A humerus story that is not funny (broken arm)
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terryg
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Wow, I bet getting thru airport security will be really interesting now.
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From what I've been reading, airport security should not be that big of an extra deal compared to "typical" for me in the past. It seems titanium is not very likely to set off magnetic field type scanners, which work differently than x-rays. If there is an issue, they can wand my arm to confirm that's where they're getting a reading, and pat it down or even visually check it. Not as bad as say having a hip implant, where they might be checking things out below the waist. 
Plus I will bring a copy of the x-ray, to show if needed (From what I have read, being proactive to explain first, can cause more suspicion, oddly enough).
So, I went to the party Friday night (3 weeks after breaking the arm). To help to lighten the mood of the visual appearance of wearing the sling and why, I made up the button, below, which I attached to the sling harness (clear button holder was left over from a pack I got to use as a master for casting landing pads for the Lunar Module Quadcopter).
It was true too, I needed to be off of the pain medication in order to drive, and felt fine.
Had a great time.
Putting on hold, or adjusting, for the things I need to hold or adjust for, as the healing process continues. Living my life as much as normal, otherwise.
Plus I will bring a copy of the x-ray, to show if needed (From what I have read, being proactive to explain first, can cause more suspicion, oddly enough). So, I went to the party Friday night (3 weeks after breaking the arm). To help to lighten the mood of the visual appearance of wearing the sling and why, I made up the button, below, which I attached to the sling harness (clear button holder was left over from a pack I got to use as a master for casting landing pads for the Lunar Module Quadcopter).
It was true too, I needed to be off of the pain medication in order to drive, and felt fine.
Had a great time.
Putting on hold, or adjusting, for the things I need to hold or adjust for, as the healing process continues. Living my life as much as normal, otherwise.
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Holey smokes man,,,
There's more metal in there then not....
Geezzzz,, just take it easy for a while...
How freakin hard did you hit your arm,, lol..
Heal up,, be safe,, feel better,,
Teddy
There's more metal in there then not....
Geezzzz,, just take it easy for a while...
How freakin hard did you hit your arm,, lol..
Heal up,, be safe,, feel better,,
Teddy
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Does that mean George can't get launched now since he now has too much structural metal and violates the safety code? :wink:
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An update. Been out of the sling for 3 weeks. Can do at least 90% of the stuff I could before, though some things not so well (like throwing a ball accurately or with any good speed, definitely not overhand. But I have no real need for throwing a ball, just a good example).
Still have to heal a few more weeks before starting rehab. I can move my arm (from the shoulder joint) to about 90 degrees (horizontal) in either direction (out from the side or forward), and that's it. It has been that way for 2-3 weeks so it's not getting more range of motion even though I do have some more arm strength simply from moving it after getting out of the sling. So I have to wait for more healing and rehab before trying to do exercises that eventually should lead to a range of motion more like I had before. For the most part that limited range of motion only affects trying to get something from or place something on a high shelf. Which I can do with my right hand, but not for anything big/heavy enough needing two hands.
It was warm recently, I rode my bike 1.6 miles (first time since Dec 20th). Was going to try for 2 miles but started feeling some discomfort at the break location (not much, just enough to let me know to stop) so I cut it short and rode most of the way back one-handed. I'll wait for rehab to start before trying to ride again.
Been able to work on models for several weeks, and started a bit but sorta got into a funk. I need to snap out of it and get my "winter projects" done soon.
Still have to heal a few more weeks before starting rehab. I can move my arm (from the shoulder joint) to about 90 degrees (horizontal) in either direction (out from the side or forward), and that's it. It has been that way for 2-3 weeks so it's not getting more range of motion even though I do have some more arm strength simply from moving it after getting out of the sling. So I have to wait for more healing and rehab before trying to do exercises that eventually should lead to a range of motion more like I had before. For the most part that limited range of motion only affects trying to get something from or place something on a high shelf. Which I can do with my right hand, but not for anything big/heavy enough needing two hands.
