One Year Check-Up on Elbow Surgery
September 2, 2014
It is almost one year since I had the second elbow surgery. Actually next Tuesday will mark one year. I had an appointment this morning with the orthopedic surgeon who had done my surgery both times. If you are new to this blog, on June 1, 2013, I fell in the yard while using the electric edger. I got tangled in the cord when the cutting line hit the chain link fence and it jerked and down I went, landing on my left elbow. I broke two bones in the elbow and surgery was done June 3, 2013 to try to repair the damage. Pins and plates were put in the arm, but one bone healed fine and the other didn't. So in September of that year, I had surgery to put in an artificial radial cap for that bone. It has taken time to get to where I don't have to "pamper" the arm, but I now have very few limitations with the usage of my left arm.
This morning at my appointment, x-rays were done and as I waited for the doctor, his wife came in to chat. She is a delightful lady and we chatted about quilting, assorted other crafts, her new grandchild, and my hearing. When the doctor came in he checked the extension of the arm and how far I could bend it in as well as the rotation of the wrist. He was very pleased with the progress and with what he had seen on the x-rays. He had told me in the past that it could take 2 years to reach the full recovery that I will experience from the surgery. He said he doesn't need to see me again about the arm so hopefully I won't break any more bones to necessitate a future visit. I could hear him better than I could 6 months ago when I had my last visit with him. That was nice.
As soon as I finished there, I went to the office. This is the beginning of a new month and that means it is my busy time of the month as I bill our customers for work we have done for them this last month. This chore is much easier than it was in the past since more and more businesses use credit cards to pay for purchases at the time they buy them and I have fewer bills to mail each month. I did have a bank deposit to prepare and posting to do as well as printing the statements, etc. It took much of the day to do all of the bookkeeping chores.
After I got all the paperwork done, I took the deposit to the bank and it was windy and rainy downtown (which is only a few blocks from our office). Late last week we got some rain from a tropical system to the north of us. Now we are getting some rain from a tropical system to the south of us. Both systems are missing us with their heaviest rains, but we are getting a nice number of showers and they are helping to water the yards around town.
Around 4:00 I left the office to come home and get ready for my quilt group. Actually, I took a brief nap in the recliner and then worked in the yard for a little bit. I filled the ponds and birdbaths as well as the bird feeders. When I went out to get the mail, there was a beautiful charcoal gray and white young cat laying on the front sidewalk. He wanted to be friends, but I think he is the same cat I saw climbing my neighbor's tree yesterday as he hunted for a bird nest. I told him I didn't want to be his friend.
Some of the fabric squares I was cutting out this evening for a couple of future quilts.
Four of the ladies in the quilt group came this evening for our meeting. We had a good time as we each worked on our own projects. I was cutting out squares for a future quilt I am planning to make and for a project my sister is working on. Mom was repairing a purse. Pattie was hand quilting a wild quilt she had made while Sue did counted cross stitch and Katrina worked on a quilt that is one of the ministry quilts that the Friday group makes. We had a good time catching up and doing a show and tell of items we have each been working on recently. 
One of the Christmas Squares I did the handwork on this evening.
Later, while chatting with our daughter-in-law in New Mexico, I did some hand work on some Christmas quilt squares. These are some I uncovered last week when I cleaned the guest room closet. I got some sashing fabric to go with them yesterday when I went to Harlingen and am eager to make more progress on this project. 
Another square I finished this evening while talking to my daughter-in-law.
There are so many quilt ideas floating around in my mind, that I know I can't get them all done, but I keep trying. At quilting tonight, I heard the group fairly well, but could never tell who was speaking or if it was me they were talking to. They had to do a lot of repeating. All voices sound very similar to each other and I can't tell direction of sound at all. That is common if you only have hearing in one ear, as I do.
