broken patella? no, not me

[mimitabby]

Hey guys, my mother who is really active (but in her seventies) slipped and fell on ice yesterday and broke her patella! they sent her home with a walker. She had polio in one arm (and therefore no strength in it) and they didn't bother to teach her how to use the d@## thing. When she spoke to me last night she was feeling helpless, frustrated and rather confused.

Anyone know about how bad a deal this is?
(the broken patella)

thanks

[KnottedYet]

I don't know enough about broken patellae to be any help, but I'm incensed that they sent her home with a walker she can't even use!!!

Does she have any strength in the arm? There are ways to modify a walker for someone with hand or wrist weakness.

Can she get a home visit from PT?

[Wahine]

Mimi, that's awful. They should have taught her how to use the walker and made sure that she could with her weak arm.

As for the fracture, it really depends. If it's a crack they may do nothing except having her use something to help her walk, they might put her in a brace and it get progressively more involved after that. There are instances where surgery is required to stabilize the fracture. Does she have a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon or for any kind of medical follow-up?

[mimitabby]

she has no shoulder muscles or biceps or triceps. she has a strong forearm and hand.

I just spoke to her and the patella is split in half which apparently does require surgery. She's going to try calling a visiting nurse or something to come out and teach her how to use the %#%# walker

[kelownagirl]

That's too bad Mimi. Maybe you need to intervene and make some assertive calls for her? Will she let you do that?

[rocknrollgirl]

Yikes,
I am really sorry to hear about your Mom. I hope you get her some help asap. I can't belive they sent her home like that. Visiting nurse service saved me when my Mom was sick. That sounds like a good plan.

[KnottedYet]

With no shoulder or shoulder girdle muscles, a walker might not be the best choice.

Hopefully the visiting nurse will figure things out.

[mimitabby]

i hope so. we're going over there at noon, and i will be as pro-active as possible.

thanks Knot, that's good news.

[KnottedYet]

thanks Knot, that's good news.

Well, it's only good news if they sent over crutches for her to use instead. One crutch, depending on the other shoulder strength. She might not have good luck with two. Maybe a wide-base cane. Depends on her strength, really.

But someone trying to use a walker who only really has weightbearing strength on one arm is likely to tip the walker over and fall. Walkers are only steady when pressure is even on both sides.

[surgtech1956]

mimitabby. When the patella is split in half, they usually just wire it back together. The only problem with that is you usually feel the wires under the skin and its annoying. Sometimes they remove the patella, and replace it with a prostesis. They don't like to remove the patella because you tend to have problems with tracking(the patella slips to one side). I fell at work off a lift onto my right knee(5/06) and had an incomplete patella fracture(just split in the center), mine just healed on its own. From my fall I had bruising in the patella-femoral joint - which I still have. Was your mother's knee flexed when she fell? They should have had someone from the PT department come down and show her how to use the walker. I would assume that's where it would have come from in the first place.

[mimitabby]

Hi Surgtech and Knot
My mother really didn't want crutches, it didn't work at all when she broke her heel 10 years ago (on the other leg)
no one knows what position she was in when she broke the patella though.

while we were there, she demonstrated going from the sofa to the bathroom. AGH, what a slow painful process. yes, it's really hard when you can't balance. She wanted ME to tell her how to do it. And i'm clueless!!! raleighdon being more of a natural expert (and someone who has had several surgeries on knees and so knows what it's like to have only the ability to bear weight on one leg) was giving her pointers. She did get a nurse on the phone, who told her that when she calls tomorrow she can get someone to come out and help her. godforbid if you hurt yourself on a weekend! in a major metropolitan area!!!!!!!

[surgtech1956]

I hated crutches. A friend gave me a cane - that was my best friend for awhile. Hopefully your mother can get into an Orthopaedic Surgeon quickly and fixed quickly. Everything happens on the weekend. Keep us posted.

[mimitabby]

last night my mother figured out how to use the wheel chair. She had to go to t he bathroom several times during the night; and as you know, necessity is the mother of invention. She didn't want to do the walker thing, it was just too scary. This morning, she's sitting at the table eating breakfast armed with a huge list of phone numbers that she's about to call. Doctors, nurses, etc...

thanks everyone; Knot, my mother felt very validated by your comment.

[OakLeaf]

no help, just adding my hope for her to get the proper ambulatory aids ASAP... and to heal up quick!

[mimitabby]

so, of course nothing is ever as simple as you expect.
The PT lady came and had a fit. She said that my mother should be in a nursing home. Her husband is in NO WAY able to help her when she's needing to go anywhere on steps, he's too weak.

And her leg has swollen up hugely, so she's going back to the doctor today, lucky to have gotten an appt. The PT lady said it's not supposed to swell like this. so maybe something else is going on?

And she might be in a rehab facility SOON.