Partner broke his wrist (Update: Phew! He didn't!)

phira

At least, we're 99% sure he did. He tried to run to catch the train this morning, and he slipped on the tracks. He also bruised his hip pretty badly, but it's just badly bruised.

I kept telling him to go to urgent care, since he kept commenting on how the pain wasn't getting better, and that he was going to take Tylenol when he got home. He NEVER voluntarily takes pain killers.

Once he got home, it was pretty clear that it was probably broken. It's swollen and bruising and he's lost full range of motion. We're at the local ER now (10 minute walk from our house), and he finally got taken off for xrays.

He's bummed out; it's his dominant hand. And there's never a GOOD time to break your wrist. But we're keeping in good spirits and making lots of jokes. He's not going to be able to shave for a while, so he's kind of excited to grow a beard again.

KeptInStitches

Oww! I hope he feels better soon!

bethsmiles

That sucks!

blabla89

Oh no! Hope he feels better soon. Sounds like he's taking it like a champ.

phira

Just got back from the ER! The doctor didn't see any breaks or fractures on the x-ray, but he did caution us that there still might be a very small fracture that's too small to be visualized on the x-ray. So if his wrist gets worst over the course of the week, we'll go back in.

It's an impressively bad sprain, though. I'll attaching a picture of him waving hello from the ER.

We're finally home now (phew! Two hours to get x-rays taken. Fabulous). I put an ace bandage on him to immobilize his wrist a bit, and we're icing it now. We're both allergic to ibuprofen, so all he can take is Tylenol.

This could have been so much worse. He slipped on the tracks in front of the train that was about to leave the stop. It's incredibly fortunate that the train driver actually saw him. Even though his wrist isn't broken, we both would prefer broken wrist to "run over and killed by the Green line"

CLoGreenEyes

Yikes, that's not a fun injury! Glad he is taking it like a champ, being all excited about his impending beard and whatnot. Hopefully it truly isn't broken and will heal up in record time!

KeptInStitches

Hope some sort of wrist brace helps, too. I had one (misdiagnosed break - I had broken it and it didn't heal properly) and it helped the healing by letting it rest at night.

phira

@KeptInStitches That's a good idea. I had an ace bandage I tried to wrangle J into tonight, but it wasn't comfortable because 1) I am not very good at ace bandaging, and 2) it was from when I had calf surgery, so it was too wide to properly wrap his wrist. He just went to bed now and he's anxious about making it worse while he's sleeping, so I will pick one up.

I'm still nervous that the hospital misdiagnosed his injury. We're in Boston, which is like ... the medical capital of the planet, but the unbelievably awesome hospitals and ERs would have required us to take a cab ($$) or public transit (time consuming), so we went to the one that's very close by. We're not huge fans; the last time we were there, they were really unprofessional, and we were there for at least an hour longer than we should have been, even for an ER. Tonight, they were pretty good (only one unnecessarily long wait, and it was after he got a room), but they're really not the best hospital in Boston. J said that the radiology technician kept asking for a "karate chop" stance and had to take a lot of x-rays because J wasn't getting the position just right.

Not only that, but my best friend had a greenstick fracture a couple years ago in her wrist, and it was misdiagnosed as a sprain. Since she's a veterinarian (whose night job was in radiology), she was really skeptical of the diagnosis, and sure enough, when she went back a few days later, she got the right diagnosis.

I guess we'll see in a few days. Apparently, it's going to hurt more tomorrow (as will his hip; the bruising and swelling is so bad that it looks like his right hip is womanly), sooooo that'll be fun!

buddysmom80

Oh no @phira I'm sorry to hear about your partner! Thankfully it was a bad wrist and hip. Like you said, it could've been a lot worse.

It sounds like he sprained his wrist (I sprained my wrist on my dominant hand in HS, it sucks!), if it gets worse by the end of the weekend swing by a Boston hospital if it makes you guys feel better.

ER wait times are HORRIBLE but I think what he had constituted an emergency. He probably got held up because people use ERs as their primary care physican (stepping off my soap box now, don't get me started!)

Keep us posted!!!!

labro

@phira I hope J makes it through the day ok today! That sounds really awful...although like you said it could have been worse! Definitely pick up a wrist brace today. I really hope it is JUST a sprain and there isn't a minor fracture somewhere in there.

Dignity100

Hope he's feeling better.  If he wants a natural pain killer that helps with some of the inflammation - there's something out there called Traumeel.  I've used it for headaches and such (I just order it through Amazon - I've never used the cream, always the pills).

[Deleted User]

Eeek! I'm sorry to hear about J's wrist! That does not sound comfortable especially since it's his dominant hand. I hope he begins to heal quickly!

Peaseblossom55

@phira oh no sorry to hear.  I hope he is feeling better now.

phira

Thanks, everyone! It was hard to convince him at first that it was an ER-worthy problem (there aren't many urgent care departments around; that may have been an easier sell). After doing some Google searches, it was really clear that if it WAS broken, it wasn't a, "Well, let's sleep on it and see what happens" situation.