It’s been a week, and oh what a week it’s been, since I first dislocated my left elbow.
Sunday I got a bit of rest, but Monday was back to work, though I took it fairly easy and just typed with one hand. Tuesday it was off to the orthopedic doctor, who removed the split, explaining that it would just make my arm stiffen up. He said to use the sling, and showed me some exercises for my arm. All seemed well, and Wednesday I headed to work with just the sling, and the ability to move my arm. I still took it easy, I was able to type, but didn’t want to do much else.
Wednesday turned bad quickly. I was going to the bathroom and just sort of twisted my arm a bit and POP! my elbow came out. I shouted an expletive and walked slowly into the office sort of yelling/swearing and then co-worker Eric drove me to urgent care to see the same Doctor that removed my splint less than 24 hours earlier.
So they gave me a shot, and popped it back into place. I also got some x-rays to make sure it was all good. I then went back to work, got my car, drove home, and rested for a few hours before my next appointment to have a splint made.
I got a splint to keep my arm at 90 degrees, and need to keep it in the sling. It’ll be like this for another week. They will then adjust the splint to an angle greater than 90 degrees. It’s extremely annoying. It’s hard to shower, and hard to go to the bathroom, and hard to put pants on… an all around pain.
Right now I’m just really hoping I can heal quickly and get my full range of motion back…
I’ve got a new splint. This one limits the range of motion of my arm. I can bend my elbow all the way up, well, as far as it can go right now, but I can’t completely straighten it. This is to prevent it from coming out of joint again, as the ligaments still need to tighten up.