"The names have been changed to protect the innocent."
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| At Urgent Care |
As we talked it turned more towards how I was healing and so forth. My 15 minute follow up turned into a 2 hour appointment with him getting all my records from "Dr. Brand's" office , reviewing them and becoming more and more agitated as he reviewed my records from the Urgent Care to the Orthopedic Surgeons office.
I never saw the surgeon only the Nurse Practitioner "Laura Danwick" and she gave me much better news than Urgent Care. Urgent Care said I needed to see an Orthopedic right away because of my fracture and prescribed me 800 Ml. of Ibuprofen for the swelling and Norco for the pain. That was a Saturday, I got in asap on that following Monday. My mom took me and we did another x-ray. Laura said it was a fracture, put me in a boot, told me she wanted me to wear it for 6-8 weeks, no surgery is needed, no need to see Dr. Brand, told me NO anti-inflammatory medication at all it will help healing. Ok.. There are two different directions, but this is coming from the Surgeons office so great! Also I can walk on it when I am ready, ride a stationary bike for exercise when I feel ready and also I can sleep with the boot on or off, which ever I prefer.
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| My fab boot which should be a cast |
I have been in pain this whole time. It was the worst the first 2 weeks but it still hurts. I'm sure its because I haven't taken one minute off of work due to my broken ankle.
Dr. Peters listened to me and said that all sounded incorrect so he ordered my x-rays from Urgent Care and the Orthopedic Surgeons office and reviews all the notes. He called Dr. Brands office 4 times because he couldn't understand why I hadn't seen a Dr. only a Nurse Practitioner. I was in the room and I could hear his conversation as his voice was raised telling "Julie" on the phone that I should have seen the Dr. for a Fracture like this, not a Nurse and should have been casted right away, he told Julie I had a fracture not a cold. Not told the information I was told and also, after the pharmacy faxing over my request for more pain medication...3 times ... they still hadn't gotten to it. Yet , I couldn't take anything but Acetaminophen and NO anti-inflammatory. My ankle is still swollen and in pain after 4 weeks in my boot, (which I've been taking off at night to sleep for the last 2 weeks because I thought that was OK) Now apparently, the reason I am still in pain is because my bones that have fused haven't done so correctly because they are still moving around, haven't been stabilized 24 hours a day as they should have been. Dr. Peters then yelled at me for going back to exercise and riding a stationary bike (which Laura said would be fine). Now mind you, I didn't rest and take care of myself exactly as I was told, but apparently I was told things were not as bad as the Urgent Care had made them sound, so in the mean time, I've just been trucking along.
Now I need more x-ray's , Dr. Peters says I should have been casted right away, so that is a possibility, if it needs to be re-broken first I don't know. He canceled my appointment with Dr. Brand and told Julie I would no longer need his services unless he spoke to the surgeon himself, he would handle my ankle from this point on and make sure it is tended to correctly. Now I am a little worried so here are the NEWEST Dr.'s orders that I will be following....
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| How I X-mas shopped with Stevi at Hollister |
2. New X-rays that morning
3. NO exercising until PT gives them to me and follow that first
4. I can take Advil for my pain and swelling.
5. It may need a re-break for the casting I should have had in the first place. He thinks a pin would be a bad idea at this point.
6. I apparently am not drinking near enough water
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| Dyna forever standing guard of the boot. |
6 comments:
Geesh! Who the heck are you supposed to believe? I sure hope that it doesn't have to be rebroken. :-( Guess that I won't be seeing you this morning.
I guess Dr. Peters, we are all still alive after all, well except for Dad... but he never really went to the Dr. until he was actually dying....
Actually he went to Dr Peters but saw the nurse practitioner and she told him that he had a stomach infection and put him on Maalox and antibiotics. When he went back and actually saw Dr. Peters the cancer was discovered and the nurse practioner (that Dad saw) is no longer there.
Lisa, if you need to have your ankle re-broken and have to go through weeks of MORE cast-wearing, which will effect your ability to make money, I see a malpractice suit written all over this. This is WRONG! You better be keeping all your records. I hope Dr. Peters is wrong, but if he isn't, you better take this all the way.
It is my opinion that the Nurse Practitioner term is being mad mouthed as a generalization by this doctor. Although I agree that one should not exercise with a broken ankle - most of the Orthopeddic surgeons here in Tucson ARE using the boot for immobilization as long as it fits snugly- so that the bones cannot move. Casting a new fracture that is swollen - as the swelling decreases - leave the bones with less support than the boot is capable of- However, closer follow-up, AVOIDANCE of exercise, and non-weigthbearing would be the norm here with the Ortho Surgeons (themselves as well as thier PA's and nurse practitioners)I was shocked to hear you went back to work so soon so assumed you had a minor nondisplaced fracture but you must have more than that! Hope all works out well. Remember- Denise was unable to bear weight at all on her ankle for several months- fractures of the ankle can differ quite alot from each other!
I had no idea about that Mom... That makes my stomach hurt.. I will not be able to exercise at all until Dr Peters sees another X-ray again on the 16 th (if you'd like to go) and tells me how it's looking... He said the fact that it's clicking while I walk in the boot and the continued swelling and pain he's sure it's not fusing correctly if at all...
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