Stable pelvic fracture

[rodeosweetheart]

Anyone dealt with this? My husband was trimming a tree on a ladder on Saturday and managed to fall around 15 feet to ground. We went to ER and after waiting THREE HOURS in waiting room--I think they thought he could not have broken anything since he kept shifting around trying to make pain better--finally got x-rays, then cat scan revealed multiple pelvic fractures.

We have appt with orthopedic specialist on Thursday, but they said probably no surgery, just bedrest, and let him go home since he could manuever on a walker.

I will check back in a day or so and see if anyone has posted, needless to say, I do not have much internet time right now. Let me know if you or someone you know has had this and what recovery time was like, and thank you

[CathyA]

Don't know anything about it, but I'm soooooo sorry this happened to him (and you). But........he's probably lucky, nonetheless.
If he's too uncomfortable, can you call the ortho doc and get him in sooner? I wonder if there's some sort of brace that will help?

[rodeosweetheart]

Thank you, Cathy, I wanted to get him in earlier, too, but they said that is first available. He is managing his pain pretty well on half the dosage, and stretching out the time, but they only gave us 3 days of pain killer, so now its a good thing he can manage with it stretch out. I will ask about the brace

[Gardenarian]

No but it sounds horrible. So sorry!

[rodeosweetheart]

No but it sounds horrible. So sorry!

Thanks, Gardenarian!

[Simply Divine]

I'm really sorry that happened. My Dad fell off a ladder once, too -- messed up his knee; Mom was with him hand and foot for a while.

I hope he recovers soon. In the meantime, don't be afraid to ask for help!

[new2oregon]

That is horrible, everything I read about this type of injury is to put Ice on it to keep the swelling down. He might be able to get physical therapy after a while. Like Kathy said he might be able to get a brace. As bad as this was it could have been worse, My brother fell like that a few years back and landed on his ribs. Wishing your husband a speedy recovery.

[Float On]

Goodness that sounds painful....but thankful it wasn't his skull. Our neighbor fell off his ladder and broke both arms. I hate that it takes so long to get into the orthopedic, once he gets in he'll probably be told that he is laying or sitting wrong and causing more harm. At least that was my experience and why I ended up on bedrest for 6+ weeks.

[Float On]

A quick search said 4-6 weeks, but most patients were able to start using a walker within a week. No braces needed because of the tissue and ligaments in the area. Some patients use the pain killers for a week to 4 weeks. Sleeping needs to be flat on back. Hope this time goes quickly for both of you.

[rodeosweetheart]

A quick search said 4-6 weeks, but most patients were able to start using a walker within a week. No braces needed because of the tissue and ligaments in the area. Some patients use the pain killers for a week to 4 weeks. Sleeping needs to be flat on back. Hope this time goes quickly for both of you.

Thanks, everyone, he is able to use a walker, and yes to the hand and foot things. He is now sleeping on airbed, since our bed is upstairs and that is not possible for him. I will feel better once we talk to ortho, as yes,I too am afraid he has been sitting wrong or too long or something and the ER doctor did not seem competent at all and gave us no directions on what to do when we got home, and would not tell me how many fractures, and when his oxygen stats went down to 83 when he walked to the bathroom, and he was grey and dizzy, just rushed him out of there after giving him oxygen maybe 15 minutes. It was absolutely bizarre--I think they wanted him out of there because they were embarrassed that they kept him out there so long,or maybe there is an incentive on getting someone out of there before midnight. He was dizzy and on oxygen, which now I see is a sign of possible internal damage, and they did not admit him.

Oh well, they must have been correct, because he is getting better day by day, but it really scared me to have to take him home like that, at one in the morning.
My internet reading says that two or more fractures considered "unstable" not stable, but he called it stable, but said there were "multiple, at least two".

Well, the catscan is probably hard to read.

[awakenedsoul]

My mom broke her pelvis a couple of years ago, from a fall. She recovered. She had to sleep on the fold out sofa/bed downstairs for quite a while. She walks without a walker now. Our main concern was her falling again. They were going to put her in a rehab center, but she wanted to be home. I can't remember how long it took her to recover. It seemed like months. She is also older and has other health issues. I think it can take like 8 mos. for a bone to completely heal, if my memory serves me correctly...

Sorry your husband had to wait so long. That's upsetting...

[CathyA]

Can you take the xrays/ctscan to the ortho doc? He'll no doubt want them. I think they can actually digitally scan them to different doctors now.
I get sooooooo ticked off with bad/incompentent emergency room people. Was this a small hospital?
I'm sure some of his faintness was due to pain.
Be sure to let us know how the visit with the ortho doc goes tomorrow!

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, Awakened, I am hoping the fact that he is in great shape will help, and his age is working sort of for him, I guess. Cathy, they are sending the xrays/ctscan to ortho directly. I really do think that doc was kind of incompetent, and yes, it was a small hospital. They did give him a shot of dilaudid, but the pain still severe. And I will check in with more info tomorrow.

[rodeosweetheart]

All went well at the doc today. He has a pelvic ring fracture, and should be able to weight bear in 3-4 weeks. We go back at 6 weeks to see the progress in healing, and no surgery. Shoulder not broken, just sprained.