Hi Linda, Glad to know you recovered from your injury. I broke my right proximal radial head last June 8 due to mt bike crash. I had surgery last June 13, 2014 fix with 2 screws. Almost 3 months now and got only 40 extension and 95 flexion. Hoping to regain back my motion as I am only 29 years old, married with a 7 year old daughter and wanted to be active again.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get back the full usage. About 2 1/2 months after my original surgery, I could not get enough extension or could not bend it in enough to be content. Rotation was painful. I don't remember exact numbers, but you might go back and read some of my blog from the summer of 2013, because I think I mentioned the amounts at that time. I am almost a year ahead of your injury. I had no idea how important the elbow was!!! After the 2 1/2 months, the x-rays showed the screws in the head of that bone had bent and broken - the bone shifted, so the surgeon gave me the option of having surgery again and put in the artificial piece or learning to live with it. I told him I had grandchildren to lift and hug and Thanksgiving turkeys to take out of the oven and I didn't want to live with it like it was. So my second surgery was Sept. 9, last year. (He wanted to wait a bit longer to let the other bone heal more) At times I would get frustrated, but it continued to get better. He told me it takes about 2 years to reach maximum recovery. It sounds like you might need to have more done. I didn't want to start over again, but it was worth trying to get better usage of the arm. I have very few complaints now. There is a little tenderness when I over use it, but I carry heavy things, move furniture, lift heavy things from the oven, etc. You are too young to have limitations like that. I am 68 and didn't want the limitations. Praying that you get help to regain a lot more usage. Let me know how it goes and if I can answer any questions for you, please ask. I am no expert, I only have my injury to go by, but like I said, you might go back and read some of my blog from the summer and early fall of 2013.
DeleteThanks a lot for your prayers. I really appreciate it. I took the time to visit my ortho this morning after my PT and he was not happy with my range of motion. He injected a lidocaine (sort of anesthesia) in my elbow and manipulated it (bend/stretch). The pain was a bit lessen but it still hurts when he manipulate it. According to him, the elbow is really stiff due to the tight muscles, ligaments and the blood stuck in the joints that somehow glued it down. I've asked if there are other options. He suggested a Manipulation Under Anesthesia (i'll be put to sleep/sedated and he will bend/stretch the elbow fully) but the risk is he might break another bone by doing it. He don't recommend another surgery because there is a high chance that the elbow will get stiff again or make things worse. He said to just continue with my PT and see if it will improve. I'm getting frustrated right now because of those things I've heard from my ortho.
DeleteGlad you saw the doctor today. I understand fully your frustration. See how much you can move it while the shot helps with the pain, but don't take that as a final answer. Keep pushing or get a second opinion. You are too young to have this lifetime problem. I will continue to pray and you continue to exercise and we will see what happens. Keep me updated. It does take time, but you should be getting better. Keep using it. I remember at one point I asked my doctor if I had any medical limitations. He thought a minute and said "No. Do what you feel like doing." I got a small hand weight to use or hold a one pound can of soup or something like that and let it hang down and stretch that arm. I do it some while I sit at the computer. That is if you have no limitations by the doctor.
DeleteLinda, Thanks you so much for your continued prayer and for your time replying to my messages of frustration. I don't have anyone to talk to that had the same injury except you. I believe you can answer my questions better than the ortho since you have experienced it and they don't. I am using my arm as much as I can for gripping and carrying things. Though I cant use it for activities like eating, brushing, combing and similar activities due to the limitation on the extension and flexion. My injured arm is also heavy that I'm having a hard time raising it above my head. I can raise it but with effort. I also hear cracking noise in my shoulder when I raise my arms. I'm still having my PT visits for an hour. My therapist use TENS (device thats shakes the muscle through electricity) and ice before he passively bend and stretch the elbow on my pain limits. Right now, my range of motion is stuck to 40 extension and about 95 flexion. There is a hard end feel and feels like some bone will break if it will be forcefully stretch. I also feel some strange thing that is tightly wrapped aroung the radial head. Its kind of irritating and feels like there some alien or foreign thing in there. Like in my shoulder, there is a cracking noise in the elbow everytime I rotate my arms. According to my ortho, IT COULD BE the tight muscle and ligaments, so he wasn't sure. My ortho is a general ortho and not an elbow specialist. Unfortunately, there are no ortho that specializes in the elbow in our area. Did you feel the same things that I'm feeling right now during your recovery? Did you had a time frame as to when the elbow stopped improving its range of motion? Again, thank you so much for your honest feedback. I hope and pray to have enough faith, courage, patience and acceptance that you had to overcome my adversity.
