Olecranon Fracture: Part Five

Yesterday I had what turned out to be my final appointment at the hospital. 

My appointment last month didn't go as I had hoped. My usual surgeon must have been busy, so another one saw me, and saw me quickly. He seemed perfectly happy with things, told me I'd have to have the metal removed in a year, and all but threw me out. He was perfectly kind and nice, but it was so slapdash. After talking to my physio, she recommended I write to the hospital and request another appointment. So I did. To my surprise they came back very quickly with a new time - yesterday. 

My range of movement has increased since my last post. It's now the point that in a stretch - after a good warm up - I can touch my shoulder. Imagine that! I honestly didn't think that would ever happen again. I'm still a good 4 inches away when not warmed up and not stretching, but that will get better in time. Life has all but returned to normal, actually. I can't put my headphones in my right ear very gracefully, nor can I loop my bag strap over my right shoulder with my right hand, and it can get uncomfortable to lie on or put my elbow on hard surfaces. It's also fairly awkward to do things to the right side of my face or upper body, but not to the extent that I favour my left hand. 

I went into my meeting yesterday in good spirits, and was greeted by a surprised and very impressed surgeon. He was extremely happy with my progress, and said that I didn't have to have the metal out unless it bothered me. Everything looked perfect in the x-rays, so when I left, we said we hoped we'd never see each other again. 

It's strange to think that that was it. My visits there are over. Now, I'll see if I even need to continue with my phsyio. My private physio said we'd be done in a month, so I think now it's all a matter of continual stretching and building up strength - things I can do at home and in the gym. 

I can still get pretty down when I think about the fact that I'm probably going to have some serious issues the older I get, and I'm definitely not as limber or fit as I was 5 months ago. I'm still doing three rounds of exercises a day, and they're still extremely painful. Right now, that's the worst thing, knowing that every morning, every afternoon, and every evening I have to hurt myself, quite a lot. But life goes on. I'll get more limber, and my fitness will improve. 

Next step is to get my soft arse to the gym, and see if I need to go on with my other physio. 

It feels odd, slipping out of the system. Odd, a little scary, but good. 

Back to life. 

The beautiful Bispebjerg Hospital

Olecranon Fracture: Part Four

It's been a while since my last update. I kept meaning to write as I had a few ups and downs, but then went away on holiday and thought I'd wait until I was back. Which I am of today. 

A few weeks ago I tried to go to Open Gym at my CrossFit box (Open Gym is basically CrossFit without a class - you do what you want). I was curious to see what I could do and how well I could do it. Turns out I couldn't do much. It was very disheartening. I left after doing some pretty pathetic squats and felt sad. I did go home and pause my membership (finally!), and sign up to a normal gym though. I think I'll be able to do far more on machines instead of having to trust my body (and by body I mean elbow). I'll also be able to sit on a bike which will do for cardio. I start this week - a good thing considering how out of shape I've got. This is the longest I've not done exercise for a very, very long time. I initially lost 6.5 kilos which was all down to not exercising, but have managed to put 4 of those kilos back on thanks to eating badly and sitting around. I cringe to think of the state of me. I can't stop thinking of visceral fat. That said, it does give me motivation to get going. Watch this space. 

I also had a bit of a bad run at the physio. They essentially said that they weren't sure why things weren't progressing more, and than I would have to wait until my next x-rays (on Tuesday - today is Sunday), and to hear what the surgeon says. So they think I've hit a wall, and honestly, I felt like I had as well. However, I did start going to a private physio just before I left for my holiday, who is far more tough and after just one session increased my mobility. He gave me some new (painful), exercises to do, and in the 10 days I've been away, I'm sure mobility has increased again. 

I can't make my physio on Tuesday morning due to x-rays, but that's OK - the surgeon will probably measure me anyway. I'm curious as to what's changed. 

As usual, it's ups and downs. There are things that I can do now, which I couldn't do a fortnight ago, but somehow this only makes the things I can't do (wash my face with both hands!), seem ever further away. I'm trying to set myself milestones, such as undoing my bra behind my back with my right hand, to keep track of improvement, but it's hard to remain positive when each and every morning I had to slowly ease my elbow back into life. It hurts. Every single morning. Then I have to do my exercises. Which hurt. There's just a lot of hurt. 

Enough downs. Let's see what Tuesday brings. 

Olecranon Fracture: Part Three

Time for a short update. At the physio just before Christmas I had good news: I lacked 35° in extension (30° when assisted), and I could flex to a whopping 105°, an improvement of 15° in 12 days. I left on a high. 

I trained three times a day over Christmas, but knew I wasn't doing it as thoroughly as I did at home (or at work for that matter), and by the time we were home I felt as if I'd hit a wall. My arm was sore, extremely stiff, and this morning it caught up with me and I cried while making my son lunch. Woe is me. I went to the physio again the day after we got back, but we couldn't really work much on flexing my arm as it was too stiff. That made me worry that I'd reached full flex, which only made me worry about the rest of me. I can reach my head, and I can feed myself, but I have to bend my wrist at such an impossible angle it hurts. My shoulder pushes forward too, which is very tiring after a short while. I worry about the future, not only of my elbow, but also of my shoulder, wrist and forearm. Am I going to screw those up too? Will this make my entire right arm a real pain in the arse when I'm much older? Am I more susceptible to arthritis now? Christ, I hate this. I absolutely hate this. 

I bought some wrist weights when we got back, thanks to a tip from someone who had a much worse break than me, and who was kind enough to share some thoughts on her experience. I can't tell you how much it means hearing from people who've gone through a similar thing. I'm so surprised by it, but it helps immeasurably. Hence these posts. Maybe someone will stumble across them, and maybe they will help them in some way. 

Anyway. I thought I'd provide some photos. These were taken this morning, post exercises. For the record, it's two months and nine days since the accident, and one month 23 days since the cast came off.

Here is my arm fully extended

Here is my arm fully flexed. Not a very straight upper arm but there you go

This afternoon I went to the physio again. I had a different guy work on me, and he was good. He massaged my elbow a lot which both felt incredible and hurt like hell. He explained things to me, which I really appreciate. I hate not knowing what's going on or why things are like they are. The bad news is that my skin is becoming too used to not stretching so I have to manipulate both the skin around my scar and the skin in the inside of my elbow. My forearm muscles are far too used to not doing much and have shortened as a result, so I have to work on stretching them too. The good news is that extension is up to 26° (not assisted!), and flex up to 111°! So there is some improvement. Thank God. 

He reminded me, as everyone does, that it's a slow, slow road. Perseverance, patience, and positive thinking. My mantra from now on.