On Sunday we went to Leicester to watch Leicester Tigers beat Bath to get a place in the final at Twickenham. On our way back to the station walking along the path with the crowd of fans I tripped on a kerb. There I go again! I hurt my hand quite badly and managed to lacerate it. And of course it was the side I've had the lymph nodes out which puts me at risk of lymphodoema. We were debating whether to have it looked at because of my osteoporosis. So we we visited the A&E department at our local hospital Heartlands on the way home. I don't really like going to that hospital because it's where my Dad died but we don't know of any other A&E's round here.
We were in A&E for four hours! Apparantly the government guidelines say a patient should be seen within four hours! Because of my osteoporosis they x-rayed it and the doctor said it wasn't broken but I had " funny looking carpals " and asked me if I'd ever broken it which I hadn't. Although I have broken my other wrist. He gave me a splint to wear and said he wanted me to see a hand surgeon in the fracture clinic on Tuesday. He passed me on to a nurse to have my wound cleaned and dressed and I booked the fracture clinic on the way out. They couldn't get me in on Tuesday, they were fully booked so they booked me in on Wednesday. I found the splint a great help with the pain but it did tend to rub a bit on my cut. He told me to stay off work at least a week and that they would give me a sick note. Oh he also said I hadn't actually broken it.
On Wednesday I went off to the fracture clinic with my splint on. It was quite a warm day but I had to wear my winter coat because I couldn't get my other one on as I had to bend my wrist to get it on and it was too painful. I waited one hour after my appointment time until I was seen which was quite good really as I was once kept waiting nearly four hours for one of my oncology appointments! They apologised profusely for the wait bless them. The doc said I hadn't broken it but I had a displaced carpus bone which he showed me on the x-ray. ( I think they have digital x-rays like we've got at work!) He said it hadn't been done when I had the fall it was work related. I said I'd had pins and needles in my hand at night but I hadn't had them while I'd wearing the splint and whether I'd got carpal Tunnel Syndrome. He said yes I had and I should wear the splint when I was in pain and at night. He also gave me a sick note for another week as he was worried about the cut on my hand getting infected in my job as a dental hygienist. When I got home I phoned work to tell them and my manageress/friend asked what was I going to do about my job and didn't I think my hands were trying to tell me something? I said I'll just have to see how I get on and that I'd just have to wear my splint while working if needs be. Gray took me out for a balti in the evening to cheer me up.
The photo above shows the splint in action. The nurse at A&E asked me to take my rings off as my hand was swelling up and they didn't want to have to cut them off!
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