He's doing pretty darn well with the walker, so that's good. His pain is definitely decreasing!

[CathyA]

That's good news Rodeosweetheart! I wish him a very speedy recovery!

[awakenedsoul]

That's good. My mom hurt her shoulder when she broke her pelvis, too. Glad he's healing and that the pain is decreasing.

[Simply Divine]

I'm happy that things aren't as bad as they first sounded. I wish your husband a speedy recovery.

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, everyone. At this point, we just have to take it a day at a time, in terms of long term prognosis, I guess. The doctor was very encouraging. He can't really speak yet to how it will heal and what function will be like from here on out.

[Spartana]

So sorry to hear about your DH Rodeosweetheart. Sounds painful! I hsave never had anything like that except a torn groin muscle. Basically had bed rest for a few weeks (which drove me insane) but it healed nicely after a couple of months. Good luck!

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, Spartana! Yeah, the hardest part is for a really active person to become sedentary for a while.

[CathyA]

Hey rodeosweetheart............I hope you don't mind my saying this.....I'm just thinking.......is this ortho doc in the same small town as the ER was? If so, I would be inclined to get another opinion in a larger city. As an RN, I've worked in both places, and have found that small town docs many times just don't have the same amount of knowledge as those in a large city. I just want the best for your DH.

[rodeosweetheart]

Hey rodeosweetheart............I hope you don't mind my saying this.....I'm just thinking.......is this ortho doc in the same small town as the ER was? If so, I would be inclined to get another opinion in a larger city. As an RN, I've worked in both places, and have found that small town docs many times just don't have the same amount of knowledge as those in a large city. I just want the best for your DH.

Thanks, Cathy, that is something to think about. This is the largest city around here for a couple of hours, so we're probably here for the initial phase, anyway, but will keep this in mind.

[danna]

Hoping he continues to improve and doesn't have any long term effects.
Being in good shape will help him.
Take care of you too.

[rodeosweetheart]

Hoping he continues to improve and doesn't have any long term effects.
Being in good shape will help him.
Take care of you too.
Thank you, Danna!

[CathyA]

And don't let the puppy run him ragged! :)

[Tussiemussies]

How awful...hope his recovery goes quickly.

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, Tussie! Cathy, the puppy has been pretty good, all things considered, although I was worried that she wanted to jump into his lap on the couch, but they have that worked out, and the walker protects him from her on the ground!

I need to get her to obedience class. I've been working at clearing the front yard of the branches that he left there when he fell, which is slow going. This foreclosure house is one of those projects that require 2 able bodied adults. We go back to doctor in July, but no idea when he is going to be doing even a fraction of what he normally did. The man was a dynamo.
I should probably start hiring work out, lifting stuff, carrying, get a dumpster and a chipper. When we moved in, there was a real mess here, and we need to clean it up--still a mess in barn, for example, but he was slowly and methodically going through and saving wood, etc. I wanted to get a dumpster and dump it all, start fresh. . You don't realize how much one of you does until he is injured, and then you are doing everythihg around the house. His real forte was doing everything out side of the house--and this little place needs so much--we were just going to start painting barn, house, and shed, for example. Cannot really afford to hire that out. We will just have to wait and see, I guess, his limitations and how he feels about getting people in--I know it is not what he wanted, so that's another issue. I doubt he will ever do the things he did before--up on barn roof, fixing leaks, etc.--just a lot to figure out.

We were in Meijers, and he was in one of those electric wheelchair cart things, and a little girl said to her dad, "Look at that old man". The dad was mortified, but Jeesh. He was laughing when he told me about it, but it shocked him. He's not an old man, he's 59, and until last week, he could singlehandedly move an entire house of furniture--he just did it in October, moved everything we owned, with no help other than me, and I can't lift or carry much. I think he is having a hard time with feeling disabled, and I hope that long term, he is not going to need walkers and canes, but it sure beats being paralyzed, it's just tough to get out in the world and not be able to walk. Hopefully, this is just a temporary stage for him. No reason to think it is not.

[rodeosweetheart]

Just to update this thread--we went to doc yesterday for 3 month checkup of pelvis, and he is doing swimmingly. He has been hurting a lot but doc says that is actually from bursitis, NOT the fracture. The good news is the fracture plus the bursitis means he can get PT for the whole mess, and he will start next week, as he has a pretty bad limp now at times. But doc says it is NOT from hip arthritis, which he feared, and he is going to heal up just fine in the long run.

Fracture has healed very nicely and he has range of motion, is doing normal things like walking and even (gulp) climbing ladders. Only uses cane now when we are walking dogs on unsteady ground.

So yeah, you can fall out of a tree at our age and it can turn out JUST FINE!!

Thanks, everybody, for your support; it was very appreciated.

[CathyA]

Good to hear rodeo! When I had knee surgery, the physical therapist told me to do everything possible not to limp and to try to maintain my normal gait.. It was good advice. We can get used to limping and it throws other things out of whack.
Continued good recuperation to your DH!
How's the puppy doing?

[Float On]

Great news rodeo!