Radius

On Monday, August 27th, I had my appointment with the ortho specialist.  My daughter was starting school that day, so my dad took me, so Eric could take and pick up our daughter from school.  My dad arrived at my house at 7:30am.  My appointment was for 10am, but they had told me to come 30-45 minutes early.   We got on the road and got to Riverside County Medical Center around 9:15am.  I checked in and started the process and oh, what a long process it was.  After all the paperwork and billing was taken care of (hours later), I was finally able to see the doctor, well, sort of.  

A nurse called me back and weighed me and took my blood pressure and then sent me back to the waiting room to what? Wait for it, wait!  ;)   Then, another nurse called me back and I sat and waited inside the ortho clinic for an x-ray.  I had two x-rays taken and then was sent back to my dad and the waiting room again.  Once again, my name was called and finally I was going to see the actual doctor. 

The doctor took off my splint and asked me some questions about my injury.  He told me he would be right back and went to take a look at my x-rays.  

I then found out some good news and an answer to our prayers.  I don't have to have surgery on my arm.
And I didn't even have to have a cast put on! According to the x-rays they took, the ortho specialist said that I have a radial head fracture and it was not my elbow that was broken, as was previously suspected. The bone is perfectly lined up and the best treatment is early range of movement. What that means, is that I have to stretch it out two times a day and am not supposed to use my arm. As it gets stronger, I can move it more.  

This is the picture that the doctor drew of my bone break.  Your arm consists of three bones, the humerus (your upper arm), the ulna and the radius (the two bones in your lower arm).  I fractured the head of the radius bone, where it fits into the elbow socket.  Very stiff and painful, if moved the wrong way!

Actual bone diagram

After spending over 5 hours at the county hospital for my appointment, I went home with my arm in a sling and no purple cast, well no cast at all! I had planned on asking for purple if they were going to put a cast on!  I told my dad that I kind of felt let down, because I was totally expecting to get a cast.  But then again, I can shower without having to have a trash bag on my arm!  

So for now, I am home from work for the next month.  I will see the specialist again in three weeks and we will go from there.

I am really grateful to my dad for taking me! I got to spend the day with him (which is a rare occasion)  and have a yummy lunch with him! Thanks, Dad! I love you!


Today, I am feeling much better. My arm is getting stronger, but I have to be careful, because it does get really sore.  I can almost stretch it out straight now, almost!  It is just hard, because it is my right arm and I am right handed!

It's kind of hard to tell from these two pictures, but right at my elbow pit (lol), there is a bit of swelling on the top of my arm. But after looking at the bone diagram, that is to be expected, because that is where the break is!

I also discovered these bruises as I was getting dressed today. Considering how hard I fell last week, I was really surprised that I wasn't more black and blue! 

God is good and I continue to pray for healing!