Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day One-Hundred and Forty-Four

My class started today.Sitting in class for 4 hours and being called pitiful by my professor is not what I call the best start. I called in sick today and didn't go to work. Made an appointment to see the bone doc on Friday.

I have a great deal of advice. When you need something, I recommend getting out of bed to reach it. Leaning over the side may cause you to fall out of bed. If you fall from the top bunk because you are leaning over, you are likely to hit your head on the ground and there may be a bright white flash on impact. After your head hits, your arm and shoulder may hit pretty hard to. It is best to get help when something like this happens. Yelling at the top of your lungs will bring people into your room.
Even if you don't think it is a good idea, let someone take you to the hospital. Before you leave, take ibuprofen to help manage the pain until the doctors can help you. Once at the hospital, just jump through their hoops and try to control yourself. Pee in the cup, hold still while they put in an IV and give you morphine, lay still in the CT machine, hold the positions when they take xrays, and while you wait to hear what the diagnosis is, don't ask a bunch of questions. Hopefully your CT will be normal, at which point they will put your arm in a splint if nothing is broken. You will need to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon if the swelling made it difficult to see any hairline fractures. After you leave, make sure to get the prescription of hydrocodone because you are going to need it!
Your arm pain may dissolve, but as time passes, your neck pain will increase. It may increase to the point that hydrocodone won't help. You can tell that if your neck pain still exists even after the morphine. Muscle strains are not quickly resolved, so don't expect to feel better over night. If possible, don't hang the sling around your neck. This only adds to the strain on your neck. Wrapping it tightly around your chest may work. Before going back to bed and to prevent further injury, have someone move your mattress onto the floor.
Most importantly, remember to thank God that you are still alive and you have lots of people surrounding you that will help get you through this.

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