Front Range Orthopedics

When I went to the ER following my accident, they TORTURED me in order to get x-rays. They had me move my arm in many different ways that were excruciatingly painful. For their final trick, they laid me down flat, which made my shoulder feel like it was going to explode. Then, to make matters worse, the moved the table from horizontal to a decline of about 15 or 20 degrees (head down, feet up), which nearly caused me to have a heart attack. Then they splayed my arm out to the left away from my body, and then pulled my upper arm away from my body at the shoulder. The tech had to hold my arm and manipulate it into that position, since my collar bone was broken. After the x-ray was completed, the tech just dropped my arm and walked away. I felt my collar bone rotate up and push against the skin from the weight of my arm. Lucky for me, it did not puncture through the skin. I had to reach over with my other hand, grab my left arm, and put it back into place, once again shifting my broken collar bone in very painful ways. I can’t remember ever screaming in pain like that at any other time in my life. I broke out in a cold sweat, and I was trembling in an uncontrollable manner. It took several minutes for that to pass. I told the x-ray tech that I was going to hunt him down and hurt him once I was able to…


Fast forward three weeks… I had an appointment yesterday at Front Range Orthopedics for new x-rays and general follow-up. I have been absolutely terrified all week. If I try to lie down flat, my clavicle feels like it is going to come apart. I’m still sleeping in a recliner at about 45 degrees upright. I have just over 2 weeks of healing completed (after re-breaking the clavicle a second time), but even the slightest movement of my arm/shoulder causes excruciating pain. As a result, I’ve made it a point to not move those areas at all. Just the motion of walking causes pain, which I can handle. Moving that arm though, even just a fraction of an inch, causes tremendous pain at my clavicle and in my shoulder. I also have had lots of clicking, pain, and instability in my left shoulder as well. The thought of going through x-rays again like I did at the hospital has been weighing very heavily on my mind this week. I have literally been terrified of going to this appointment. Well, I voiced my concerns prior to starting x-rays and the tech just stared at me in disbelief when I described what they did at the hospital. He said that is insane and unbelievable, and said whoever did that to me should be fired. He did the new x-rays with me standing up, without removing the sling. Totally pain free!!!! That is how they should have done it at the ER as well. The doctor said my clavicle is healing well, with some, but not excessive, overlap of the two bone pieces. He said the instability and pain in my shoulder is normal for a full clavicle fracture. The clavicle is one of several anchor points of stability for the shoulder. Even with 2 ½ weeks of re-growth, he said the clavicle is still moving and flexible, and not supportive of the shoulder. That is great news! I thought sure I was in line for shoulder surgery once my clavicle heals, but that may not be the case! I’ll find out in three or four weeks.

All in all, I am very happy with how things went. The Ortho doctor also gave me another pain med prescription. I don’t take them during the day, but they are so helpful for sleeping. Last night was the best sleep I’ve had in a week! I went to Walgreens to get the prescription filled, and I found a small miracle tucked away on the shelves while waiting! I can’t move my left arm away from my body, so I have not been able to use deodorant for three weeks. Instead, I’ve been hosing myself down with Axe men’s body spray. That is the best I’ve been able to do, but it doesn’t really work that well. Last night, I found Arid Extra Dry deodorant in a cream! I can just barely apply it without causing too much pain. There are many things I take for granted. A debilitating injury really highlights the conveniences in life that we don’t think much about.

So, overall, the prognosis is good. Now I just need to wait for the medical bills to start rolling in. So far, the costs have been $230 in co-pays, $110 in prescriptions and calcium supplements, and two weeks of lost pay at work. I took 40 hours of vacation pay which helps, but I now have no vacation pay for 2009. I’m not sure how much of the medical bills will be covered by insurance and how much will be my responsibility. Knowing my luck, my insurance probably has a clause exempting idiots that crash their bicycles into heavy steel commercial building doors. Basically, if anyone asks what I’m getting for Christmas in 2008, the answer is “a new clavicle and left ear.”

Gotta run…
JD

Clavicle Update

Well, it has been nearly three weeks since my original break and two weeks to the hour since the second time I broke my left clavicle. I came back to work Monday, which was 10 1/2 days since the second break. Unfortunately, I was on my feet, moving around, travelling between different project job sites, packing boxes to move from one office to another (where I have more help available to me), etc... All I can say is that it was way too early to go back to work, and completely INSANE for me to be that active. I stayed for 8.5 hours, and tears ran down my face during the drive home. I can't even begin to explain how much pain I was in. As a result, I have been working six hour days Tuesday/Wednesday, and I'm shooting for eight today.

As for my injuries, my shoulder is very unstable and painful. I'm not talking about my clavicle... I am certain that I also sustained some shoulder injuries on top of the broken bone. As for the clavicle healing, I can feel the two bone pieces shift and click (painfully) even with small movements. I have gotten used to it, although occasional SEVERE pain results in an involuntary scream. My co-workers were concerned at first, but now they just laugh at me!

I still can't lie down on my back, so I am still sleeping in the recliner/rocker in the living room. It is so uncomfortable. I can't wait until I have enough stability in my shoulder/clavicle to be able to lie down and sleep in my bed.

I take ibuprofen in the morning, but I usually get busy at work and forget to take more. Then I wind up hurting pretty badly...

I go to ortho on Monday for x-rays. I am really hoping and praying that the clavicle alignment is acceptable, and that I will not have to have surgery to re-break it and fix it with a metal plate.

