Not the day I planned… but I got an ambulance ride!

[Ceriann]

So sorry - that injury sounds awful and the painkiller situation is just cruel. I broke and displaced my left head of femur 8 years ago. I was given no pain relief until I got into the ward and x-rayed. All this despite my leg being at a different angle and obviously shorter. The clunk when they moved me - yuk. It’s all degrading in recovery and you do have to sacrifice a lot of independence. I had a raised toilet seat, washed me and my hair in the sink. I was terrified of the shower and eventually got a little stool for it. I did the thinner thing in little spring like injection packs - they do sting and my belly was covered in bruises. Physio will def be your friend - I took it so seriously, as much for the soft tissue as the break.

 

[Goldenstar]

How did last night go ?

 

[scats]

How did last night go ?

I was really drowsy last night and fell asleep at around 9pm. Woke several times when I must have tried to move my leg ? but definitely got better sleep than the previous night.

Been awake since 4am, when my cats had an altercation near my leg and my instinct was to pull it away. Good grief, I felt like someone had grabbed my bones and rattled them.
I think the pain is getting worse though, which is a slight concern.

When I go to the loo, it’s pretty unbearable the whole time it’s not elevated, and my toes go purple. When I get back into bed and get it elevated, the colour goes better but then I just have this non-stop deep ache and severe pain if I move it.

Customer of mine who works in the physio at Aintree messaged me last night to say my name was triaged on their system yesterday morning and did someone ring me with an appointment? I didn’t hear anything so I will chase it up.

Feeling a bit sorry for myself today, I can’t lie. I wish I could get even 5 minutes relief from this pain.

 

[jnb]

Oh no Scats, so sorry to hear this.
As an aside, please everyone get the "What 3 Words" app as the ambulance service will use it to locate you in an emergency, it's very precise.

 

[Goldenstar]

Scats, it’s a miserable experience but you will get through it the days pass, things move forward .
Did you manage to get a decent wash ? .
Its normal to feel sorry for yourself especially now the adrenaline that’s gets you through the initial experience has gone ,the bounce you get from having survived and got home is over .
So it’s natural you feel rotten I used television and radio ( last time was pre me having iPad ) to get through but I am not going to pretend it is easy.
Chase up every thing to with your appointments .
I don’t think theres anyone that gets through this sort of experience without tears , all you hear is oh X is so brave ,we are horsy we do the most of the crying with pain and frustration on our own it’s normal .
Breathing exercises do help in my experience .
I am thinking of you I remember well exactly how it feels, it’s crap but you will get to the other side .

 

[little_critter]

I’m sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you can have your op quickly and it gives you some relief.
just a thought for passing the time, could you Google some sitting upper body exercise routines / Pilates etc?
There may be some YouTube videos you could follow along just to kill time and give you something to do.

 

[scats]

Scats, it’s a miserable experience but you will get through it the days pass, things move forward .
Did you manage to get a decent wash ? .
Its normal to feel sorry for yourself especially now the adrenaline that’s gets you through the initial experience has gone ,the bounce you get from having survived and got home is over .
So it’s natural you feel rotten I used television and radio ( last time was pre me having iPad ) to get through but I am not going to pretend it is easy.
Chase up every thing to with your appointments .
I don’t think theres anyone that gets through this sort of experience without tears , all you hear is oh X is so brave ,we are horsy we do the most of the crying with pain and frustration on our own it’s normal .
Breathing exercises do help in my experience .
I am thinking of you I remember well exactly how it feels, it’s crap but you will get to the other side .

Thanks GS, I’ve had a sponge wash and that made me feel a lot better. Probably sounds weird but I really don’t do being dirty. I’m a stickler for showering and being clean and having clean clothes, nice perfume on etc, so I feel like a grubby horrid thing which isn’t helping.

Might have to wait til after surgery to attempt a shower because I’m not sure my crunchy bones can take it at the moment. I’m struggling with 30 seconds on the loo ?

My best mate said she will try and call in today to see me so that will be nice. I’m still holed up in my bedroom at the moment, which I hate, but the thought of trying to negotiate stairs at the moment is a bit out of my comfort zone.

Im also quite shocked at how scared I am on the crutches! I have used crutches before but I feel like if I fell, I’m not sure I could take the pain. Hoping my confidence will grow a bit once I’ve had surgery and I’ll be happier moving around.

 

[Bradsmum]

Glad you had a slightly better night. You are right, once the bones have been pinned and everything is secured in a cast the pain does ease. It still needs managing but definitely better. You will gain more confidence on the crutches when everything is secured too - if you have something to pad the hand grips I would seriously recommend. I used cycle gloves that have a padded palm area. You can buy cushioned grips. Hope your friend manages to pop in, I'm sure that will lift your spirits.

 

[scats]

I messaged Nicola Wilson yesterday to tell her that watching her recovery from her accident at Badminton had inspired me to try and approach this accident and recovery with hopefully even a quarter of the strength and grace that she has shown. She sent the most beautiful and personal message back to me, wishing me well in my recovery and offering some advice of how she got through her dark days. What a wonderful, wonderful lady to take the time to do that.

 

[Goldenstar]

You will feel better after the op .
You might have a different type of pain but the fact you going to be moving forward from that .
Nic is a superstar so kind she’s married to one of my best friends son so I know kind she to others .

