Sorry to hear your arm has a bit of a break in it! You know rsd can give us osteoporosis so any time you have a fall you should go right away to get x-rays done. I'm glad they found it though and hopefully you'll heal up quick! Let us know what happens after the doc, or have your mum tell us. Try to take it easy, though I know it's difficult with the extra pain. I'll keep you in my thoughts with much healing vibes sent your way!



Karen

aww hun im so sorry to hear that you are having a horrible time. i have also broken bones with rsd and boy it isnt fun had to be in a boot walking cast for 8wks cuz i wouldnt let them for real cast me. god i was goin nuts tryin to sleep in that stupid thing. !!!
hang in there and let me know what happens

carrie

Ali,
I am so glad you were able to get on and post. Now that you have, rest your arm. The more you use it, the more swollen it will be. I am so sorry this happened to you. I agree with Karen, never second guess how bad a fall can be and get it xrayed. I'm glad you're getting prompt treatment and that they were kind to you. Give your Mum a hug for us. She obviously loves you very much to be willing to keep in touch with us on your behalf!!! Take care, honey!!!

Ali,

Please keep us informed of your treatment for the fracture. You will be in my prayers. I am so sorry you are having to endure this injury on top of the RSD.
Stay positive, and KNOW that YOU Are Loved!


Dew

I am so sorry and you are in my thoughts always. I saw this happened on facebook and want you to know I am here for you. Even if you just need to vent that can help with some of the feelings and to not be alone. You are such a strong young lady and I know will beat this.

Ali,

Take care of that arm and wrist. I'd not be happy about a cast myself. But what can you do, right, if that's what they recommend. If I were you, I'd check more than once with my RSD doctors about the cast and about the best possible way to go about this.

I had RSD in both legs for about a year and a half, undiagnosed at that time, and because of my knee problems, they put one of the legs (they'd do the other one later) in a full cast for weeks. My feet were blue, both feet, but that was ignored. I had discolorations in both legs that came and went, often starting from the knee down and going up. Also ignored. Then almost immediately afterwards the first knee was operated on. I wrote it in my admission forms that my feet were blue (the doctor had ignored it too much IMMHO). Later they couldn't find the forms or my file! The surgery aggravated the RSD (the entire leg of the operated knee was black in color after surgery, the other had regular RSD discolorations). The doctor didn't show up after surgery like he was supposed to and the nurses commanded me to bedrest because of the color of my legs. Afterwards, both legs got worse and there was even nerve damage in the operated leg! It took another year for doctors to realize that I had RSD. That's why there's not one orthopedist around, right now, who will surgically touch the other knee.

You need to be careful with surgery and casts and immobilization, so please get some good RSD advice from RSD knowledgeable doctors before you proceed and let them put on a cast!

Ali,

I don't think we've spoken, because I'm kind of new here.
But, you are very well spoken, and without a doubt a brave young soul!
I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

I hope you do well, and the pain lets up!

Pete
asb

Dear Ali,

Do you take any extra supplements? Perhaps your doc could recommend and/or prescribe calcium, iron and other vitamins that will help you to heal faster.

I am keeping you in my prayers!

XOXOX Sandy

Thank you all for the support and kind words - it means a lot knowing that you are all here at times like this!!!

Its still really hard for me to type one handed so I have just copied and pasted a email that I sent to s relative about the appt yesterday - hope you understand!!!

We have just got back from the hospital. The Orthopaedic Dr in the fracture clinic was really nice. She took a good look at my x-rays and said that they were inconclusive. She could see 3 really big lines on the xrays though so said that my arm could be broken in up to 3 places but she wasn't entirely sure - I think the swelling has been masking a lot of things. One of the areas that could be broken is in the radius, right above the joint and also on a bone called the Scaphoid which one of the doctors initially thought I could have broken when I was in a flare last year.

My Pain Management nurse came to the fracture clinic also and explained to the dr what RSD is. The Orthopaedic dr said that there were a number of things going round in her head as to what could be the matter. One was that I had fractured my wrist, that I had really bad ligament damage,clotting issues or osteoperosis. The dr knew that RSD could cause osteoperosis as it weakens the bones and showed us my xrays. She explaimed that healthy bones should be thick white which I had but in other places, they werent. She said that tthey wouldn't really know if something was wrong though unless they did a bone scan.

The dr said that they were treating my arm as if it was a fracture. In a normal case, they would cast it but with RSD, that is something that you should never do as it can make things soo much worse. The dr has given me a really thick bandage that I have to wear and cant move my wrist but have to keep moving my fingers to get rid of the swelling.

After we saw the dr, my Pain Management Dr came in. He took one look at my arm and couldn't believe how bad it was. He said that he had never seen anything like that in RSD before! He spent about 10 minutes just staring at my arm and then went and looked at my x-rays. He also said that there are a number of things that could be wrong but doesn't want to cast me if at all possible. He wants some really good pictures of my arm as he has never seen so much bruising in RSD before. He asked how my pain was and I told him it had been really bad since I fell and has increased my ketamine. I can take it 3 times a day if I need to now. Hopefully that should help with the pain as its really bad at times ... I think its because I have RSD and something else on top of it.

My dr also took a look at my leg with me saying it is giving way a lot more. He said that he could tell that it hadn't changed and was pretty swollen and spasming a lot. He discussed the botox with us that the physios have suggested and said that he has spoken to lots of neurologists about it and basically no one in the north of England is willin to try it because of my history with needles. He agreed that something needs to be done but said that we would have to try and go to another hospital to get it done.

My mum also got him to look at my left arm as it has been hurting a lot lately and he said that it looks as thouh the RSD has spread based on the symptoms. He says that I am one of those people that can get a chronic pain condition real easily.

We have to go back to the hospital ndext Tuesday. I am going fot physio on that day also. They are going to re-xray my arm and should hopefully by then be able to tell wheter or not its broken. I'm so upset about the whole situation as things semt to be going OK and then this happened!!! Its time like this when I get sick of being strong.

Well, have to go as its took me over an hour to type this 1 handed and my arms hurting! Hope all ok with you.

Thanks again for the support - you're all the best and i'll keep you all updated!!!

Thanks so much for the update, Ali! Sounds like your pain management doc is on top of this!!! It's great that you were seen by several doctors.

Hope they can do something for the arm/wrist, I *really* do!!!