hi all....

I had quite an eventful evening last night, not in a good way. Slipped and fell down a flight of stairs in my home, ended up being taken to ER by ambulance strapped to a KED board with my neck in a collar all strapped down. Horrible ride, hard board, bumpy roads = lots of pain.

After 3 hours, IV with morphine for pain, 7 xrays of pelvis and back and a CT scan of my cervical spine I'm ok, just very bruised and sore. I was just starting to make some headway with my physiotherapy too... another little set back. They said my fusion is in place and everything looks good, they will send copies of scans to my neurosurgeon to review also.

Ugh, today I feel like I was in a horrible car crash, not just falling down the stairs. Everything hurts, neck, shoulders, lumbar spin, pelvic bone, legs... the works.

Hopefully this will not delay my healing too much. I will definately be more careful walking up and down the stairs from now on, lessoned learned!

Anyone ever do anything similar? Did anything pop up afterwards that I need to be watching for or worried about?

Cathie

~ ACDF C5, C6, C7 with titanium plate / screws (Mar.2, 2011)
~ ulnar nerve compression ~ median nerve compression
~ DDD ~ radiculapathy down both arms

hi cat

sister came to visit with hubby
she just had her 3rd back surgery
lower back fusion microscopic
upon leaving she missed a step
went straight to surgeon
awaiting her call ouch!
hope you heal and did not do any damage
pcp sending me yet another dr looking into pain pump
have been on that site
get kitty relax and feel the warm love
stay well

Hi Eva,

Well, it's been 3 days since my flip down the stairs, I'd have to say yesterday was the worst of it (usually 48 hours after a trama is). Today seems to be a little bit better, thank goodness. So I think maybe I didn't do anything to serious, just bruised the crap out of everything.

Went to physio yesterday and told them what I did, after shaking his head in disbelief he hooked me up with ultrasound, tens machine and ice. He assessed all my neural symptoms and nothing seems to be worse. Good stuff.

Hope your sister has the same news as me after her fall.

Good luck with you biopsy today.
Take care!

Cathie -

Ouch! I fell down the stairs once and took a direct blow to the armpit tearing my labrum and injuring the nerves to the arm. For the 1st ~36 hours after the fall, I didn't think it was that bad. Then, the nerves "woke up" and I was in a ton of pain. The pain settled down to involve just my ulnar nerve which I still deal with the consequences. I'm glad it sounds like you're on the mend. It's a good thing you're in PT now and they can help calm the situation down.

I am so sorry to her about your fall. You must have been so scared. I know after being rear ended I felt much worse 5 days after the car accident. Just be prepared that your body may let you know in a few days that it is unhappy with the fall. I am now going to PT 2-3x a week. Still suffering from muscle spams, knots and some pain and the accident was Sept 2nd. Glad that your fusion is in place. Titanium is very strong. I had similar amount of x rays. Still waiting for the results of MRI, but quick look seems to be okay. The OSS was humoring me as he said that sever whiplash can take up to 6 months to work itself out. I need peace of mind that there wasn;t any above or below issues. Good luck, feel better and do not hesitate to take pain meds or muscle relaxers. I still am. I am also still using the TENS unit.
Gail

Hi Gail,

Yes, I definately hurt more 48 hours after my fall! But I seem to be recovering from it, back to my normal aches, pains and complaints. And yep, I'm still on pain meds and muscle relaxers too, try not to take then unless I need them, but they are still a daily thing. I hope one day to not need narcs anymore. I don't like needing them.

I'm still going to PT 3 x's a week, but my coverage will expire on Dec. 22. He has given me lots of 'at home' exercises, but it's not the same as seeing the PT, as you know. Hoping to be re-evaluated to get more coverage through comp after the holidays as well.

The worst part about my fall was the scary ambulance ride! they strapped me down on that hard board, imobolized my head and neck and wouldn't let me move until I had CT scan and xrays, so scary. My husband showed up at the hospital took one look at me and started to cry. I scared the crap out of him. Felt so bad for putting him through that, all because of a silly slip on the step.

But at least everything in the fusion is still solid, and I don't seem to have any more neural symptoms, so I'm grateful.

