I've Done It This Time

[BT65]

Hello fellow sufferers lol,
So, last night I was simply carrying a couple plates out to the kitchen when all of a sudden there was a loud *SNAP* coming from my right leg.  My friend, who was standing across the room also heard it.  So, I couldn't move my leg at all.  My friend brought me a chair to sit on.

We had to call an ambulance in Indiana due to being in Michigan-the ambulance in Michigan won't transport to Indiana, which is where my insurance is. We waited over two hours so that was frustrating.  My bone was almost through my leg so it was so painful I was nauseous and couldn't take anything for pain.

Anyway, not only do I have two breaks in my leg but now in the same leg , in the tibia, I have a lateral break that goes clear through the bone, from one edge to the other. 

So I am now getting ready to eat.  I have enough Percocet to last through the weekend, then on Monday I have to get the temporary cast off and get the plaster cast on.  That's what's going on with me.  Fun and games lol.  Wil keep everyone updated.

[mitch777]

Betty, I won't call you now as you have been through enough. The magic words you can say to my ears is that you will STAY OFF OF YOUR FEET!!!

(for a VERY long time!!!)

I wouldn't be such a mama b*tch if I didn't care.

Love you and hope your pain is tolerable with the meds.

m.

[Jeff G]

Thanks for the update betty .

[Theyer]

Jeez Betty,I am lost for words , I have read the post twice to make sure I understand that the break occurred with the minimum off pressure to the bone , plus you are now back home? Awaiting the permanent cast which can be applied without an operation to set the leg?
Have I got it right?

What a situation , If you wish I will send you details that the  Rheumatology Prof comes up with , I am assuming that your care will now include an on- going plan to keep your bones as strong as possible .

it,s taken me a long time to accept the restrictions I have to reduce my blackouts and it is sobering to me that the tumble down the stairs occurred after I I did not follow my usual guidelines for getting out and up from the bed in the middle of the night, and we all know how far and hard you push your self.

For so long we survived by grit and determination and it's been one heck off a sea change to accept and introduce all this slow ness , planned rest , blah blah but for me when I don,t it is a tumble down the stairs. I really hope both of us can adjust our survival strengths .

So much love dear heart , are you at your own home now ? With all all the bits and pieces you need so you are not attempting the stairs ? does your insurance include help with home care ?
Enough for now and yes I love the idea off us sharing and caring in a Large house ,how I get away with living in the US and still get my UK money should be fun.
Hugs
M

[Theyer]

Well I was lost for words .

[wolfter]

Oh dearest Betty.... I just feel for your struggles.  I think we all correctly worried about this happening. 

Take care and let us know if you need anything.

huge hugs
greg

[phildinftlaudy]

Dang Betty - man, oh man...

I can't even believe that you went through and are going through that ----

All I can say is that you will be in my thoughts and please, please rest and keep us updated on your progress....

Man.... wow... Just really keeping you in thoughts.

[BT65]

Hi all, thanks for the well wishes.  I'm definitely learning my limits with this cast.  My housemate has graciously given up the couch since I cannot get down the stairs to the lower level where the bedrooms are. 

Monday should be interesting when I see my ortho.  I'm going to tell him next time I have any type of fracture to please cast it instead of just giving the fracture boot. 

Nothing exciting going on. As soon as this heals I'm going to get on my doctors office to schedule that scan on my parathyroid so I can start the meds to build my bones up so these fractures will stop happening.   

Again, thanks for the good wishes.  It really does mean a lot and I love you guys.  Oh, pain is getting better.  Yesterday I only took two pain pills all day.

[Buckmark]

Geez, Betty, you really have done it this time haven't you?  I hope your recovery is speedy -- and that once you've recovered, you stop pushing yourself so hard!

Hugs,

Henry

[Jeff G]

Hugs for Betty ... she really has gone and done it, fo sho .

[Wade]

Hi Betty,
Sorry your leg has gone to a worse level,
at least it will finally heal properly after the plaster cast is on.
You will probably be non weight bearing ?
If so ,listen to your ortho dr , and stay off your feet.

I have a friend who broke her ankle and tibia skiing last year ,
she had a scooter of sorts that she kneeled on to get around,
with crutches and her scooter she was able to function some what, ask your Dr about one.

She was non weight bearing for two months ,and really helped her while in the house , also was not allowed to drive as it was her right leg.

Put some Velcro and a seatbelt on your couch , get your bones strong,
and then you can get your knees done ! Those are easy , you can get up and use them the next day !!