It was warm recently, I rode my bike 1.6 miles (first time since Dec 20th). Was going to try for 2 miles but started feeling some discomfort at the break location (not much, just enough to let me know to stop) so I cut it short and rode most of the way back one-handed. I'll wait for rehab to start before trying to ride again.
Been able to work on models for several weeks, and started a bit but sorta got into a funk. I need to snap out of it and get my "winter projects" done soon.
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Glad to hear your doing better. Sounds like you're going to do fine with the physical therapy. My mom had surgery to repair 4 torn ligaments in her shoulder. Said that it was the most painful thing in her life (and she gave birth to two kids), but the restoration of movement was worth it. Do your exercises, and don't over do it. You've got this!
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Thursday March 23rd was 3 months since I broke my arm (Dec 23rd), though I don’t count my healing time really starting until I had surgery on it a bit over a week later (31st). So, here’s an update.
March 10th, saw a surgeon who checked a new X-Ray. He noted a lot of new bone growth in and around the break. In the two images merged below, the left one is Jan 12th (13 days after the operation), right one is March 9th.
You can see some jagged bone from the break, on the left side of the left image. On the right image, a lot of new bone, and the jagged area is filled in. He said it is technically healed, but needs to get stronger over several months. So no push-ups or swinging an axe for many months. Uh, yeah, like I do push-ups, or chop wood with an axe rather than X-acto. But those were just examples of physical activity levels to avoid using that arm. So, with the X-rays showing it has healed properly, unless some problem arises, that was my last follow-up with the surgeon.
As far as my day-to-day activities, too not much of an effect. Main thing is the left arm won’t move more than 90 degrees (horizontal) from the shoulder joint, from the side outwards or forward. So I can’t reach up much to say get something or place something on a shelf above arm level. Rehab will address that. Also not a lot of strength, but then I’m not supposed to be putting a lot of stress on it by lifting much anyway, for awhile.
I’m able to build models. Been able to do that since the first month. Last week I flew an electric R/C plane, MultiStar, that I had to throw with my left arm (Transmitter in right hand, learned long go that swapping hands for throwing and R/C TX does not work well). Can’t throw too well right now, but enough to get that into the air, and Radians do not need much of a throw to start climbing out. So I can do a lot of stuff, just some not quite as well.
In any case, I was cleared to begin rehab. First session was Monday, second one Thursday. Went well. Have some stretching exercises to do 2-3 times a day, and eventually will include some weight training. All have more rehab sessions.
Last weekend, it was not too cold and not too windy, so I rode my bike a bit. In mid February I had tried riding it, intending to do 1-2 miles. I felt at first it was OK so I was going to do 2 miles but then I started to feel the first indicator of discomfort where the break was, so I rode back using only my right arm to steer. When I ride I am leaning forward a bit so there was a little bit of “push-up” type force applied even though it was only 1-2 pounds. Ay any rate I realized i needed to give it more time to heal properly. So last weekend I figured it was worth trying again even if I had to stop early. But it went OK, I did 6.1 miles Saturday and 4.4 Sunday (A little cooler but I wanted to ride some and 10 miles for the weekend was good incentive). And didn’t feel any discomfort with the arm at all (my legs were definitely out of shape, as is the rest of me, from not riding much since Nov 17th). I could probably do a 10 mile ride if the weather was nice enough, which it won’t be for awhile. There’s no issues steering or controlling the bike, my only concern is possibly falling and injuring myself. So I won’t be trying downhill very fast anymore, 15 mph is my limit, I used to try to go 25 mph down some hills to keep up momentum to go up the next hill. That was too risky to begin with. It will be many weeks before I ride enough to be in some decent enough shape to do a 20+ mile group ride. I’m not going to do as many group rides, for various reasons. And the ones that I do go on will be ones that are mostly flat, like Rail Trails, no high speed or high risk areas. And I do not mean that as a precaution against re-injuring the arm, I mean it as an overall long-term precaution from now on to reduce the chances of injuring anything.
