I had to have a Route 44 Cherry
Limeade with Extra Cherries and Extra Cherry Juice. STAT. I also got
some Popcorn chicken, and tater tots..not entirely a good choice for
someone who has had a tube down their throat….Ouch. Needless to say I
didn’t eat much of it, but as far as I remember I sucked down that
entire Cherry Limeade over the course of the day. (When I wasn’t
comatose from the anesthesia and pain medicine)
The next few days are kind of a blur..it went like this…wake up,
OUCH…take pills…sleep. As more and more days passed the pain changed
from sharp and excruciating to a deep throbbing pain that I swear I
felt actually IN the bone itself.
Fast forward to September 8th….the day of my post surgical follow
up with the doc. This was the day the stitches would be coming out and
I would get that itchy miserable cast off. We got to the office and
the cast was removed and then I was X-rayed and then the nurse came in
to remove the stitches. This is where I should tell you that I
screamed like a little bitch when she yanked that one long stitch out.
I am fairly certain that people heard me in the next county… After the
stitch was out I was sent home, no brace, no cast, not even a band aid
over the 5 inch incision in my arm. Initially my entire right wrist
was completely frozen, or locked, as were my fingers on the right hand
and my elbow. The doctor told me I had one month to work it out to
normal range of motion or he would send me to Physical Therapy.
My new hardware...
My Incision with the stitch still in..ONE LONG STITCH that she YANKED out!! OWIE!!
So, I came home and google searched Hand and wrist Physical Therapy
exercises and I’ve been doing as much as I can daily. I have a little
bit of movement in the wrist now and the fingers move now, although it
hurts fairly badly to do anything with the arm I was instructed to USE
it as much as possible so that’s what I’m doing.
Usually I get in the shower, soak the arm in HOT HOT water for a bit
and then do the exercises….the heat REALLY helps a lot with the
flexibility..and I have seen marked improvement in the movement in my
wrist and fingers.
Don’t get me wrong, it still hurts a lot. I have learned to just
live with the dull throb now and I don’t take anything for it anymore.
I took so much pain medicine and aleve over the past 3 weeks I could
have opened up my own pharmacy.
As the days pass it slowly gets better. Last night was the best
night’s sleep I’ve had without meds since I broke it, I think I am
finally turning a corner on the recovery path, which makes me so damn
happy. I am back to typing again, with both hands, I can tie my kids
and my own shoes..(albeit slowly), I washed dishes for the first time
last night since I broke my arm,(no small feat with a broken arm and no
dishwasher) I also cooked dinner last night for the kids, and today I
plan on attempting folding laundry. I can wash my own hair, and take a
shower alone,(although it’s not as much fun that way..;-) )
The things I cannot do that I look forward to are; driving my truck,
hooking my own bra, fixing my hair correctly, applying makeup, and
putting in and taking out my own earrings, as well as buttoning and
zipping my pants. It’s been far too long since I wore REAL clothes that
did not have elastic in the waist!!
I have to say here that Bart has been downright awesome since all of
this happened. He has taken care of everything since I got hurt. The
first week and a half especially was rough. There wasn’t much I could
do for myself at all. Laundry, cooking, dishes, grocery shopping you
name it, he’s done it. I never doubted that he could do any of it, but
it made my recovery so much better to have a true helpmate on my side.
The kids have been fairly awesome as well. Especially my oldest Austin
who gladly gave up his play-doh so mom could use it for her right hand
exercises.
I have a long road ahead of me getting my right arm back to the way
it was before I broke it, and I still have some fear that the wrist
will never be the same. The doctor said that all of the ligaments and
tendons are damaged in my wrist and hand, and although the wrist is not
broken the bones are all compacted together from the force of the
fall. And even today 3 weeks out from the fall I still have marks in
my palm where the blacktop dug into it when I fell. That was some fall!!
I am a very determined person though, and I WILL get it as close as possible back to where it should be, one day at a time.
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