Wish You Well And A Big Hug ,Wade

[konkrypton]

That sounds awful! I found out how weak our bones can get myself when I fell in a parking lot and blew out a disk in my back and then had to get both hips replaced shortly afterward. They put me on the generic of that stuff that Sally Field hawks for bones (Bonita?) for a couple of years and made me eat calcium supplements, which I still do take supplements. Just make sure you get enough calcium, if you can. It sure helped me.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[Theyer]

Hi all, thanks for the well wishes.  I'm definitely learning my limits with this cast.  My housemate has graciously given up the couch since I cannot get down the stairs to the lower level where the bedrooms are. 

Monday should be interesting when I see my ortho.  I'm going to tell him next time I have any type of fracture to please cast it instead

Nothing exciting going on. As soon as this heals I'm going to get on my doctors office to schedule that scan on my parathyroid so I can start the meds to build my bones up so these fractures will stop happening.   

Again, thanks for the good wishes.  It really does mean a lot and I love you guys.  Oh, pain is getting better.  Yesterday I only took two pain pills all day.
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Tis a relief you are on the couch , am I right in reading that with the first fracture you had a boot but NO CAST
Am going to internetty this parathyroid you speak off darling, So think off me at the Dental Hos and I,ll be think inking off you at the fracture clinic

Lots of LOVE
M

[BT65]

Okay, went to the dr.  He ordered no weight bearing for at least another 3 weeks.  I have a purple plaster cast.  I will be so happy to be out of this I can't even begin to say.

[Jeff G]

Okay, went to the dr.  He ordered no weight bearing for at least another 3 weeks.  I have a purple plaster cast.  I will be so happy to be out of this I can't even begin to say.

You better do as he says ... we all are getting a bit too old to throw caution to the wind ... so stay put and get well once and for all .

[BT65]

You better do as he says ... we all are getting a bit too old to throw caution to the wind ... so stay put and get well once and for all .

Or else what? Lol

[Jeff G]

Or else what? Lol

We will blacklist you as an unruly LTS who is inattentive to their own health needs, ya dont want to get on the blacklist .

[mitch777]

Okay, went to the dr.  He ordered no weight bearing for at least another 3 weeks.  I have a purple plaster cast.  I will be so happy to be out of this I can't even begin to say.

3 weeks? I don't think your doc knows you well. He should have said at the bear minimum 12 weeks in hopes that you sit still for the 3. lol.

Seriously, get you rest dear. I might add a spanking comes along with the blacklist I think.

[Theyer]

Betty,
Many times you have asked me to take care , to follow the advice given about managing plunging blood pressure, to keep battering away so I get the neurology appointment. And your words have a power because we share similar problems.

Further risks to your leg now would be mental ,truly risking permanent life long life changing disability off the
" I think this wheel chair is the Best for me "
Kind.
I ,if truly honest,have to admit to having a part off me already wondering if that is the future, my Bones should not have this damage, other folk are having similar problems and we do not know how this will
Pan out.
We are the crash test dummies darling, the ones "HIV has no effect at all on my life"secretly read when they have an attack off sanity.

So for fuck sake take care .
Love
Michael

[BT65]

Thanks guys for your concern.  I will most likely follow the dr's advice about staying off of it because frankly, I do not want any more pain in my extremities and am already sick of this cast.  The worst factor is not being able to drive myself around.  I hate being dependent on others to get things I need from the store, plus with the bedrooms in this house being on the lower level, my poor housemate has to run clothes up and down the stairs.

I don't like to keep asking people for favors, I don't want to burn people out.    Well anyway I need to smoke lol.  Thanks again guys for your encouraging words.  I love you guys!

Betty

[Miss Philicia]

Reduced to an invalid... how tragic. I will pray for you with select Biblical passages!

[Jeff G]

I bet they can both swing a mean cane when provoked LOL . When I was a bartender we had a ancient old foul tempered customer who would come up to the steps and lay into the huge plate glass window with his cane screaming god damn it someone come get me up these steps, we always feared that a 20ft plate glass window was going to come down on his head.

Betty ... you have to follow your doctors orders and heal correctly or you may end up in a chair with a nasty disposition and a getting stick to fetch what is near . 

[Miss Philicia]

Bettina, can't you shimmy up and down the stairs on your behind? That's what I had to do when I had my foot surgeries. Lifting oneself up backwards for four flights of stairs is quite great for your triceps.

[aztecan]

Yikes Girlfriend!

You really did it right this time, didn't you.

This does remind me, though. When my right femur was fractured and I was in a delightful cast, they made me learn to use crutches to walk up and down stairs.

I had a fabulous PT guy (who was also very cute) who forced me up and down two flights several times a day until I was pretty good at it.