 

[scats]

So I’ve had a text off the hospital with an appointment in clinic for next Wednesday afternoon ?
Feel like crying. I’d accepted it wasn’t going to be until after the weekend but that’s a long time to wait in this level of pain and with everything moving around. Plus it will be potentially another day or two after that before I have any surgery.

 

[scats]

Update with some good news!
I’ve just had a phone call off the fracture clinic and they’ve told me to come in today at 1.30pm! Basically my customer who works as a physio there has pulled an absolute blinder for me and got me bumped up the list. The relief is unbelievable!

What’s weird is I only met this customer last Saturday for the first time! What an absolutely lovely bloke to do this for me!

 

[catembi]

I don’t suppose that there is any way that you could go private? That’s what a friend did with a displaced collar bone who was in the same limbo of waiting for it to be pinned. If you have an emergency horse credit card, it might be worth maxing it out. You would do it for your horse! You’re worth it!

 

[catembi]

Yay, cross posted. So pleased for you! Good luck!?

 

[Peglo]

So glad to hear that scats. I didn’t like the sound of it feeling worse. Once it’s pinned and less movement in the bones I’m sure you will feel more confident on your crutches.

big shout out to your new physio customer. What a difference having someone look out for you in the hospital.

 

[wren123]

Really pleased for you, I was hoping he’d pull some strings for you.

Not had a break as bad as yours but had to have a general to have my elbow manipulated and they put plaster on while I was asleep. The relief from the pain was immense, such a relief when I woke up.

 

[MarvelVillis]

Gosh I've just caught up, felt very ill reading through what you had to experience! Poor you. Glad to hear you've got some good news though and can be seen later. Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery!

 

[Billyandme]

So often the way. It's not what we know it's WHOwe know. Great news. I am an retired NHS employee and will willingly admit to pulling every contact I know when my husband was in Hospital for 4 months

 

[Bradsmum]

Thats great news Scats - hope the op happens soon so that it feels more stable. Think the physio might have earnt a favour or two! Hope all goes well.

 

[Fransurrey]

Fantastic that you're in the clinic today. I remembered this morning about waterless shower caps that I bought for my mum when she was in a similar situation. She said they worked quite well. Maybe try those with bed bath wipes until you can safely shower/bathe?

 

[Rumtytum]

Excellent news!

 

[luckyoldme]

So I’ve had a text off the hospital with an appointment in clinic for next Wednesday afternoon ?
Feel like crying. I’d accepted it wasn’t going to be until after the weekend but that’s a long time to wait in this level of pain and with everything moving around. Plus it will be potentially another day or two after that before I have any surgery.

Good luck for this afternoon!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Fantastic news.

 

[splashgirl45]

Hope all goes well today and your pain can be managed better ?

 

[Kunoichi73]

Great news!

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Eagerly waiting to hear how you got on today. Everything still crossed you get relief soon.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I've only just seen this thread and, I'm not gonna lie, my ar@e is twitching big time!! ???
You are one VERY brave lady. I really have fingers crossed for you that you can get the pain managed better and as fast a recovery as is humanely possible x

 

[atropa]

So sorry you've gone through this scats, really hope your appointment this afternoon has brought some relief.
Pretty shocking at the hospital in terms of water and pain relief - I hate to be THAT person and I know the NHS is under immense pressure but wonder if it would be worth lodging a complaint?
What about wet wipes for freshening up until the break is stabilised a bit more and the pain has reduced enough for you to feel confident showering?

 

[scats]

Bit of a disappointing appointment, though obviously very grateful to have got in this quickly!
Doctor I saw was quite dismissive and told me that there is a 2-3 week wait for surgery because there are 60 people on the list. He said the bones moving shouldn’t cause any further problems unless I weight bear, so provided I stay off my foot, it will be fine. He was unconcerned about my pain levels and that things are feeling different in there. I know he must see broken legs all the time but there’s nothing worse than feeling vulnerable and in pain with an injury that you’ve been told needs surgery and having someone be so dismissive of you. I told him that the orthopaedic specialist who came to see me in the trauma unit on Wednesday had told me that he was going to do my surgery and had been very definite about the plan and that he wanted it done within 5 days, but this doctor just gave me a sort of rolled eye look and said “you do realise there are loads of orthopaedic surgeons here”… I’m still unsure what that had to do with anything ?

Anyway, I was then sent for a swell check and had the bandage bit of the cast cut open and the areas around my foot and ankle pressed really hard (ouch!!) They said it didn’t look too bad but to still keep it elevated high.
Then I went for a pre-op and met 2 lovely nurses and a trainee who took bloods and did an MRSA swab. I was sent back to wait for the trauma nurse to see me but eventually they told me she couldn’t come down so just to go home and await a phone call for surgery.

I’ve just got to hope that they decide to move me up the list a bit because 2-3 weeks of this seems really barbaric

If nothing else, it was nice to get out of the house. I’m pretty tired now though.

 

[catembi]

Oh gosh! I was really, really hoping that they had whisked you straight into surgery. At least you are on the list a few days earlier than you would have been. Seriously, do you have any way of going private? I really, really feel for you ?