A car accident has to be the SCARIEST thing to go through after a cervical fusion. OMG I shiver everytime I think about your accident. Thank God you are ok.

Thanks for checking in, I was thinking about you. Hoping you were doing ok.

Take care! And Happy Thanksgiving (we had our Canadian one last month, but I think yours is tomorrow if I remember correctly). Enjoy your turkey day!

Cathie

Cathie,
Sorry to hear that you are still taking narcs. I am now since the accident and hate taking them. But it allows me to work. Sorry that it is still an issue for you.

Hopefully you will have you PT coverage extended.

I can't imagine being on a hard board and going tot he ER. That must have been very scary until you go the results back. I'm sure it was tough on both you and your husband.

Had an MRI on my knee because it has been giving me problems and I wasn't sure if it was just my knee or coming from my lower back. No tears just a cyst, edema and arthritis. Still waiting to find out what I can do to slow down the progression of symptoms.

Our Thanksgiving is next Thursday. Hope you enjoyed yours.

Hope each day is better.
Gail

Hi,

I do hate taking the narcotics also. I feel like horrible going to the dr and asking for them (they always make me feel bad, like I'm not strong enough to handle the pain and should be better by now). I agree I should be better by now, but unfortunately I'm not. I try not to take too much, and only when I need too, but I still need to function also. ugh.

I want desperately to get a tens unit, I think it will help with my pain, I know you use one at home. I get relief from that at PT, but can't get coverage for one at home. They're not available as easily in Canada as in the US. So I may end up ordering one online and have it shipped to me. Do you mind telling me what brand your unit is that you have? I'm assuming some are better then others? Did you order yours online?

Happy Thanksgiving to you tomorrow! (I messed up and thought it was last week for my U.S. friends, oops). Ours was in October, and yes, we had a great Turkey day!!

ttys.
Cathie

Hi Cathie,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. My son was home from college and then celebrated Thanksgiving twice in 2 different locations. Both about 2 hours away. Spent way to much time driving. My back and neck were not happy with me. The unit that I have is from a company called Empi. I will look for their 800 toll and send it at another time. It runs on either rechargeable batteries or regular ones. There are different size pads. I use a small circle or a large oval depending on where I place the pads. I would check ebay. Just a thought. Hope you are feeling a little bit better since your fall. Have new aches and pains surfaced? I am still not as good as i was pre car accident but getting better. I am still have issues with hands and feet turning red like a bad sunburn or bluish and either hot or cold. The local dr thinks it could be TOS or Raynauds. I'm not sure and was give the name of the Chief of vascular Surgery at a large hospital about 1 hour away from my house. The other choice was NYC which depending on traffic could be 2 hours away. I have an appointment in 2 1/2 weeks with the large hospital. Not sure what to expect. Time will tell. Hope each day is better and you are able to keep your spirits up.

Happy belated Thanksgiving! Hope you enjoyed all the food and festivities.

I ended up buying one already, so thank you for the info, but I won't need it after all. I got my family doctor to write me a script for it and I can can a portion of it back through insurance. I love it, wish I would have gotten one months ago. The one I bought was recommended by my PT, it's call ProActive, but I'm guessing they all do about the same thing.

I'm not feeling any extra symptoms from my fall, thank goodness. Just the same ole complaints. I see my neuro next month to find out what will happen with my return to work. I think I would like to go back to school and be retrained in another area so I don't have to hurt my hand & neck with hours of computer work, I just have to get everyone else on board with this decision of mine. My spirits are good, I just worry about what will happen when and if I go back to work and can't actually 'do' any of my work. Ugh. But I know others are worse then me and at least I can still walk and take care of myself with some extra help with the lifting and heavy stuff.

That's crappy that you are still having those hand issues, hopefully it's something you can cope with and not too painful? I don't know very much about TOS or Raynauds, I think we all seem to get something "extra" as a bonus after our surgeries. Doesn't seem to be anyone that I've talked to that doesn't have some 'issue' or new problem after having a fusion.

OMG, a 2 hour car ride to see a specialist would kill me, I still can't drive that long by myself, and still have a lot of pain from long car rides. hope you get some answers in a couple weeks at the hospital instead of another round of specialists. ugh.

take care....
Cathie