ReplyDeletePrayers are so important, not just in healing, but in leading you in the right directions for health care and wisdom in decisions. I am glad to answer you. Our office is small, just my husband and me. When we aren't busy, I can do what I want and I spend a lot of time on the computer. Don't hesitate to share your feelings and frustrations. As for a time frame, I think it was about where you are now. That was when I talked to the doctor about the second surgery and he decided to give the other bone more time to heal before doing the surgery. After the second surgery, there was no cast and PT started very soon. Did your doctor do an x-ray this week when you saw him? For my doctor, he wasn't sure what the problem was in the limitation until he saw the x-ray. That was when he saw the bent pins and one that was broken in half. That one was working its way out. My husband had broken his leg 20 years ago and one of his screws had been working out and he also just knew something needed to be done but didn't want to go through the surgery. Even after x-rays, they weren't sure of his problem, but decided to remove all the hardware (a plate and screws and pins) and when they got in there, it was loose. That was the reason for the pain he had suffered for the last several years. X-rays don't show it all, but it would show if the pins or screws are where they should be. I don't know if you have gone back and read the entries for early June 2013, but when they did my original surgery, he delayed surgery one day to have the artificial piece on hand in case he had to use it. He wanted to save my bone - that is best choice. He tried, but in time, it proved that he had to go back in and put in the artificial piece. I appreciate that he tried to save my bone, but glad he was willing to go back in and do the other surgery. He is not an elbow specialist. His specialty is knees I think, but does general orthopedic surgery. I considered going to Houston to see an elbow specialist, but in the end, decided to stick with the man here. For your situation an elbow specialist would be nice, but second choice is a good ortho surgeon. Yours may be good. Is there a second ortho surgeon in your area? You said your injury was your right arm. Are you right handed? I was fortunate that it was my left arm and I am right handed. But there are so many tasks we need two good hands for. I say, "God gave us 2 hands for a reason." For me, I usually used my left hand to open my car door when I had other things in my right hand. To do that I had to rotate my hand 180 degrees and grasp and pull. Could not do that for months and months. Now, I never think about it - just do it with no pain. To fasten my bra was impossible with one hand. Putting a cake in the oven even if it wasn't heavy took 2 hands. Washing my hair, and on and on with a long list.
DeleteThere are two comments here because it was too long and I had to divide it into 2 postings, so be sure you read both. I did not feel that there was a foreign object in there except for the pins and plate on the other bone. They were on the section where I would rest my arm on the desk and I could count the screws and feel the plate. I hated it. They took all that out when they did the second surgery since the bone had healed completely. I can't tell where the artificial radial cap is from the second surgery. Where the second (outer) bone was broken, there is a bump that I complained about at first, but seems to be going away over time. He said it will reshape as time goes on. I really think they need to take a look in more depth at your arm. Time wise, you are at the point where they should be able to decide if more needs to be done. I did remember yesterday, that many years ago, my cousin and her husband were missionaries in Africa and their little boy fell and broke his elbow - don't know details. When his healed, he could not extend it all the way and I think his was a little over 90 degrees. The last time I saw him when he was a young adult, it was still that way - no full extension. Does your PT have any comments? They see these problems all the time and could be a good place to seek answers. Yes, they used the TENS unit with me and heat. I would do all the exercises and then the TENS unit with heat and then a massage of the arm rubbing in a cold gel called Biofreeze along with a lotion for about 5 minutes. I always left feeling so good and pampered.