How about talking your doc into setting something like that up? Who knows, if the guy was really cute, perhaps you might convince him to carry you up and down, the stairs I mean.

Please take good care of yourself. I hope your bones mend soon.

HUGS

Mark

[Wade]

           NO STAIRS  !!!!

[BT65]

Okay I had a whole goddamn response typed out and lost it.  Fuck. So this wil be as brief as I can make it.

About the stairs...crutches...can't do.  I have horrible balance issues.  My left foot does not sit flat so even when I have a shoe on I'm still wobbly.  I even asked mmy doctor about it b(the ortho) and he wouldn't agree to it.  The walker is giving me phenomenal upper body strength however.

About scooting on my ass...the stairway makes a turn 1/2 way down with a wide area of floor.  Because of the multiple breaks and where they are located (remember, I have breaks in both bones in the lower leg, plus my ankle), I can't pull myself up from that low down. I can't put any weight at all on my right side.  Also, imagine a 5 lb cast on your right leg, going from toes to thigh, and it holds your leg in one position.  You cannot bend the leg or straighten it.  Going down stairs is not doable.

It's like the whole lower leg is broken.  I tried, hanging onto the walker, to put a tiny amount of weight on that leg, and I could feel myself start to go down.  The whole leg is out of commission. 

And now for better news.  I am now able to take a shower (independently), and I make my own meals.  Plus I do clean up in the kitchen. The hardest thing is not being able to drive myself around.  My housemate is being an angel about getting me things from the store though and I owe her a huge debt.

I'm also very fortunate that I have the walker and shower chair.  Life would be more difficult without them.  My dr did write a script for a wheelchair but that takes Medicaid (Medicare pays nothing for it)  2-3 weeks to decide whether it's necessary.  But I would not use a wheelchair in the house because I believe it's important to keep moving. 

So that's it for now. I'm going to make eggs and fruit and take a shower.  More later.

[initforlife]

Betty get well soon! glad you can do some things on your own again. and glad you at least have some help! Hugs!

[Jeff G]

Betty get well soon! glad you can do some things on your own again. and glad you at least have some help! Hugs!

Danger Danger ... you have entered an area you are not authorized to post in . Only LTS can post in this section . Ye be warned .

[BT65]

Betty get well soon! glad you can do some things on your own again. and glad you at least have some help! Hugs!

Sorry about the wrong forum.  Thanks for the well wishes though!

[Theyer]

Darling One,

Likewise with the crutches PN has given me an alternative balance situation , trying to use the crutches while in Hos terrified all who witness it. I  did a very good imitation off a toddler each step threatening  a fall.

Glad you have the walker  , the time will pass , I am at the Docs tomorrow fingers crossed . Love m

[BT65]

Thanks Michael.  My dr told me awhile back that my balance issues were related to the PN.  Anyway, I hope you get a good report at the dr's.  Please let me know.  Luv you.

[guitargal]

oh my!
sending you healing thoughts. Eat lots of foods with calcium.. take my advice, I'm not using it..

My sister in law had a cast like that, all the way to her mid thigh. I went and stayed with them for a bit to help out. She was a go go go type and it drove her nuts staying off of it for the first few weeks...but do it now and you will be better for it.

[wolfter]

  The worst factor is not being able to drive myself around. 
Betty

Haven't you figured out how to drive with powdery bones yet?  One of my trucks is an automatic and I use it during "injury" periods.  I mastered using my left leg for everything while having my right one twisted at a weird angel to rest over the console.  I absolutely know what you mean about being reliant on others.....UGH, I hate those periods.

Take care of yourself and LISTEN to your doctors.
hugs

[BT65]

Thanks Guitar and Greg.  Greg, don't put ideas into my head lol.  I would have to go down pretty steep steps to get to my car, so until I can put weight on my right leg, I can't even get to my car door.  And I doubt anyone would help me. Plus, I have a Saturn, so it's a small car that sits pretty low to the ground.  I'm hoping it will be sooner rather than later that I will be able to get behind the wheel again.  I was telling my housemate that when I get my walking cast I should be able to drive, and she looked at me like I was kidding.  She said "Betty, you can't drive with a cast on.  If you had to stop fast, you'd re-break your leg."

The plaster cast has made it much easier to get around.  There is a thicker bottom on this, enabling balancing to be easier.  So that's a plus.

Between the time I broke my hip and this time, so many people have done so much.   I'm fortunate to be here instead of in an apartment alone, because I would really be screwed.

