May 13, 2003

Ow. My Ribs.

Huh. Okay, here's what I wrote yesterday:

So there I was, at work, in a lot of pain. I considered going to the emergency room, because that's the sort of thing that makes for a really exciting entry.

Today, my ribs still hurt. And it seemed like it had been a really long time since I fell down. And I checked: it had been eighteen days. If this was a small, insignificant injury, wouldn't it be more or less gone by the time eighteen days had gone by? Maybe I should be worried about this. And hey! I've got medical insurance! So I went to the emergency room after all.

It turns out that going to the emergency room doesn't really make for an exciting story. It's exciting for about the length of one sentence: the sentence that includes "emergency room". And even then, it sort of depends on people having seen a lot of medical dramas. Because in my experience, emergency rooms involve a lot of waiting.

How much waiting? Well, allow me to provide an illustrative anecdote: on my way to the ER, I grabbed a book, in case there was some downtime. That book was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is over 700 pages long. I finished it while I was waiting. That's 700 pages of waiting. Now, sure, it's a quick read and I'm a very fast reader. But even so, 700 pages?

Of course, if it had been an actual emergency, they probably would have dealt with me faster. I kept hearing alarming announcements over the paging system, things like "Level 4 HazMat" and "Red Alert", but no one seemed to be running around and panicking. It's possible that it had something to do with the imaginary nuclear bomb we had.

Anyway, they poked at me and got me X-Rayed. And they were able to confirm what I suspected: I have a fractured rib. I'm going to repeat that for dramatic effect.

I HAVE A FRACTURED RIB!

Hah? How's that for dramatic effect? You should lean in real close to your monitor to simulate the effect of a close-up. Also, if you have a Casio keyboard handy, you might want to add a few chords for the "bum-BUMMM!" I tell ya, people who put in frowny faces just aren't thinking big enough.

But back to me and my fractured rib. I'm glad to have it diagnosed, because it's worrying to know there's "something wrong" inside you but not know exactly what. And it's good that I'm glad to have a diagnosis, because it's not like they could do much else for me. You can't splint ribs; as long as they're more or less in the right place, the accepted procedure is to leave them alone and let them heal. They gave me a prescription for painkillers, but I don't know if I'm going to get them. It is my experience that having Vicodin usually leads to creepy people at work asking if you have any left over.

When they checked me in, there was a spot on the form where they said about me: "appears to be well developed, well nourished, well groomed, acting appropriate for age." I was excited, because it's not often I get complimented on my development, eating habits, grooming, and maturity all at the same time. Unfortunately, a friend of mine pointed out that that was boilerplate that's really designed to see if I'm an abused child. That's probably true, but I still maintain that the "well groomed" part constitutes a compliment.

By the way, that article about the imaginary nuclear bomb includes the sentence "Because of the mock radiation, numerous bus lines had to be rerouted." I mention that because I really enjoy the phrase "mock radiation".

Hi,

I broke a rib coughing one time, so I know it hurts. Ow.

That boiler plate stuff is also used for elderly people. It means that you seem to be able to take care of yourself or others are taking good care of you.

Feel Better,
Diana

Posted by: Diana at May 14, 2003 07:17 AM

OH MY GOD THE PAIN!. I have a couple of fractured ribs from a careless fall. I had codeine, it didn't do that much except keep me awake or give me nighmarees when sleeping.Any idea how long it takes for this to heal? I mean, I THOUGHT childbirth hurt!!!!Send me an email, if you'd like. It gets lonely trying to lie around an heal up. I have noticed a marked advance in my grouchiness. I have apologozed to family more than nce already. But they bug me when I want peace and quiet, they are noisy, etc. God love 'em. They are trying to help but don't know whether to come close enough to me now. I have been down fow 2 weeks now.And miserable, still.When will the pain ease up, and what works? I don't like those Vicodins. They made me itch really badly. (All over).Help!!!!Thank you for letting me vent. Whew!OmG!!!!!OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!OMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Dix at April 29, 2004 08:13 AM

Hi there im from ireland and i got a fractured rib 7 days ago surfing and im in soooo much pain so i know how you all felt. i took ponstan for the pain and because they're such strong painkillers i ended up getting sick because i didnt eat with them. Imagine vomitting your guts up when you've a fractured rib!! not a nice feelin! any way i'll stop feelin sorry for myself now c ya!

