So I have dragged this out over a third post now.
http://kevinmorice2012.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/big-bang.html
http://kevinmorice2012.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/no-pictures-yet.html
So the last one leaves off with A&E at Dr Grays sending me home with some drugs to wait for a phone call. So from the saturday evening until Monday I was left waiting for them to decide if they wanted to operate or not. I eventually got fed up of waiting and called them, there answer was that they thought it would heal on it's own so go home and then pop in to the ARI fracture clinic in 4 weeks to see if it is fixed.
After 4 days on the monster drugs and the swelling going down it was obvious that something still wasn't right. I went in to ARI and they took another pair of x-rays and asked me to come back in on the Monday so they could decide if or when to operate.
So here is a photo from about a week after the accident. Some lovely bruising, and if you look closely you can see a lovely lump where the two major pieces of bone overlap.
And below is what that it looked like from the inside. In addition to the two major pieces I had what is called a butterfly fracture. This is when the two major pieces snap in a way that causes a third triangular splinter (it looks like a butterfly wing if you sketch it) to get broken out, and a fourth very small chip. Mine had the added complication that the large splinter had spun round and the very sharp end of it was pressing on some nerves in the brachial plexus.
The chip was enough to get me on the not-quite-an-emergency list for surgery. So I had to check back in to the hospital on Tuesday, 10 days after the accident. This was apparently not a major issue. Having missed the chance to do it on the first day (Thanks Dr Grays!) they felt it was better to let some of the bruising go down to give them more room to work.
Tuesday was an interesting day of filling in forms and reading books but I was then sent home as a car crash had skipped a few people onto the really-is-an-emergency list and they stole my theatre and surgeons. So I was set home till the Thursday. Second time lucky though and they did manage to fit me in late on the Thursday.
The knockout drugs for surgery these days are GOOOD!! From asking if I was ready to me being asleep was about 2 seconds. And the next thing I remember was waking up, feeling a bit stiff and pained but generally ok. And obviously my first thought was to take a picture for facebook:
They kept me pretty heavily drugged through the night but I was able to get up and dress myself on friday morning. They let me have breakfast and lunch. Sent me for some x-rays of the plate (below) and then let me out.
It was under the dressing for 10 days so here is the first shot of it when I had to change the dressing. No stitches on the outside, and no sign of stitching so I don/t think it was the disolvable ones. My guess is that it was superglued and butterflied.
So from there I have been in rehab, with loads of exciting physio.
Below is the latest x-ray. It is from December 3rd. It is a slightly different angle (serenity view for any medics in the audience) from the previous x-rays, so you can see the shape of the pin and the remaining smaller chip is more obvious.
So that's what the outside looks like by Xmas. The bruising is all cleared up and the scar is still fading, and if you know what you are looking for you can see the plate. I can also feel the screw heads if I poke around it. Still aches a bit but not enough to need painkillers. Hopefully a final clinic appointment in January for it.
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