Left Arm is Broken! Linda To Be Discharged Wednesday!

The results from the Xray of Linda's left arm revealed today that her radius is fractured. It is rotated outward causing a separation from the ulna near the elbow and severe stress near the wrist also. There may be a detached or torn tendon due to the hard, swollen area on the inside of the wrist.

The original Xrays were reviewed also, and it was determined that these breaks were not visible at that time due to the angle of the view and her severe swelling and other injuries (the de-gloved skin that required the skin graft). Anyway, clearly the skin graft and saving her arm were the priority during the initial trauma, and even if they could have known about the break it is unlikely that they would have performed the orthopedic surgery until after the skin graft.

A psychotic patient in the room next door is constantly saying "Hey, hey....hey, hey..." (she builds, getting louder through the night). We think Mom's arm was signaling us with the unusually severe pain she was having, like saying, "hey, hey, you need to Xray me," to get the attention it needed now that the skin graft is safe. Just a couple of days ago, she was allowed to leave her dressings completely off and just let the air hit the area. Everything seems to happen for a reason.

Dr. Yuen and Dr. Holland seemed to work overtime, collaborating to quickly arrange a consultation with the Orthopedic Clinic at UAMS tomorrow. Thus, Mom will be discharged tomorrow morning in order to visit Dr. Gruenwald's team before noon. They want to make sure it's done tomorrow due to the Thanksgiving weekend coming up. They will have to plan extensive orthopedic surgery to repair the damage. We don't expect the surgery to be scheduled until after the holiday, but they will determine that tomorrow.

This news is rather devastating because this means another very serious surgery, but it is still one more step along the road to recovery. No wonder she had such great pain in that arm--it was more than just sore from inactivity and the recent exercise--and now another solution is in sight.