So, with the arm healed, and rehab underway, this is likely to be my last update about the recovery from the broken arm. From here on out it should be a gradual thing with no significant news along the way. Hopefully by the end of the year i’ll be able to move it a lot more like I was able to before I broke it (that was part of the decision to go for the surgery to begin with). So, maybe and end-of-year update.
March 10th, saw a surgeon who checked a new X-Ray. He noted a lot of new bone growth in and around the break. In the two images merged below, the left one is Jan 12th (13 days after the operation), right one is March 9th.
You can see some jagged bone from the break, on the left side of the left image. On the right image, a lot of new bone, and the jagged area is filled in. He said it is technically healed, but needs to get stronger over several months. So no push-ups or swinging an axe for many months. Uh, yeah, like I do push-ups, or chop wood with an axe rather than X-acto. But those were just examples of physical activity levels to avoid using that arm. So, with the X-rays showing it has healed properly, unless some problem arises, that was my last follow-up with the surgeon.
As far as my day-to-day activities, too not much of an effect. Main thing is the left arm won’t move more than 90 degrees (horizontal) from the shoulder joint, from the side outwards or forward. So I can’t reach up much to say get something or place something on a shelf above arm level. Rehab will address that. Also not a lot of strength, but then I’m not supposed to be putting a lot of stress on it by lifting much anyway, for awhile.
I’m able to build models. Been able to do that since the first month. Last week I flew an electric R/C plane, MultiStar, that I had to throw with my left arm (Transmitter in right hand, learned long go that swapping hands for throwing and R/C TX does not work well). Can’t throw too well right now, but enough to get that into the air, and Radians do not need much of a throw to start climbing out. So I can do a lot of stuff, just some not quite as well.
In any case, I was cleared to begin rehab. First session was Monday, second one Thursday. Went well. Have some stretching exercises to do 2-3 times a day, and eventually will include some weight training. All have more rehab sessions.
Last weekend, it was not too cold and not too windy, so I rode my bike a bit. In mid February I had tried riding it, intending to do 1-2 miles. I felt at first it was OK so I was going to do 2 miles but then I started to feel the first indicator of discomfort where the break was, so I rode back using only my right arm to steer. When I ride I am leaning forward a bit so there was a little bit of “push-up” type force applied even though it was only 1-2 pounds. Ay any rate I realized i needed to give it more time to heal properly. So last weekend I figured it was worth trying again even if I had to stop early. But it went OK, I did 6.1 miles Saturday and 4.4 Sunday (A little cooler but I wanted to ride some and 10 miles for the weekend was good incentive). And didn’t feel any discomfort with the arm at all (my legs were definitely out of shape, as is the rest of me, from not riding much since Nov 17th). I could probably do a 10 mile ride if the weather was nice enough, which it won’t be for awhile. There’s no issues steering or controlling the bike, my only concern is possibly falling and injuring myself. So I won’t be trying downhill very fast anymore, 15 mph is my limit, I used to try to go 25 mph down some hills to keep up momentum to go up the next hill. That was too risky to begin with. It will be many weeks before I ride enough to be in some decent enough shape to do a 20+ mile group ride. I’m not going to do as many group rides, for various reasons. And the ones that I do go on will be ones that are mostly flat, like Rail Trails, no high speed or high risk areas. And I do not mean that as a precaution against re-injuring the arm, I mean it as an overall long-term precaution from now on to reduce the chances of injuring anything.
So, with the arm healed, and rehab underway, this is likely to be my last update about the recovery from the broken arm. From here on out it should be a gradual thing with no significant news along the way. Hopefully by the end of the year i’ll be able to move it a lot more like I was able to before I broke it (that was part of the decision to go for the surgery to begin with). So, maybe and end-of-year update.
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