The only "difficult " issue around here is that my housemate has been extremely moody, which makes it uncomfortable.  And she can really go off; I've heard her scream at her son, who also lives here.  He's 26, but has some serious disabilities.  He has Tourette's, had early onset bipolar, and just slight intellectual disability.  He's very intuitive though.  But, my friend has made him dependent on her financial and emotional wise.  Anyway, that could be another thread lol.

I do appreciate the continued good wishes, understanding and relating.  More later....

[Jeff G]

Haven't you figured out how to drive with powdery bones yet?  One of my trucks is an automatic and I use it during "injury" periods.  I mastered using my left leg for everything while having my right one twisted at a weird angel to rest over the console.  I absolutely know what you mean about being reliant on others.....UGH, I hate those periods.

Take care of yourself and LISTEN to your doctors.
hugs

You are a bad man Mister Wolfe ... we are going to have to nail Betty down if she doesn't stay put and here you are putting ideas in her head ... bad man bad man .

[BT65]

You are a bad man Mister Wolfe ... we are going to have to nail Betty down if she doesn't stay put and here you are putting ideas in her head ... bad man bad man .

Trust me, driving in my little Saturn in this situation (remember I'm 5'8") is something I know I cannot do lol.  Not that talented.

[wolfter]

You are a bad man Mister Wolfe ... we are going to have to nail Betty down if she doesn't stay put and here you are putting ideas in her head ... bad man bad man .

I was truly trying to be helpful.    

Trust me, driving in my little Saturn in this situation (remember I'm 5'8") is something I know I cannot do lol.  Not that talented.

Not to put more ideas in your head, but in my truck, I entered through the passenger door and slid over the console leaving the bad leg there.    It's tough when you don't live in an area that has public transportation.  But I digress, STAY PUT Betty.   

[Theyer]

I was truly trying to be helpful.    
Not to put more ideas in your head, but in my truck, I entered through the passenger door and slid over the console leaving the bad leg there.    It's tough when you don't live in an area that has public transportation.  But I digress, STAY PUT Betty. 

I guess that along with no public transport you have no traffic Police either.

[Miss Philicia]

Hey Betty, I just read that South Bend got 12" of snow last night. What did you get?

[BT65]

Hey Betty, I just read that South Bend got 12" of snow last night. What did you get?

I live only 5 minutes north of South Bend, so we got the same. According to my housemate, when she was coming home last night the roads were dreadful with several slide/offs and collisions. 

[Jeff G]

I live only 5 minutes north of South Bend, so we got the same. According to my housemate, when she was coming home last night the roads were dreadful with several slide/offs and collisions. 

God I would love 12 inches .

[BT65]

God I would love 12 inches .

Honey if I could, I would mail it today.

[Wade]

don't think you can mail those 12 inches..........

[BT65]

 So I went to the doctor yesterday.  I actually got down the steps into the garage from the inside of the house without anyone's help.  I saw the nurse practitioner who is very thorough and very intelligent .  I showed her the blisters on my foot. She said that the issue with cutting the cast back is that there will be more blisters.  So the X-ray tech put this mole hair tape around the edges that I had cut off (don't know if I mentioned that here), and the NP put large bandages on and sent me home with some.

The X-ray showed callouses forming on the bone which means it's starting to heal.  I asked about the walking cast and was told it would be as high up as this cast (toe to thigh), due to how high up the fracture is.  I was also told to stay off my feet more. I don't know why they keep telling me that. I've told them several times that I don't have servants lol.

So I go back in two weeks at which time I will see the ortho.  That's what's going on. I'm going to go smoke. Lol.

[Wade]

Are you mastering the crutches without putting
weight on your leg ?

[BT65]

The X-ray tech and doctor said no crutches, only tthe walker, for two reasons: 1) because I do not have good balance at all and 2) they said this time of year, crutches are horrible to use because they slide out easily from under a person due to the snow and ice.  Then people fall and break something else, which is something I don't want to do.

[Jeff G]

The X-ray tech and doctor said no crutches, only tthe walker, for two reasons: 1) because I do not have good balance at all and 2) they said this time of year, crutches are horrible to use because they slide out easily from under a person due to the snow and ice.  Then people fall and break something else, which is something I don't want to do.

Im going to bribe your housemate to nail that cast to the floor so you can stay off it and only go in circles .

[wolfter]

How can you possibly use a walker without putting weight on both feet?  I couldn't master it but perhaps you have.

Hope your saga ends soon and your bones finally heal.  Stay put and heal damn it. 

take care and hugs

[Miss Philicia]

She needs one of these I think

[Jeff G]

I told her the other day she was gonna end up like that woman on American Horror with no legs or lower body and walking around on her hands .