Broken left humerus Surgery and Suck: Depression Help!

So where do I begin.  Maybe I should start with I am living in my own personal hell.  Many say keep positive thoughts and to look at all the amazing people that surround and support me.  Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful for my family, friends, and husband but some days seem hopeless.  More days than others.  

It has been 64 days since I broke my humerus in 5 different places.  And about 61 days since a plate and pins has been surgically placed from my shoulder to my elbow.  It all started on Sept 13th.  I fell at one of my two jobs.  The scary part is the job I was working at, at  the time of my fall, I was working solo.  As soon as I fell and heard that pop, I laid there screaming for help.  Of course no one heard me so I mustered up enough courage to get up, in shock and hold my left arm in place with my right hand. I then called security telling them I am almost positive I broke my arm and to call an ambulance.  Lets just say I was lucky to not have  knocked myself out, because who knows when they would have founnd me.  I count my blessings that I am alive.

Anyway the ambulance rushed me to the hospital where they cut off my sweatshirt and took x-rays.  The whole situation felt surreal, like a nightmare.  They soon after told me I had a spiral/oblique fracture to my distal humerus. The ortho PA on duty splinted me and told me to call the ortho that Monday for an appointment that Thursday.  Unfortunately that Saturday night  was a nightmare.  I could literally feel my bone moving around and pain killers weren’t cutting it.  My husband rushed me to an even closer ER the next morning.  I had more x’rays done at the ER and was replinted.  My husband even went out and bought a recliner since I couldn’t sleep anywhere else.  I was then sent to the ortho for Monday.  As soon as I entered the ortho on Monday I was set up for Surgery on Tuesday.  The amount of pain I went through from when I broke it, up to surgery was excruciating all day long.  So for the surgery I am grateful.

Did I ever tell you I never broke a bone in my life, nor did I ever go through surgery and anesthesia before. Going into surgery was probably the scariest moment of my life ever.  However I was out for the count in a matter of seconds.  While I was under my doctor found not one, not two, but five breaks coming off my spiral break.  This lead to the surgery to last 7 hours instead of 3 hours. A plate and several pins were placed from my shoulder to elbow.  

So you might be thinking well Lauren you had surgery and are no longer in excruciating pain every moment so whats wrong.  Firstly I still get pain, just different kind and did still take pain meds for it.  Also during the surgery the doc had to move over my radial nerve so I couldn’t move my fingers too well after the surgery.  I now have radial palsy meaning weakness in the radial nerve.  For the first 5 weeks I was in a splint with splint changes each week.  My fingers can move a little better now but my thumb is still completely numb. But lucky part is  my incision healed well; no infection etc.

This past couple of weeks have been one of the scariest.  My ortho introduced me to a physical therapist and he said I needed to start moving my arm or I would be stuck with a bent arm that can’t turn over forever and at the same time the doc saw updated x-rays and my bones haven’t fused yet or even started. He needs a cat scan by week 12.  Therefore the doc wants me to move my arm on my own using my good arm, but not too hard because he doesn’t want the plate coming out by accident and then he has to God forbid do another surgery.  He doesn’t want me doing physical therapy yet because he is afraid it be too rough and will pull out my plate and pins.  So definitely scares me when my doc wants me to wait for PT, move my arm on my own, and me now being afraid of it staying like this forever.

Basically I am in a make shift splint for the next two weeks.  It is a half splint with ace bandage around it.  Everynight my husband takes the splint off and I move my arm ever so slightly with my good arm. 

I miss work, and doing normal things with friends without being in pain or nausea.  I hate having people doing everything for me including me simple tasks of bathing and pulling my pants down to go to the bathroom.  It is embarrassing and dehumanizing.  I just want to get better sooner or just better at all.