DeleteI didn't had any xray. He was so sure that he sunk the screw heads under the radial head so as not to impede motion. Yes there are other ortho surgeons in our area. Honestly, im so afraid of having another surgery unlike the first one. When i had the surgery, i thought once they fixed the bones and healed then everything will be back to normal. I was shock when i cant move my elbow after that. Im so afraid of the future and the complications that it will bring. Broken elbows are subject to arthritis as they say. Yes im right handed, so its really a challenge for me. I cant even wear a plain shirt when i go outside because im so shy of people seeing my bent elbow. So i always top it up with a jacket wherein i can put my right arm on the side pocket. My PT cant answer my symptoms either. He just say that he will try to improve my motion and it will take time. Again im afraid that 3 months is already the end point wherein the motion is plateued. My arm and shoulder are getting weaker and always had the annoying cracking sound. I cant help but cry and feel that God has forsaken me. Im sorry.
ReplyDeleteDon't apologize for your frustration. I would feel the same frustrations. I did not want to start over with another surgery, but I did not want for my arm to stay the way it was and mine was better than yours is. Yes, I understand being bothered by the way the arm looks. At our church for the closing song we hold hands and some want to raise hands; I would sit by my mom or grandchildren (husband was always helping and not sitting beside me) so that they would know I really couldn't hold hands and for sure couldn't raise the for that long. To turn the palm of my hand up to hold hands with someone was very painful. To raise it very briefly I could do after a while but not hold it up for a minute or so. Your feelings are very normal for the situation you are in. I forgot earlier to answer your question about the cracking sound. No, I don't have that. Recently I have had a sound around the elbow, but it is more a "pop" sound. Not all the time, but sometimes. But there is no pain with it. The only pain I now have is very slight muscle pain just below the elbow and that is no problem. Yes, my arm was very weak. In my blog for last summer I mentioned what the results were on some of the PT tests. I think I was at 8 pounds grip strength in the damaged arm and 50 pounds in the good arm. It is going to take time to rebuild that strength, but I am not sure the arm is going to straighten without more work by a doctor. I don't know how your medical system works but I would ask the doctor to do an x-ray. The strength will take time. Tonight I am baking a big birthday cake for a grandson - 2 cake mixes. Even 6 months ago, I could not have lifted the mixing bowl and poured the batter into the cake pan alone. Now I didn't even think about it. But you need to get that arm straightened to be able to really build the strength. Any broken bone is subject to arthritis, but at this point I feel none in my elbow. I have a little in my knees and hips.
DeleteAgain it is 2 parts. I guess I talk too much. My husband would say yes.
DeleteAs I read your comments and think back over my situation, I recall asking the doctor if he had x-rayed my wrist because it hurt so much. For you, it is the shoulder. He said no it was fine. A few months later I was still complaining about it and my husband was with me at the doctor and he asked the doctor to x-ray it. The doctor was right - there were no broken bones, but my fall had jammed the wrist and it was probably at least 6 months before that pain was a lot better. It stayed swollen but now is perfectly fine. As I mentioned in my first note to you, I am not an expert. I can only tell you what happened to me. I just feel that I would go ahead and ask if he would do an x-ray just to give you peace of mind. If he doesn't want to, that is when I would look for another opinion.
God has not forsaken you. Yes, it can feel like it. Currently our pastor has been preaching on the reasons for suffering. Several that he has mentioned have made me think of my last year and a half. I don't know if you have read that the reason I started my blog was because I went deaf. One Friday in January 2013, my husband was home very sick and I was at the office with my grandson. At lunch I could hear, although not real well and by supper I was deaf. I was already hard of hearing, but wore a hearing aid in one ear and the other was basically useless. I was scheduled for the Cochlear Implant surgery on June 10, and fell on June 1 and had the elbow surgery on June 3. It was a rough time for me. I knew that God would be with me through the mess and that somehow, I would make it. I didn't like what was going on. It was not my plan. But my favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11. It says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I clung to that promise from God's Word. And another that helped, Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." We must be seeking God's will and trust that He will bring good out of a bad, difficult situation. My prayers continue for you. If you want to write to me more privately you can use my email: lindaleejtx@gmail.com I rarely check that one, but if you send an email to it, I will use your email address to send you the email I use all the time, but don't want to list that in the blog. Just put a note here to tell me to check my email. But if you want to continue here, that is fine. Others may also be helped by the discussion.
Thanks Linda. I sent you a message on the email you provided. Have a nice day ahead. God bless you and your family.
Delete