Gotta run...
take care,
JD

Update

if you feel the need to break a bone, be sure it is not your clavicle (collar bone). i've spoken to people who have cracked their clavicle, and that is not so bad. a complete break of the clav is devestating. anyone who knows me will know that i am no stranger to sports injuries. i have had six knee surgeries (including an ACL reconstruction from a patellar tendon graft), one ankle reconstruction, countless stitches, and also too many concussions to keep track of. this clavicle break is the worst i've had to go through. this is horrible.

one thing i have noticed in the last couple of days is that my left shoulder feels like it has gravel in it, and it has painful clicking and popping going on. i am 99% sure that i am going to be faced with shoulder surgery after this clavicle heals. that's bad ju-ju...

i went to the doctor yesterday to get the stitches taken out of my ear. i have had over 200 stitches in my life (hands, arms, knees, legs, feet) and this was the first time a doctor ever took them out. i have always ripped them out playing sports, or if they survived a whole week, i usually took them out myself. i congratulated the doctor on this fine accomplishment, and he thought i was a little strange.

gotta run... my shoulder is starting to hurt pretty badly.
jd

re-broke my clavicle

Well, it has been almost one week since i crashed. my collar bone had started to feel a ittle more stable, which gave me a slight sense of security, i think. i took a shower wednesday night, which was very difficult. i have since decided that is too risky. feeling clean is a luxury i won't be taking for granted anymore. on thursday, i tried to open a little bottle of welches juice. i was able to hold the bottle tightly with my left hand (same side as my broken collar bone) without feeling any pain in my shoulder/clavicle area. i tried to twist open the sealed plastic cap with my right hand. i gradually increased the twisting force, expecting the cap to spin free once the plastic seal broke free. instead, i heard a sharp crack and felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder, right where the break is. a small amount of movement confirmed my worst fear. my clavicle was completely unstable again, and i could feel the bones moving freely again, and grinding against each other. i completely re-broke the clavicle again, on a stupid bottle of juice, no less. now it is sunday, and i have three days of healing under my belt, instead of seven days. i don't think my chances of going back to work early this week are very good. bummer...

i have since decided to not try anything at all. no unneccessary movements or actions. i need to get better.

as for nemos, we had pretty decent sales last week. we have live music monday, and matt, one of our new employees, will be covering. i'll have to be there, but i am just going to sit still and listen. tracy is doing an amazing job of running the shop, and doing everything at home without any help. i feel really bad that i have put her in this situation. the kids have been troopers too. they are all willing to help, and they have made things easy on me getting them ready for school.

gotta run... it starts to hurt if i sit upright for too long without supporting my bad arm with my good arm.

take care and God bless!
jd

All busted up...

i would much rather just have a broken a arm where i could have a cast and go on with my life. trying to keep a completely severed clavicle immobilized is near impossible. i keep feeling the bones rub against each other. the only good thing about a broken clav is that it hurts enough to not even think about my ear that i split from top to bottom!

jonah took a couple of photos of me yesterday...

Halloween Surprise!

We are very happy to say that October 2008 was our best month of sales in our 18 months of operation! We barely made it over the $15,000 in sales threshold by about seven dollars!

On the bad side of things, I had a bicycle wreck yesterday and broke my left clavicle (collar bone) and lacerated my left ear from top to bottom. Six stitches (with no anesthesia!), a sling, and a chest compression wrap later... and I'm ready for more action. Well, that's if you consider sitting around trying not to move 'action'.

Several minutes of sitting fully upright is making my shoulder hurt, so I'd better run.

Don't forget to vote today! I'm still in my hospital gown because I can't move my arm and I'm going to go vote...

Take care and God Bless!
JD

Nemo's Update

Things have been hectic lately for us. We recently did a round of interviews and wanted to hire just about everybody, even though we only had one definite spot to fill. We hired two and were really happy with our picks. Jessica received a call from her previous employer who asked her to come back. So after just one shift, Jessica was gone...
We quickly brought another great interviewer on board, and Matt is doing awesome! He is taking Megan's place as our closing supervisor.
Josh is our other hire, and he has close ties to the local music scene, and he will be a great asset for building our live music.
Tracy also hired another Megan, and I have not met her yet...

We just finished tonight's Bluegrass Music Jam. We had 15 musicians tonight, and a packed house for spectators. The local newspaper ran the event for three days in a row last week, and it has really increased our turnout. We have people that drive 2 hours every Monday to get here from Boulder, Broomfield, Pueblo, etc...

We are in the biggest financial turmoil in nearly a century, but we are on pace to have our highest sales ever. We should just barely get over the $15k mark for the month of October. We have never reached $15,000 in sales for a month before, so this would be a great milestone, and it would be very encouraging to see that happen during such financial destruction in so many areas. God continues to provide, and that is where we put our faith and trust.

Our new lighted sign should be going up in two or three weeks. I'm looking forward to that!

I have two more video projects underway for building commissioning and turnover for the Army Corps of Engineers. These video projects are going to provide an extra dose of income on the side this year. It will pay for our lighted sign and allow us to have Christmas! I have been keeping my eyes peeled for good deals. I bought the boys a $200 Meade telescope with tripod and planetarium software for $20 (found it on www.bargainoutfitters.com). I found $120 skateboards on sale for $14.99 at Amazon yesterday, so three of those are on the way. Josh already has an air rifle with scope (bb/pellet gun), but I'm looking for two more for Jonah and Ethan. I'm hoping to find some on sale soon... I also loaded up on some Nerf toys from Amazon ($24 rapid fire nerf dart guns for $8, some Bionicle figures (normally $10 for $2), and some Army guy action figures (like GI Joe, but different brand) for $2 each, etc). Yes, this year is "Internet Clearance" Christmas.

OK, it is after 9:30 and I still have to close up shop and do payroll.

Take care, and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE next week. I honestly believe the outcome of this election will have ramifications that could last for decades. Whichever side you support, GET OUT AND VOTE. I believe this election will go down in history as one of the most important during our lifetimes. Don't miss it.

JD