Goddamn Hospitals
When I went to the hospital the day after the car accident, they took some x-rays and said I was fine, just needed to exercise the bruised muscles a few times a day so they would heal without stiffening up.
I went to the doctor yesterday, who did the x-rays again, and told me I have a fractured elbow. Showed me the picture too, really fucking obvious crack in my elbow. All that moving around I did? Didn't help much and only made it hurt worse, especially since I didn't get any medications to deal with the swelling. Apparently my bones are freakishly close together and pinch like hell.
Unfortunately, the thing about fractures is they heal on their own and need no help, so all I can do is wait a month and grit my teeth against the hurting. I have a prescription for pain, but those particular pills make me high as a kite and I need my brain while i'm at work. Still, at least I have some ideas on proper care of it now, and when I go for physio (tomorrow, finally!) nobody's gonna cause worse damage.
Still. Fucking hospital doctor. There was no excuse for that, it wasn't busy at all when I went. There was a waiting time of about half an hour, which considering the wait time day before yesterday was 14 hours, is pretty fucking amazing.
I went to the doctor yesterday, who did the x-rays again, and told me I have a fractured elbow. Showed me the picture too, really fucking obvious crack in my elbow. All that moving around I did? Didn't help much and only made it hurt worse, especially since I didn't get any medications to deal with the swelling. Apparently my bones are freakishly close together and pinch like hell.
Unfortunately, the thing about fractures is they heal on their own and need no help, so all I can do is wait a month and grit my teeth against the hurting. I have a prescription for pain, but those particular pills make me high as a kite and I need my brain while i'm at work. Still, at least I have some ideas on proper care of it now, and when I go for physio (tomorrow, finally!) nobody's gonna cause worse damage.
Still. Fucking hospital doctor. There was no excuse for that, it wasn't busy at all when I went. There was a waiting time of about half an hour, which considering the wait time day before yesterday was 14 hours, is pretty fucking amazing.
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I think they just don't pay attention as closely at hospitals as they do at, say, urgent care stations and the like. When I was 15, I hurt my back at cheerleading and went to the hospital. They absolutely refused to take an xray and basically told me to get over it. I went to an urgent care station the next day and got xrays, and I had a fractured vertebrae. 
Yeah, I don't think we have anything like an urgent care station here. That's what hospitals are for. Though the walk-in clinic doctor told me hospital doctors are kinda rude on purpose, since you aren't supposed to go there unless you're dying.
Doctors are human. They miss stuff. A few years back I was in and out of the emergency room three times before they finally figured out that I had gall stones and needed to have my gall bladder removed. Sure, it's annoying, but at least they found it before it got worse.
This kind of reminds me of when my sister was little and fell off the bed. My dad took her to the doctors who moved her arm around and insisted everything was fine. My dad, being the kind of guy he is, told them it was bollocks, gave her the slightest touch and she burst into tears over the pain. They finally gave in and she got her x-ray to be told she'd gotten herself a fractured collarbone.
I don't normally like that my dad is constantly argumentative and persistant too, but it really came in handy.
Has everything been sorted with your car? Also happy new year.
I don't normally like that my dad is constantly argumentative and persistant too, but it really came in handy.
Has everything been sorted with your car? Also happy new year.
can't you sue them?
For what, punitive damages? If she’d developed a fat embolus as a result of the undiagnosed fracture and been killed, then someone could sue. If she is permanently disabled as a result of them missing the fracture and loses work as a result, then she can sue.
oh ok I guess I shouldn't have said it cause I honestly know nothing in law.
Well no. It’s not completely ridiculous. If you have money to blow and don’t care, you could certainly try to sue. But it’s complicated, what you can sue for and it might end up being a waste of time. And being awarded damages doesn’t mean you’ll actually get them. Because the defendant may not have the money to give.
There are several kinds of damages.
Compensatory damages would be like, you burned my house down or destroyed my car. Those losses have specific dollar value. Or if I were to do $5000 worth of labor and you refused to pay me, that would be a set amount of money. This can also include medical bills. Basically any damage of property or cost that was incurred as a result of the 's actions.
