hiddenmuse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hiddenmuse) wrote2009-06-28 09:37 pm
hiddenmuse) wrote2009-06-28 09:37 pm
Ouchies!
About 2 weeks ago, the temperature knob came off our oven - in two pieces. Being the resourceful Miss Fix-It type, I thought I'd repair it. Done it before, shouldn't be too much trouble, right?
Couldn't get the two pieces together in my hands (as I'd been able to do) - so, I set the two pieces on the top of our portable dishwasher, with the intent of putting it together by pressing down on it. All fine, well and good - until I press down hard and hear/feel a "POP" in my thumb. I didn't think much of it, really. I'd jammed my thumb into a dryer door with no serious problems, so this time it might be the same thing.
I put an Ace wrist/hand support on - the first day wasn't too bad. By the second day, I was wrapped up in bandaging tape underneath the support. An annual visit to the allergist got me calling the internist - the Good Doctor asked to take a look at my hand, felt around on it and told me to call my doctor first thing in the morning. (He was concerned that it might be fractured, considering my response to pressure in certain areas of my hand.)
So, I called my doctor's office first thing in the morning, went in to see the PA (Physician's Assistant) that afternoon. She recommended x-rays, as well as getting splinted and eventually seeing a hand surgeon. With that in mind, my plan was to go to the Urgent Care/Walk-In Clinic at UCSF to get checked out. Got there about 2 hours before they closed, only to find out that they'd had all their appointments for the day, to go to the ER if necessary. Since I was in enough pain, it was off to the ER that Kellie and I went.
Since I wasn't coming in bleeding from random orifices, or like the young man we saw - clutching his side and walking with a rather pained shuffle (most likely a hot appendix), I figured that my triaging status would be low. There were steps being done, but nothing all at once - get registered; about 45 minutes later, get the vitals taken and tell the (very nice) triage nurse my reason for being there; 20 or so minutes later, get x-rayed, and finally, about a half-hour after that, get set up on a stretcher outside of the ER rooms.
Walking down the hallway, Kellie and I saw an older man - who was in the waiting area with us - lying on a stretcher, being told by a PA that no, he does not have cancer ... that tests had been run many times, and every time they were negative.
Soon, that PA would be coming down to see me - very nice, and apologetic about the long wait to be seen in the ER. She told me that the x-rays didn't show a fracture, but it was possible for there to be a scaphoid fracture, which can take up to 2 weeks to show up. So, I was put into a splint, given prescriptions for Ibuprofen and Vicodin, and told to see a hand surgeon for a follow-up visit.
This is how I looked after I was all splinted up, before my being discharged:
I have since been to the hand surgeon and re-x-rayed, with a pretty much final diagnosis of no fracture, but a torn ligament. The options for treatment are to remain splinted for a few weeks, hope for it to get better and then possibly go for surgery. Or, I could just go right for the surgery. My initial decision was to take a conservative route (splinting), instead of jumping into surgery. Then, I spent a couple of days mulling over it and discussing it with Kellie ... and I will be going under the knife to get the ligament repaired.
Going back to the surgeon tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be getting more information then. In the meantime, I'm teaching myself to do things left-handed, since I will be doing things that way for a few months, easily!
Couldn't get the two pieces together in my hands (as I'd been able to do) - so, I set the two pieces on the top of our portable dishwasher, with the intent of putting it together by pressing down on it. All fine, well and good - until I press down hard and hear/feel a "POP" in my thumb. I didn't think much of it, really. I'd jammed my thumb into a dryer door with no serious problems, so this time it might be the same thing.
I put an Ace wrist/hand support on - the first day wasn't too bad. By the second day, I was wrapped up in bandaging tape underneath the support. An annual visit to the allergist got me calling the internist - the Good Doctor asked to take a look at my hand, felt around on it and told me to call my doctor first thing in the morning. (He was concerned that it might be fractured, considering my response to pressure in certain areas of my hand.)
So, I called my doctor's office first thing in the morning, went in to see the PA (Physician's Assistant) that afternoon. She recommended x-rays, as well as getting splinted and eventually seeing a hand surgeon. With that in mind, my plan was to go to the Urgent Care/Walk-In Clinic at UCSF to get checked out. Got there about 2 hours before they closed, only to find out that they'd had all their appointments for the day, to go to the ER if necessary. Since I was in enough pain, it was off to the ER that Kellie and I went.
Since I wasn't coming in bleeding from random orifices, or like the young man we saw - clutching his side and walking with a rather pained shuffle (most likely a hot appendix), I figured that my triaging status would be low. There were steps being done, but nothing all at once - get registered; about 45 minutes later, get the vitals taken and tell the (very nice) triage nurse my reason for being there; 20 or so minutes later, get x-rayed, and finally, about a half-hour after that, get set up on a stretcher outside of the ER rooms.
Walking down the hallway, Kellie and I saw an older man - who was in the waiting area with us - lying on a stretcher, being told by a PA that no, he does not have cancer ... that tests had been run many times, and every time they were negative.
Soon, that PA would be coming down to see me - very nice, and apologetic about the long wait to be seen in the ER. She told me that the x-rays didn't show a fracture, but it was possible for there to be a scaphoid fracture, which can take up to 2 weeks to show up. So, I was put into a splint, given prescriptions for Ibuprofen and Vicodin, and told to see a hand surgeon for a follow-up visit.
This is how I looked after I was all splinted up, before my being discharged:
I have since been to the hand surgeon and re-x-rayed, with a pretty much final diagnosis of no fracture, but a torn ligament. The options for treatment are to remain splinted for a few weeks, hope for it to get better and then possibly go for surgery. Or, I could just go right for the surgery. My initial decision was to take a conservative route (splinting), instead of jumping into surgery. Then, I spent a couple of days mulling over it and discussing it with Kellie ... and I will be going under the knife to get the ligament repaired.
Going back to the surgeon tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be getting more information then. In the meantime, I'm teaching myself to do things left-handed, since I will be doing things that way for a few months, easily!