Posted by: at June 14, 2004 03:37 AM

I broke a rib and cracked two 12 days ago. I've delt with it fairly well (motrin) until the 4th day when I turned to get out of bed and heard/felt a crack. I was in immediate pain and it was hard to breathe. I had x-rays to confirm my problem. Dr said I probably turned a way that sepated the fracture. I did the same thing last night, when I put my arms above my head to stretch. It was a loud "pop". I am back to day 4. Has anyone had this happen and does this start the whole healing process over? Should I be somewhat restrictive on my movements? PJW

Posted by: peggy at June 16, 2004 11:21 AM

I had two horse riding accidents in a hour last Thursday. After a couple of days, my hip, waist and a spot on my lower spine turned black. After four days, I am just getting so that I can walk as fast as Teresa, my wife, with a little effort. I think Teresa likes that because she has always claimed that I walk to fast. After four days my lungs still freeze up on me when I twist or move wrong or laugh, sneeze, clear my throat or breathe a little deeper. I can not help but wonder if I fractured a couple of ribs. This is the first time that Teresa has seen me take pain medication. The good thing is that she insists on doing all the driving!!! She is afraid that my lungs may freeze up on me when driving. I believe she is right on that one. Isn't it amazing what some people will do to get out of work!!! Teresa is saying that she thinks that maybe we are getting to old for horses but I am not giving up that easily!!!

I am glad that the Lord was watching out for me. It could have been a lot worse. Gene

Posted by: Gene at July 11, 2004 09:51 PM

Fractured ribs (3) another 6 bruised and 2 disonnected/seperated from spine complicated by a pneumothorax. In the ambulance I didn't seem to bad until I started coughing up blood and after getting to the trauma center and a couple of injections of morphine I felt OK. 32 days later I am in so much pain. I used my body to much doing some chores at home I felt good and just got back from the La Gune Seca World Superbike races which was a 500 mile ride on my Gsxr. Thought I was almost healed and now realize I am not only stupid but also very human. This takes time and rest something I'm not very good at and now I need to go thru all the test again as the healing will be starting over again and my pneumothorax is present again just 10 days ago it was diagnosed as negative. Just goes to show that patience is a virtue and when it comes to rib fractures deal with the pain but most imporetantly rest and be patient