Added stress I was taking too many percoset so I went cold turkey and went through all the withdrawal symptoms physically.  But mentally I am more depressed then ever.  I am so worried of never getting better, 

I am scared sh*tless and just wish I knew someone who experienced the same trauma so I don’t feel alone.  I am scared the feeling and movement won’t come back.  I can’t be like this forever.  I am already a mess, crying every moment.   

This post definitely resonated with me, can I start by saying you are not the only one and it will get better.

About two months ago I was hit by a car and broke my leg. It was a triple compound fracture so the bone came through the skin and damaged the surrounding tissue. I've had a rod and pins inserted. Then I underwent plastic surgery, they took a deep skin flap from my thigh to cover the tissue removed on my lower leg.(I'm only in my twenties and I had two perfectly lovely legs before this!) Two major ops and lots of heavy drugs! It is quite a lot to deal with having never been in hospital before isn't it. I was in hospital for 2 weeks.

Like you I took pain killers which were quite addictive (tramadol) and decided to come off them quickly. Two pretty horrible nights ensued.

I think that I probably have PTS and am now seeking help, however I am trying to stay positive. On a bad day I see the scars, get frustrated that I can't move much and my temper is ridiculous. On a good day I am thankful that I can walk at all and that my spine wasn't damaged. It's so hard, I certainly don't have the answers but I know what you are going through. 

I have decided though that I have two options: let this get to me and give up trying or do everything to get better. I will definitely go walking, running, swimming etc. again and I will do whatever I can to reduce the scarring on my leg. I try to think of things to be happy about each day, what I have achieved etc. and I seek inspiration from those who have suffered major injuries and have succeeded in staying happy. 

I am due to see the docs again at the end of the month and they will tell me how much more weight I can put on my leg. Anything is possible with determination in these situations.

I am about to have pin and plate removed from my upper humerus on 29.6.15 after I was mended in December 13. Hope all is well. Understand all and empathise.

Plan is rest and then physio. i have been in job since feb 15 and ok. I  take

pain relief tablets and use warm showers for pain relief.

Pray you recover well to. Kind wishes Sue

Good advice too. See my note to Broken wings also.

Pray you recover well too.

Kind wishes

Sue

Hey I'm just curious how your doing? I just broke my humerus in 3 spots and had a 5 hour surgery 2 weeks ago and I'm pretty scared myself about my future. I'm in a sling and my fingers and wrist are paralyzed plus I was only sent home with a one week prescription to pain meds so I've been in a lot of pain this past week. I see the dr in 2 days for a checkup I hope I'm alright, I hope everything is good on ur end.

Have faith for your future too. My humerus has healed and I am so more comfortable after pins and plate removed in July this year. I am recovering well and regaining movements in my arm and doing physio also.

You need support from GP and painrelief medicine prescibed.

Please check why your fingers and wrist are paralyzed you need advice. I wish you a swift recovery.

Kind wishes

Sue

Hello Brook ! Hope you recover soon and lead a happy life ! I just wanted to tell you its all hard experiences that we face!

Fine , i met with an accident and broke my right humerus and successfully undergone surgery with Philo's plate and screws ! It's been 3 week now and getting moments of hand as I'm doing physio as suggested by doctor ! I have many doubts in personal! I ll be thankful if Any one out here can help me !! Thank you

Hi Sue.

Why sis u have hardware removed? I am unable go bend my.arm past 100* and my triceps are adheres to the plate. I need hardware removed. Just seeing how is.doing now and why hardware was removed

Hi Brokenwings. Did you recover ? I'm in similar boat. Broke my humurus 5-14-16. Underwnt ORIF 5-23-16. Elbow didn't bend past 90* flexiin ..I had.a manipulation under anesthesia in sept. Only to find out triceps are stuck to plate and. Now I need hardware removed. Plwqaw let Me .know. How.ur.doing. thx

How are you doing now? I'm having humerus hardware removed in a few days wondering about recovery.

