Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 1

I'll be doing a more focused blog on my recovery this time around. There's not very much info out there on breaks so hopefully somebody in my situation stumbles across this and finds it helpful.

Week 1
I'm hoping the first week will be the hardest so I can say the worst is behind me. I spent the first two days in the hospital sampling various pain killers and felt pretty lousy until I got home where I just felt sort of lousy. My biggest initial challenges were pain management and nausea. The latter is typically caused by stress in my case. This was my first morning where I was able to eat without the help of meds.

TREATMENT
For now I have a few splints secured with elastic bandages keeping my arm from pooping into various painful positions. I didn't really pay much attention while they put them on. I have my first follow up appointment next week to have it changed. I dread getting it done.

SENSATIONS
The bones still shift though it's usually pain free. My heart still skips a beat whenever they shift. My arms and legs occasionally jerk at night as I fall asleep. When the bad arm jumps it's pretty painful but it's gone after a minute. I have to stand up straight to keep everything feeling good but it makes my back sore. I'll be getting back into yoga when I'm all done.

My body wants to stretch in the morning but this hurts a lot so I resist as much as my body will let me.

CHALLENGES
Since it's been about six weeks since my original injury I'm still fairly good at doing everything with one hand. Opening jars and such is still tricky but I manage. It may be longer this time before I can use my other hand to help with the twisting.

Sleeping is also difficult since I have to do it sitting up. I have a lot of pillows but it's still rough.

Using the restroom isn't too tough.

Showering is another story altogether. I'm committing to two showers per week until I can move my arm without pain. The entire ordeal takes me about an hour to do on my own. I start by wrapping a towel around the top my splint and wrap. I use masking tape because it rips easier. O then put a large garbage bag around that and then duct tape it to my body. Duct tape will stay put in the shower but it's tough to take off. Once I feel that I'm wrapped well enough, I use the crappy sling I was given at the hospital. I keep the shower nozzle pointed at the wall just in case. The less water coming onto contact with my protective layers the better. A sponge with a long handle is good for getting those hard to reach places. There's no good way to clean your good arm so I just get what I can. After I dry off, slowly, I can take a less damp, soapy wash cloth to my other armpit and dry it quickly.

I went on a short walk yesterday. It was exhausting but I managed. The only downside is that I have a partially swollen hand now. I made a glove from a compression sleeve that I had leftover from my last injury and it's keeping things as tidy as possible. May wait a day or two before another walk.

PAIN MANAGEMENT
As long as my arm doesn't move it doesn't hurt so I haven't been taking anything for pain.