Feek's broken arm thread (now with plate, pins and screws x-ray, staples/wound and tongue surgery)

Commissario
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A few people have asked me in other threads how my arm is so I figured I'd post an update.

It's been nearly four months since the surgery and here's how the scar is coming along.

pZak2su.jpeg

As far as movement, the original consultant was bang on. I can raise my arm to just about shoulder height in front of me and around 70° if I raise it to the side. I have very little movement backwards behind my body, to give an idea of how little movement backwards, I can just about put my wallet into my back pocket but struggle to take it out (some people would comment that there's nothing unusual there!). This is despite lots of physio and exercise, it's just down to how the bone in my shoulder was rebuilt, I'll never get any more movement, no matter how much physio I do.

I'm still taking pain killers twice a day although I've managed to get the dose down. If I go any lower then I suffer, this will get better but it's just a case of time.

I went back to work on the 3rd February but it wasn't easy. I work from home anyway so the current lockdown hasn't affected me but for the first few weeks I was working, it was very difficult and I only managed a few hours a day and had to build it up slowly. Work have been really good to me, allowing me time off for appointments, consultant visits etc.

I'm sleeping properly now, that was an absolute killer. For a good two months after the fall, I wasn't getting more than thirty minutes continual sleep at night and that was terrible. You don't realise how bad lack of sleep is.

I started driving as soon as the consultant told me I could and I bought a knob for the steering wheel to help me. That was perfectly fine and as I've healed and got stronger, I've taken the knob off and I can drive perfectly well again. My car is an automatic but Mrs. Feek has a manual and I've been able to drive that as well which was one of my concerns. For a while, I genuinely thought I'd never be able to drive again and that scared me. That may sound stupid but during those first few weeks, I went through some very dark times and I'm glad they've passed.

I've had a consultancy for my tongue and I'm going to have scar revision surgery to remove the large flap of tongue I have sticking out of the top. When I saw the surgeon, he said that when I first went into A&E, they should have put a couple of stitches in which would have stopped this. Although they did look at my tongue a few times, they were more concerned with my arm.

I'll just repost this again because it turned out to be so wrong! Shoulder injuries are horrible and this really is a bad break.
Any break that's expected to unite with 6 weeks in a sling is not a 'very bad break'
 
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My friend who is in his 60s fell over on his shoulder, he has had like 4 operations and physio and it still isn't right 2 years later. shoulder injury's are worse than I thought, good luck.
 
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My friend who is in his 60s fell over on his shoulder, he has had like 4 operations and physio and it still isn't right 2 years later. shoulder injury's are worse than I thought, good luck.

Yeah they are a nightmare. I broke mine last September and it still gives me grief. I constantly pops and cracks too whenever I extend it. Complicated joint with lots of tendons etc :(
 
Soldato
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What is it that limits the full rom of the arm?

I’ve just had a second op on my knee to give me better rom and it wasn’t particularly successful. They were just shaving bone from the joint so not sure why it wasn’t successful. Hopefully I’ll find out more when I meet the surgeon in September.

Good luck with your recovery Feek.
 
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What is it that limits the full rom of the arm?
I now have better than expected moment forwards and upwards and it's also better out to the side and raised.
Where it's not good is backwards. I can just about reach far enough to put my wallet in my back pocket and take it out again but it's uncomfortable.

Everything was an utter mess in the joint, my arm is physically blocked from going into that rearward position. If they'd not operated, I'd have my arm effectively strapped against me and useless so any movement is better than no movement.

The stitches in my tongue (please count them, tell me how many you think there are) should be gone within a week and then I have a follow up in four to six weeks. At the moment, I'm having real issues talking but it's only a few hours since I was attacked by a man with a knife who cut part of my tongue off while I was protesting the unfair exam results ;)
 
Soldato
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Can't believe this thread completely passed me by, shoulder injuries are the worst, I pulled my rotator cuff in September and am still having trouble with it, I had an ultrasound on Sunday and am waiting for a phone appointment with the Dr to 'discuss' my next treatment but I've already had the physio and steroid injections.

I can't lift my arm up above shoulder height and can only just get it round my back far enough to tuck my shirt in but it hurts like hell, also I haven't had a full nights sleep since doing it because when I roll over it wakes me up, luckily enough it's the left and I'm right handed so my strongest arm is not out of commission.

Hope you get better soon but I imagine you're going to have trouble with that for quite sometime but at least you've got a scar like John McClane in Die Hard so you have to wear a white vest everywhere from now on ;)
 
Commissario
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It's time for an update because it's been exactly one year since this happened. I won't be 'celebrating' with a drink this evening though.

This is going to be a bit of a brain dump so excuse me in advance for the long post.

Since my last update, I've recovered from the tongue surgery and I have to say that the two weeks following it were perhaps the most uncomfortable I've ever been. I was told to avoid eating anything hot until the stitches had disolved and that took almost exactly two weeks. To start with, I could only eat cold, liquidy type things and that meant soft ice cream. That was fine for a couple of days but the effect of a pure sugar diet on my digestion were horendous. I felt as though I'd been taking triple doses of Agent Picolax.

After two weeks of being in utter agony when anything touched the stitches, I was climbing the walls. I ended up eating mainly yoghurt and tuna (although not at the same time), even those hurt but I was able to get them in and keep them inside me. The moment the last stitch fell out, I was pain free and the first thing I had was a full fry-up!

The end result is that I no longer have a loose flap of tongue but it doesn't mean it's good. I'm always aware of my tongue, it's uncomfortable in my mouth and the best way I've found to describe it is as though there's a dull double edge razor blade resting on the surface of my tongue. It's been over three months since the surgery and it's not getting any better. That's not going to change, it's always going to be like that.

On the plus side, my shoulder has ended up with a larger range of movement than was originally predicted. If I reach forward and up, I have almost as much movement with both arms although it's uncomfortable to stretch that far and it hurts as I move it back. Sideways, I can raise my arm above shoulder level but the movement is coming from further up, not the actual shoulder itself. Moving my arm backwards, I can just manage to put my wallet in my back pocket and take it out but that's it. Lavatorial wise, I still can't use my right arm.

When I get towards the extremes of movement, it hurts. In fact, it still aches all the time and I still have to take painkillers before going to bed otherwise I just can't lay down with any comfort. Insomnia hit me very badly earlier this year and the only way I can sleep properly now is with the aid of medication. It's not psychological because if I take an identical looking placebo instead of the sleeping tablet, I don't sleep.

I have little strength in my right arm. I was diagnosed earlier this year with a badly torn rotator cuff in that arm and was told that without surgery, it'll never heal. Surgery would be difficult with a longer recovery period than when they put the plate in so that's not going to happen.

When I reach out with my right arm, I generally have to support it with my left arm. If I pick up anything heavy without realising, I know about it for at least a week afterwards.

And I'm fat again. Whereas before, I'd happily just go for a walk at any time of the day or night for exercise, I have no confidence any more. If I do go out, I'm constantly staring at the ground right in front of me and I just can't go very far. This, along with a period of unemployment after redundancy earlier in the year had me at rock bottom and I just piled on the pounds.

On a more positive note, I have enough movement to be able to drive properly. I was very concerned while I was in the early stages after surgery that I'd never be able to get behind the wheel of anything other than an automatic with a knob on the steering wheel but fortunately that's not the case.

All in all, it's not been a great year for me but it could have been worse. I still think back to that evening and realise I was lucky that I didn't crack my skull open.

Looking forward to a better year.

My daughter just sent me this, I have to share :D

DtpMZcT.jpeg
 
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