yrmencyn: (armadillo)
[personal profile] yrmencyn
Well, nothing more has happened, insurance-wise, with the wreck.  I hadn't expected it to, since they might not have even retrieved my car until today, and then they have to do an analysis and all that.

Health-wise, it's a mixed bag.  My knees were very sore from getting knocked around on Thursday, somewhat less so Friday morning, and are now pretty much back to normal except for some tenderness on the actual bruise sites.  The abrasions on my hips/upper thighs (from the lapbelt) have stopped suppurating, and are now kind of fun to watch as they change colors -- sorry, I tried to take pictures, but I just can't get the angle right.  The airbag friction burn/abrasion on my left inner elbow continues to be a source of distracted amusement, as I am continually able to pull off the little blobs of dead skin that pill up like lint on an old blanket. 

But my ribcage, oy.  It had been feeling pretty good, albeit bruised, and then I sat up tonight and it felt like there was a pop or something, though honestly I may have imagined it.  The pain has come back more now (concentrated on the right side, I think the 9th rib, right where I would have knocked into the console), and I'm wondering if I have a cracked rib.  I had hoped to go in tomorrow to the Student Health Center (despite no longer being a student, my insurance premium's paid up through August), but they won't be open on Saturdays again until fall semester.  Really, though, I don't know what good it could do to go in, other than getting some prescription painkillers (which seem uncalled for, since the pain's not really that bad).  I know self-diagnosing patients are the bane of a doctor's existence, but I've been doing some reading up on it, and really it doesn't much seem worth it to go to the emergency room, since from what I can tell from the literature, the treatment for a cracked rib that isn't causing pleural damage (again, self-diagnosis bad, but it doesn't hurt to breathe deeply except insofar as the ribcage is expanding) is pretty much to tell the patient "If it hurts, don't do that," the bone being naturally splinted by the other ribs and the intracostal muscles.  I really have no desire to sit for hours in an emergency room just to get told not to perform actions that cause me pain, and I have no other reason to get it X-rayed or whatever: it's not like I'll need it for a legal proceeding against myself [me being the at-fault party].  So, yeah.  Any medical types want to weigh in, with the understanding that any such weighing in would in no way hold the weight of a medical opinion based on an actual exam and should not be construed as medical advice?

Anyway.  I'm going to go to bed and try not to cough.  Or laugh.  Or move.  Or worst of all, sneeze -- I've found sneezing to be a safari through the jungle of sudden surprising ouchies.

Date: 2006-05-27 10:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whisperwheel.livejournal.com
My opinion: I think emergency room isn't neessary unless it starts to hurt a lot more or feel like something's poking you. However, I WOULD go to the doc on Monday... You might also want to see if you can get an on-call doc to talk to you on the phone about whether he thinks you should see someone sooner.

HUGS

Date: 2006-05-28 05:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yrmencyn.livejournal.com
Yeah, I decided that emergency room was definitely not the way to go. It's feeling much better today, and I'm going to lean on Matt's advice (below), just let it see how it goes. I will, of course, remain quite watchful and careful; punctured lung bad!

Date: 2006-05-27 04:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pixidala.livejournal.com
I asked Matt (the EMT) about it - he said that all they'd do is wrap your chest with heat wraps and the doc might prescribe a painkiller. Other than that, there's not much you can do for a cracked rib. He suggested trying those icy-hot big patches, since that's basically what they use in the hospital. Unfortunately, it's just a wait-till-it-heals type of thing.

He did mention that if you see any blood, or start coughing up fluids, to go to the ER immediately. Also, if you're having any problems with your temperature (weird chills or fever). It means that your ribcage has shifted or that bone has punctured an organ. But I figured if things got that bad, you'd do that anyway.

Date: 2006-05-28 05:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yrmencyn.livejournal.com
Thank Matt for me; I was already leaning heavily toward the "just let it heal" approach, but it was helpful to hear from somebody who probably deals with auto trauma not infrequently.

Date: 2006-05-27 05:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alstaria.livejournal.com
If heat works for this sort of thing those Theracare wraps are nice and last a long time. They are in red boxes and don't have the smell associated with icyhot patches. They work wonders for my back problems.

Date: 2006-05-28 05:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yrmencyn.livejournal.com
I might try one of those, thanks! The Icyhot smell kinda grosses me out.

Date: 2006-05-28 05:15 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
I'm sorry to hear that you're in pain, but I'm glad you were unable to take pictures. And if you manage to take pictures, I'd rather they not be on the main page, but that's just me...

Anyway, I hope you get to feeling better.

- Christina

Date: 2006-05-28 05:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yrmencyn.livejournal.com
Yeah, people have mentioned a desire to keep the gross off the front page :) I'll try for that, in all things.

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