Posted by: anthony at July 15, 2004 07:06 PM



	« Ow. My Head. \| Main \| Ice Macho » May 13, 2003 Ow. My Ribs. Huh. Okay, here's what I wrote yesterday: So there I was, at work, in a lot of pain. I considered going to the emergency room, because that's the sort of thing that makes for a really exciting entry. Today, my ribs still hurt. And it seemed like it had been a really long time since I fell down. And I checked: it had been eighteen days. If this was a small, insignificant injury, wouldn't it be more or less gone by the time eighteen days had gone by? Maybe I should be worried about this. And hey! I've got medical insurance! So I went to the emergency room after all. It turns out that going to the emergency room doesn't really make for an exciting story. It's exciting for about the length of one sentence: the sentence that includes "emergency room". And even then, it sort of depends on people having seen a lot of medical dramas. Because in my experience, emergency rooms involve a lot of waiting. How much waiting? Well, allow me to provide an illustrative anecdote: on my way to the ER, I grabbed a book, in case there was some downtime. That book was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is over 700 pages long. I finished it while I was waiting. That's 700 pages of waiting. Now, sure, it's a quick read and I'm a very fast reader. But even so, 700 pages? Of course, if it had been an actual emergency, they probably would have dealt with me faster. I kept hearing alarming announcements over the paging system, things like "Level 4 HazMat" and "Red Alert", but no one seemed to be running around and panicking. It's possible that it had something to do with the imaginary nuclear bomb we had. Anyway, they poked at me and got me X-Rayed. And they were able to confirm what I suspected: I have a fractured rib. I'm going to repeat that for dramatic effect. I HAVE A FRACTURED RIB! Hah? How's that for dramatic effect? You should lean in real close to your monitor to simulate the effect of a close-up. Also, if you have a Casio keyboard handy, you might want to add a few chords for the "bum-BUMMM!" I tell ya, people who put in frowny faces just aren't thinking big enough. But back to me and my fractured rib. I'm glad to have it diagnosed, because it's worrying to know there's "something wrong" inside you but not know exactly what. And it's good that I'm glad to have a diagnosis, because it's not like they could do much else for me. You can't splint ribs; as long as they're more or less in the right place, the accepted procedure is to leave them alone and let them heal. They gave me a prescription for painkillers, but I don't know if I'm going to get them. It is my experience that having Vicodin usually leads to creepy people at work asking if you have any left over. When they checked me in, there was a spot on the form where they said about me: "appears to be well developed, well nourished, well groomed, acting appropriate for age." I was excited, because it's not often I get complimented on my development, eating habits, grooming, and maturity all at the same time. Unfortunately, a friend of mine pointed out that that was boilerplate that's really designed to see if I'm an abused child. That's probably true, but I still maintain that the "well groomed" part constitutes a compliment. By the way, that article about the imaginary nuclear bomb includes the sentence "Because of the mock radiation, numerous bus lines had to be rerouted." I mention that because I really enjoy the phrase "mock radiation".
	« Ow. My Head. \| Main \| Ice Macho »
	Comments Hi, I broke a rib coughing one time, so I know it hurts. Ow. That boiler plate stuff is also used for elderly people. It means that you seem to be able to take care of yourself or others are taking good care of you. Feel Better, Diana Posted by: Diana at May 14, 2003 07:17 AM Hey, Monty, do you have any of that Vicodin left over? Posted by: Cirocco at May 16, 2003 10:43 AM D'oh! Posted by: Monty at May 16, 2003 09:50 PM Loved reading about your fractured ribs, just got my first and am very proud. Using alcohol instead of vicodin - no don't have any left over! Posted by: Ingrid at January 24, 2004 05:06 PM OH MY GOD THE PAIN!. I have a couple of fractured ribs from a careless fall. I had codeine, it didn't do that much except keep me awake or give me nighmarees when sleeping.Any idea how long it takes for this to heal? I mean, I THOUGHT childbirth hurt!!!!Send me an email, if you'd like. It gets lonely trying to lie around an heal up. I have noticed a marked advance in my grouchiness. I have apologozed to family more than nce already. But they bug me when I want peace and quiet, they are noisy, etc. God love 'em. They are trying to help but don't know whether to come close enough to me now. I have been down fow 2 weeks now.And miserable, still.When will the pain ease up, and what works? I don't like those Vicodins. They made me itch really badly. (All over).Help!!!!Thank you for letting me vent. Whew!OmG!!!!!OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!OMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by: Dix at April 29, 2004 08:13 AM Hi there im from ireland and i got a fractured rib 7 days ago surfing and im in soooo much pain so i know how you all felt. i took ponstan for the pain and because they're such strong painkillers i ended up getting sick because i didnt eat with them. Imagine vomitting your guts up when you've a fractured rib!! not a nice feelin! any way i'll stop feelin sorry for myself now c ya! Posted by: at June 14, 2004 03:37 AM I broke a rib and cracked two 12 days ago. I've delt with it fairly well (motrin) until the 4th day when I turned to get out of bed and heard/felt a crack. I was in immediate pain and it was hard to breathe. I had x-rays to confirm my problem. Dr said I probably turned a way that sepated the fracture. I did the same thing last night, when I put my arms above my head to stretch. It was a loud "pop". I am back to day 4. Has anyone had this happen and does this start the whole healing process over? Should I be somewhat restrictive on my movements? PJW Posted by: peggy at June 16, 2004 11:21 AM I had two horse riding accidents in a hour last Thursday. After a couple of days, my hip, waist and a spot on my lower spine turned black. After four days, I am just getting so that I can walk as fast as Teresa, my wife, with a little effort. I think Teresa likes that because she has always claimed that I walk to fast. After four days my lungs still freeze up on me when I twist or move wrong or laugh, sneeze, clear my throat or breathe a little deeper. I can not help but wonder if I fractured a couple of ribs. This is the first time that Teresa has seen me take pain medication. The good thing is that she insists on doing all the driving!!! She is afraid that my lungs may freeze up on me when driving. I believe she is right on that one. Isn't it amazing what some people will do to get out of work!!! Teresa is saying that she thinks that maybe we are getting to old for horses but I am not giving up that easily!!! I am glad that the Lord was watching out for me. It could have been a lot worse. Gene Posted by: Gene at July 11, 2004 09:51 PM Fractured ribs (3) another 6 bruised and 2 disonnected/seperated from spine complicated by a pneumothorax. In the ambulance I didn't seem to bad until I started coughing up blood and after getting to the trauma center and a couple of injections of morphine I felt OK. 32 days later I am in so much pain. I used my body to much doing some chores at home I felt good and just got back from the La Gune Seca World Superbike races which was a 500 mile ride on my Gsxr. Thought I was almost healed and now realize I am not only stupid but also very human. This takes time and rest something I'm not very good at and now I need to go thru all the test again as the healing will be starting over again and my pneumothorax is present again just 10 days ago it was diagnosed as negative. Just goes to show that patience is a virtue and when it comes to rib fractures deal with the pain but most imporetantly rest and be patient Posted by: anthony at July 15, 2004 07:06 PM Syndicate this site (XML)

Ow. My Ribs.

Comments