dislocated elbow

[Duck on Wheels]

Ouch! I only just now found this thread and learned what it was that has you typing one-handed. Scary! My ds is a boulderer. I see these spiderman pictures of him hanging from the ceiling of a cave and wonder how he stays up there. Now I know boulderers don't always stay up. I shudder to think

And then that wood-chopping accident as well with the firewood that jumped up and attacked your eye (must have been the other way around, right? wood-chopping before dislocation? or do you chop wood one-handed?) Anyway -- double ouch! Would a coffee break next time I'm in Oslo help distract you from the pain? I'll be there for two meetings Jan 28. One in Wergelandsveien and one up in Nydalen.

[lph]

hi duck! yep, woodchopping was in "romjula", the remains of the bruise just nicely accents the cast

i'm in no pain, thankfully, just mighty annoyed at the cast. drop me a note and we can see if we can meet up!

[lph]

woohoo again!

my one week check-up. supposed to have cast another week. the dr looked like a outdoors type - 50s, lean, short hair, slight tan - so I started telling how much of a pita the cast is when training (stat. bike + weights 1 hr a day), and all that sweat prob isn't doing it any good, and isn't it kind of crumbling up, and would there be any chance of taking it off early and putting something more flexible on, plus seriously big puppy-dog eyes...

and hey presto he asked the grumpy cast techy to make me a glassfiber cast cut open that i can take on and off at will could have HUGGED him.

but jeez - after 6 days in a cast my arm looked like a big yellow squash and i had mybe 45 deg range of movement some is prob. residual swelling inside the joint, rest is shortened tendons i guess. gentle stretching many times a day now.

just posting this in case someone else gets the same thing sometime, figured it might be handy to know. still no pain for which i am massively grateful.

oh, and was at a big 60th birthday party for mil last night, and had gallant gentlemen in their 60s practically tripping over themselves to help me do stuff wonderful, very chivalrous. gotta enjoy the perks!

[OakLeaf]

Yay for getting the cast off! Those things are evil. Now be careful with it y'hear?

[Fredwina]

{{{LPH}}}
I had the same issue with stifness and range of motion when my cast came FWTW.
That's what therapy is for!
Hang in there, it'll get better

[smilingcat]

Hi LPH,

I'm sorry for not chiming in earlier. I thought I had. Well it's good that you are in great shape to begin with. You are healing much faster than the average person.

Your doctor sounds like a really understanding man and getting you a removable cast. how cool is that!! now if you arm itches, you can take it off and scratch your arm, wash it so you can keep it clean.do gentle stretches by yourself for a better recovery.

I'm going to be a kid again. Lets see lets see with your arm before it all heals up. And like a little kid want to say YEWWW!!! J/K

listen to your body as you do the streches. I wish you a complete and a speedy recovery. you are too pretty and too young to be all banged up and bruised.

smilingcat

[lph]

Since you ask, dearie, and since I'm a shameless exhibitionist (note have regained use of capitals! ), here ya go - one of the big yellow squash, not so impressive any more, and one of my purdy red glassfiber cast.

On a less positive note: when picking me up after the accident, my dh managed to back into another car in the parking lot in the heat of the moment. With my bike on the back... my old red dearly beloved Trek winter commuter. Took a look at her today just to see how much stuff needs doing, 'cos she was due for new brakes and cables anyway... and the crank arm and pedal touches the frame... I do believe the old lady's frame is shot.

Ah well. There is a time for all old bikes to die, I guess.

[lph]

(I'll be logging my recovery here every now and then, cos this is a slow process and I found it very encouraging to find somebody else's status reports on the same condition a few days ago. Someone else is bound to bust their elbow the same way sooner or later and search this up.)

3 weeks post-dislocation: I've been w/o a cast for over a week now, and am trying to use my arm as much as possible. Can type two-handed, pick up and carry small things, shower and soap myself w/o too much difficulty, open doors carefully, and woo-hoo, progress of the day - put my hair back in a scrunchy again! My ROM is maybe from 20-30 deg extension to maybe 95-100 flexion. Extension is easier to work on, I do gentle stretches several times a day and it's not painful, just like stretching any other stiff and shortened tendon, but flexing the arm is harder, the joint feels swollen and spongy and I don't want to push it. Activitywise I've been doing 30 min on a stationary bike plus some light weight-training every weekday for the past 3 weeks, and I can pretty much keep my hands on the bike all 30 min now so I'd like to try biking again next week. Dr's orders to NOT FALL, though.

Skiing! is so far the best. Not "real" skiing on groomed tracks, I can't pole properly with both arms and end up doing this weird lopsided thing. But slow backcountry skiing with mountain/light telemark skis like I did this weekend is just perfect. I can run but I hate it.

Maybe swimming soon. May end up swimming in circles, though

[Duck on Wheels]

Hi lph! Great to read you're on the mend! I still plan to try another coffee date one 'a these days, but so far I've wound up meeting one PhD student or another for supervision every time I have some hours between a meeting in Oslo and my flight home.

But back to being on the mend ... Swimming. Hmmm. Yeah, but I wouldn't count on it for a while. I looooove swimming, probably more than biking, though I don't get to do it as often. But when I was recovering from a broken ankle, was finally walking around pretty smoothly without a crutch or tape, and had a conference at a hotel with a heated pool ... sigh! Floating was fine, but already the first flutter kick was excruciatingly painful. The resistance of the water was worse than the impact and weight (even MY weight back then! ) of walking. So it took a while more before I could swim. Hang in there, though! You'll be back in the pool eventually. It was only a few extra months between walking and swimming in my case. It was just such a disappointment since I'd expected the order to be the other way around.

[redrhodie]

Sorry to hear your beloved frame is trashed! Glad everything else is healing so well. What will you do for a new winter bike? You'll be back riding before Spring, right?

[lph]

I have a date with a large toolbox this week... to turn my summer mtb into a winter bike. It doesn't fit me as well but if I can reach the handlebars ok I'll give it a try. I'm going to the pool on Friday and have begged ds to join me, so I can play with him if I can't swim instead of flopping around like a one-armed penguin.

One-flippered.

[smilingcat]

Dear LPH,

You have such wonderful bright personality. I wish everyone else could be like you. Glad to see you smiling and showing off your injuries with smile.

Keep us posted on when you get back on your bike.

Take care,
Smilingcat

[lph]

Thank you!! That was so sweet of you

[Wahine]

Yay!! Sounds like you're getting better in leaps and bounds. Elbow dislocations are nasty but it sounds like you're doing great!!

[lph]

6 weeks post-dislocation. Climbed for the first time yesterday. Biked for the first time this morning. wheeeeee...... Endorphin buzz, anyone?

I LOVE it when my body does it's thing and repairs itself. Dang, it's a wonderful machine.

I'm officially done griping on this thread!