rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 4, 2016 18:42:43 GMT -8
No, not mine. My husbands (some of you might have seen in the goodmorning thread where I mentioned he crashed his bike). In the interests of getting input on how this recovery might go, I wondered if anyone has any experience with broken ribs. In this case (and this might make a difference), he broke 3 in the left back, below the shoulder blade. One was displaced. That was nearly 2 weeks ago, and we are seeing some progress. But does anyone have experience with how long before, say, getting in and out of bed will be less painful? Or until he might be able to bend over and pick something up off the floor? For that matter, because using his left arm pulls on the ribs and is very painful, I'm wondering how long before he will be able to drive! Just curious if anyone's been there and done that
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Oct 4, 2016 19:28:02 GMT -8
Two months he should be fairly healed. That was my experience.
GoBlue might give you a better estimate as he crashed and broke his shoulder blade. I am not sure if he took out any ribs with it.
Rumi
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 4, 2016 21:14:31 GMT -8
GoBlue might give you a better estimate as he crashed and broke his shoulder blade. I am not sure if he took out any ribs with it. I don't think GBH broke ribs, but since he smashed things to smithereens, I'm guessing (hoping!) his healing process was longer than the spouse's will be. OTOH: ribs suck. Two months was the MD's guess for pretty much healed. Were there any happy waypoints in between?
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Post by CompassRds on Oct 5, 2016 9:16:57 GMT -8
Wish I could offer better input, but luckily I only cracked 2 of mine, not fully broken. Still, it took around a month and a half to fully heal, or at least get beyond the occasional surprise sharp twinges. Also took about a month until it was healed enough that certain shoulder movements stopped being painful... But then again I am a weirdo, and have some damaged attachments in one shoulder (it has larger muscle mass, sits slightly lower, and pulls oddly into my spine) due to another injury
Happy milestones: -First one, celebrate your luck. It could have been worse. My father-in-law still races and has lost friends to crashes. He also had his hip replaced 5 years ago after he went down in in a peloton crash. -Other than that any return to normalcy is worth celebrating (some I remember): 1) When that once-an-hour suggested deep breath stops needing pain meds 2) Getting out of bed without pain, or just learning how to do it with minimal pain. I actually slept in a recliner semi-erect for the first half month because I didn't want to have to fully lay down unassisted.
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Post by CompassRds on Oct 5, 2016 9:19:42 GMT -8
Not sure if there is any help in that, but I had to try, damaged ribs suck.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Oct 5, 2016 9:51:51 GMT -8
I broke someone else's ribs (yes, on purpose), and it took him 6 weeks before he was starting to do stretchy things. 8-10 before he was 90% healed.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 6, 2016 7:35:03 GMT -8
First one, celebrate your luck. It could have been worse. We're very aware of that, and certainly bless our luck. I only cracked 2 of mine, not fully broken From what I've been told (I damaged a rib with coughing when I had pneumonia), it doesn't much matter if cracked or broken for pain levels. But what's he's going through is certainly worse than what I had (probably some tearing of something in my case, not cracks). I think them being in the back makes it worse--the problem with moving the arm is certainly made worse by that. 1) When that once-an-hour suggested deep breath stops needing pain meds 2) Getting out of bed without pain, or just learning how to do it with minimal pain. I actually slept in a recliner semi-erect for the first half month because I didn't want to have to fully lay down unassisted. The spouse is tough. He does his breathing without pain pills, mostly. And he's been lying down in bed, though the hospital bed was much better for that! So far improvements have been incremental, and it looks like that's the way it will be. Two weeks down...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2016 8:28:46 GMT -8
About two months is was my experience as well. Broken ribs suck and it is an experience I hope to never repeat.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 9, 2016 9:21:35 GMT -8
After a bit over 3 weeks, he has experienced a noticeable improvement in mobility. Rolling over in bed is still a delicate and painful operation, though!
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