marge
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was skiing at Mt. Bohemia in February and took a weird spill. Nothing stupid, just coming out of the trees, started to turn, leaned back in my seat and put my arm back to catch myself. May have caught my pole in the snow? Uuuuugh. Felt like mostly I wrenched my shoulder. Not horrible pain. I sked down the rest of the way and found my friend. Decided I would go into ski patrol to get a Ziplock to put some ice in. Iced the shoulder for a bit. Decided to go to the spa for a couple of hours to (work it out). Did some ROM in the hot tub/sauna. Went back to the AirBNB and made dinner, then did about 45 minutes of work, worked on a puzzle, etc. ROFL When my fingers started swelling, I wondered how bad it really was. Went to the local ER (think REALLY small town). They took some x-rays (asked me why I waited 11 hours to come in) and said nothing was broken. :D On the way home the next day (Friday), ER doc calls (I was so impressed he was calling to check on me). Nope, radiologist says coronoid process is fractured. Wants to make sure I'm still going to see an ortho as soon as I get home. Yes, I will try to get an appt on Monday. I work for a doctor's group and got a recommendation of an elbow guy on Monday. Spent the weekend just resting a bit when I got home. Monday, I go see the ortho and he says, "Yikes." This is pretty bad. I had a non-displaced radial head fx, a displaced coronoid process fx, and a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Basically sling for two weeks, then to start dead hanging the arm and OT. So now, it's been 8 weeks. I've been doing OT for a month and activity as tolerated. Surgeon is thrilled with my progress but I'm like, "Meh.... really?" I can't get my own bra or shirt off. I'm not allowed to even put my arm out away from my body with the palm down. I can do range of motion of the wrist with ONE POUND. :( Of course, now I have shoulder impingement from the guarding of the arm for four weeks. :( I emotionally a mess. They are saying no biking this summer, no upper extremity craziness for MONTHS. They say the swelling could last six months or longer. I'm just SO frustrated. :( For those who have had a similar injury or even a longer disabling injury, how did you get through it? Therapy? Medication? I'm a hot mess. I burst into tears at the stupidest things. The estimate is 6 to 12 MONTHS for full recovery. Then, what about the mentality of getting back at it? Wondering if I start out skiing without poles? Uuuuugh. I'm SO over this. I guess I just need some words of encouragement from others who have been through something similar.
Thanks!
Thanks!