Punitive damages are used to penalize the defendant, and can be awarded at the judge’s discretion. For instance, in the case of a class action suit. A corporation might be fined for mistreatment of employees. A drunk driver might be fined and the money given to non-profit organizations that support the victim’s families.
Then you have pain and suffering, which is hard to get. Believe it or not, they have an actual method for calculating the dollar amount your suffering is worth. Examples would be, someone being forced to witness something horrific.
Then you have lost wages. If you miss work due to an injury, then the amount of income you’d have received if you’d been able to work is calculated as damages. If you become disabled as a result of someone else’s actions and can not work from that point forward, they calculate the potential loss of wages and you are paid damages based on that.
There are several kinds of damages.
Compensatory damages would be like, you burned my house down or destroyed my car. Those losses have specific dollar value. Or if I were to do $5000 worth of labor and you refused to pay me, that would be a set amount of money. This can also include medical bills. Basically any damage of property or cost that was incurred as a result of the 's actions.
Punitive damages are used to penalize the defendant, and can be awarded at the judge’s discretion. For instance, in the case of a class action suit. A corporation might be fined for mistreatment of employees. A drunk driver might be fined and the money given to non-profit organizations that support the victim’s families.
Then you have pain and suffering, which is hard to get. Believe it or not, they have an actual method for calculating the dollar amount your suffering is worth. Examples would be, someone being forced to witness something horrific.
Then you have lost wages. If you miss work due to an injury, then the amount of income you’d have received if you’d been able to work is calculated as damages. If you become disabled as a result of someone else’s actions and can not work from that point forward, they calculate the potential loss of wages and you are paid damages based on that.
wow I didn't know this. I appreciate it.
Sure
I got a fracture on my wrist in football practice, thought it was a bruise, and missed one day, got back 2 days later. Went to the hospital a month later, found out it was fractured, I figured it would heal by itself and it did 
I figured it would heal by itself and it did 
Take the x-rays (or have the hospital send them) to your doctor and get a second opinion. Emergency room doctors tend to be inexperienced and of the lower rank as doctors go.
Kick the doctors in the knees
What is with everyone getting into car accidents!? My family has had several in the last few months, and then on the 21st my fiance and I were in a head on collusion (our compact vs a large Ram truck). Thankfully we were ok for the most part. I fractured my sternum, and my fiance sliced his finger to the bone. And then last week our neighbor was rear-ended while going to school.
So I know how you feel. I wish you a speedy recovery, and take advantage of those pain meds. I know for something like my sternum they can't really bind it, but can't they put your elbow in a sling to at least immobilize it while it heals? I can't imagine the pain, considering it's where your arm bends. Mine I can at least get away with no lifting :/
So I know how you feel. I wish you a speedy recovery, and take advantage of those pain meds. I know for something like my sternum they can't really bind it, but can't they put your elbow in a sling to at least immobilize it while it heals? I can't imagine the pain, considering it's where your arm bends. Mine I can at least get away with no lifting :/
A sling immobilizes nothing, and puts all the weight on my neck. I have one, but I stopped using it.
Sure it was a doctor you saw? I've only seen these kinds of mess ups with nurse practitioners.
Is there anyway to cast a broken elbow?
Hope you have a fast recovery!
Is there anyway to cast a broken elbow?
Hope you have a fast recovery!
Yep, his nametag said doctor.
No casts for a fracture, it heals normally on its own.
No casts for a fracture, it heals normally on its own.
That still sucks 
Hope it heals quickly!
Hope it heals quickly!
man, hope it heals fast
Just don't bump it against anything.</PERSONAL experience>
It’s possible that the elbow was swollen in such a way that it masked the fracture on the x-ray, especially if they did it fairly soon after the injury. They’re supposed to wait a few hours before doing the imaging, to wait for the swelling to go down. But they don’t always. Doctors miss fractures all the time.
How soon is fairly soon? Because it was over 24 hours later.