a rather traumatic AHA moment

tripped and fell and broke my arm. (typing with my left hand...and on pain meds - liots of typos, oh well...) 100 pounds ago, i couldn't possibly have gotten uop. I also would have felt "funny" about the paramedics getting me onto the gurney.  not a good thing, but it surely would have been lots worse!  Broke my humerus. funny namr for a bone, eh? ok-that's the meds talking.   Doc says it's a clean stable break - everything in place. 100 lbs more would have shattered the thing, i am sure.  so nice not to have to factor in obesity! maxine

Oh my!  How?  Way to turn a positive into a negative.  I hope things get better.   Will they need to do any surgery?  How long will it be in a cast?  Know I am sending you all sorts of hugs! Lyns

thanks, lyns. no surgery and no cast. arm is in a sling - about 6 weeks, i guess.  it hurts, but i guess that's why they invented pain meds. doc says the first few days are the worst - so i hope to go back to work in a few days. time will tell. i meant it about the weight - i really would not have been able to get mtyself up and to the phone. scary, eh? so good to hear you sounding so much bewtter! max

My brother had a similar incident a few months back. He has had a Gastric Bypass from Dr J. and had lost about 100 pounds in a little over three months. Then he had a few post surgery problems and developed an infection (possibly from a stricture?). He started running a fever and was scheduled to see the doctor in a few days. One night he lost footing (passing out from the fever?) in his home restroom and managed to break both his legs at his lower ankles. . It was a horrible accident and required paramedics to come his house to take him to the hospital.  Even with the weight loss it was very difficult to remove him from the house and transport him to the hospital. At first, I could hardly imagine anything worse than falling and breaking both legs................... Then, I imagined doing the same thing at 100 pounds heavier 

oh my gosh!  How is he doing now?  I am 10 months out, so this was simply a case of "oops". But it sure reminded me that I have to take all my calcium! Interesting how perspective is everything. The accident is bad enough, but at +100 lbs....

He is still in the hospital, or should I say another hospital.   (VENT Mode on!) He required surgery to repair his broken legs, and exploratory surgery to determine the source of the infection in his stomach area. He spent a month in the first hospital, for these items and was transferred to a rehab hospital since then. He hopes to get released within a week or so. His big problem right now is he is having problems keeping food down.  They will not release him from the hospital until the can get him off a food I.V (TPN?). They wont remove the IV until he goes several days with out barfing up one or more meals a day.  And The food they give him is .  They know he is WLS patient (Bypass) and they still bring him junky food that he should not be eating. I hope that if they won't send him home he at least gets another transfer to a hospital that knows something more about dealing with WLS patients. His next transfer, if it happens will transfer him back to the orignal hospital he had the bypass done and he would be under Dr J's care again.

Poor guy! I am sending my good wishes and prayers his way.   I had been hospitaized with a complication 2 months after surgery, which also had manufested with fevers. I thought I had the flu for a few days because I was spiking fevers and chills - if I had been more insightful, I would have realized that it wasn't like any fevers I had ever had before. Anyway, my family ended up dragging me into the ER because they felt I was dehydrated - I had been so ill - and only a couple of months out - that I really hadn't eaten anything and had not had much water in 3 or 4 days.  Luckily, I went back to the ER at the hospital I had my surgery - Scottsdale-Shea - and they immediately contacted Dr Blackstone, who also called in infectious disease docs. It turned out that I was dehydrated, my potassium was VERY low, and ultimately (including 2 3-day hospitalizations - a splenic abcess was diagnosed and resolved. (happily, Dr B and the infectious disease folks worked hard, begging for my patience - to resolve it without surgery) It defintely benefitted me to be in the hospital with Dr B's oversight. Even though I resented it mightily at the time, she had me on the soft protein diet required earlier in the post=op process, and they would check with her on everything. It was reassuring. I hope your brother can get the care he deserves - and needs - as a post bypass patient, and that his pain decreases, and his strength increases rapidly. Maxine