Hi Sandra,

I had surgery 3 weeks ago for a fracured humerus proximal. Still in a lot of pain and am on strong painkillers, tramadol and oxycodone for breakthrough pain. It is worst at night and can't get any more than a couple of hours sleep at a time. I have to keep my arm in a sling which I am finding very uncomfortable and seems to be causing pain also.

Omg im so sorry! We have such similar stories!! I hope u have healed since then

The recliner helps! I went MONTHS before i ever got decent sleep! At least your on oxy, it took months before i got any oxy! Its a long recovery! I hope u heal fast! My elbow didnt work after surgery. I develiped frozen shoulder. Im coming up on a year and still have limkter range strentgh and endurance sad

Thanks,! I have a recliner and it is okay. Thought I was better yesterday as had absolutely no pain for 2 days so gave up my painkillers, but now today the pain is back again. I don't want to get hooked on those horrible narcotics so am trying to just take solpadeine at the moment but it's not very effective. I really wish I could try ibuprofen but have been advised it is bad for bone healing.

Try ice to help pain and help sleeping. I didnt get hooked on oxy. I know everyone is diff. But i very mich needed it to get my elbow to work again. Sleep is VERY important to heal. Try to walk at least 30 mins. Sleeping was awful for me. I wish i cus tale ur pain away. Take plenty of calcium! I hear bone broth works wonders too

Ice helps, I also used homeopathic arnica and a combo called Arnicare. I also used acupuncture, which made a huge difference in my opinion. I also slept in a recliner for months after my surgery. 

I do understand I have had these feelings too, I am normally very active, horse riding, cycling running etc, I fell off a chair and did a bad fracture to my wrist, I have  never broken a bone before either, but when I got the cast off I was terrified to walk without a walkign stick I was convinced I would fall over and break things again, slowly I managed but I used to wake up with panic attacks I would get panic attacks just sitting reading, I felt so helpless, so I went for some clinical hypnotherapy to help me get some of the stress issues out of me, a doctor friend had reccomended this , and I found for me it really helped, I still sometimes just started cyring, which I never did before, but it has gotten less, I think I thought once the cast came off life went back to normal. We have to give our body time to heal but it is not an easy process, but I do believe that eventually you will come through this hellish experience, I hope and pray that all of us on here never ever break anything in our bodies ever again.  Good luck xxxx 

Hope you're doing better. I broke my wrist and humerus 6 months ago and had orif surgery 2 wks after accident. I rented a hospital bed for four months and was able to sleep through the night. I've been in therapy for 6 months. Getting better but have a lot of metal in my arm and hand. 3 plates and 12 screws between arm and wrist. It was a nightmare but I'm doing really well.

I fell down the stairs and not only broke wrist and humerus also rib. Also tore groin muscles and damaged Achilles' tendon and had a visceral detachment in eye.

It's a long road to recovery but I hope to get there. Bad scar on arm but attempt to cover it up with makeup when in pool.

OMG ! I recently was in a motorcycle crash ! Shattered left humerus, broke left arm 4 places . Right wrist broke left and right bones 3 fingers ! I have 14 screws, wire and plate in left arm . I like you have the same limitations and it's driving me crazy! My left arm was only braced with a brace I can take off and on , surgeons said due to restrictions of left arm they did not do surgery on right hand! I'm thankful for that! I I was riding my doorstep aroung 11 in daytime a buck ran in front of me ! I ended up down a 30 foot embankment where Know one could see or hear me. I crawled about 200 feet to my bike as my cell phone was on my bike. Compound breaks on left . I am thankful I'm alive ! But honestly I am going crazy with the same issues you are having with left humerus and breaks!

I'm so sorry Alice yes ur lucky to be alive. I'm post op 1 year and still in therapy. And im an occupational therapist at that sad it takes a LONG time. Be patient. I KNOW it sux 2 hear that bc everyone told me. But i promise u. U will be disappointed if things are not going fast enough and that will take ur mind to another level. I hope u recover ASAP but im telling u its a long road to recovery sad