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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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I second that generous dose of tough love, Pat. Don't wait on being taken care of properly. Expense be damned...
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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I just spent an hour on the phone with him reading aloud some of the stuff I found out about compartment syndrome and how serious it is (the version above is the optimistic scenario). We worked up a plan for him to call his doctor tomorrow and ask about the following four things.
1) Mention that friends who are medics think he has compartment syndrome
2) CAT Scan to more accurately see what is going on
3) Effective pain medication
4) Referral to a specialist
Nobody can guarantee he will do this, but at least he has some concrete ideas to work with now. The problem is that it's so difficult for him to think concretely in his current sleep deprived and pain ridden condition. Believe me, if I was in the States now, I would have personally drug him to a specialist a couple of weeks ago!
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 2, 2009 - 04:21am PT
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I don't understand why people keep accusing me of
not going to the doctor. I went and couldn't get in,
and then finally I went to Urgent Care, got an X-ray,
and the next day followed up with ultra sound for blood
clots. And finally five days ago, after trying, I did
get into my doctor. I have not been avoiding the
doctor. If I thought she had some easy, magic fix,
I would go to her everyday. But based on this new possibility
of compartment syndrome, and based on the fact that
I have had no relief from the pain (really bad tonight),
I need to go to her again and at least get a referral
to a specialist and discuss the situation as it continues
to progress. I'm just waiting until 8 a.m., so I can
get a call into them.
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dogtown
Trad climber
JackAssVille, Wyoming
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Pat, please just go! Hell, man! Screw the Appointment go to the ER.
Dawg-Breath.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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It has been demonstrated that the issue of compartment problems in climbers is alleviated when one switches one's focus to the wide...
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there jan, say, thanks for helping a friend, via the phone... say, still praying on my part, here...
god bless to all his buddies chipping in, in many ways...
god bless and best wishes for some healing there, for pat...
:)
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 2, 2009 - 03:41pm PT
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Back from the doctor. She insists, confirms, is absolutely
sure it is not the "compartment syndrome." That was good
news. Otherwise they would have to fillet my leg. But that
doesn't mean such an injury doesn't exhibit a few of the
symptoms of that worst extreme. One of the symptoms of compartment
syndrome is that no medicine, even morphine, will help much.
THAT, I have experienced. My friend brought me his crutches,
and I use them to go anywhere, even to the refrigerator.
The doctor said if the thing doesn't show any signs of improvement
during the next week, she will send me to the Orthopedic specialist.
She gave me a big patch I can cut in half and place on the two
most painful places. The patch (she tells me is very very expensive,
but she happened to have one sample), and it is both a pain patch
and an anti-inflammatory patch at the same time. So when I hit
the next highest surge of pain I am going to slap that on. Each
one lasts about 12 hours. There are two in the sample box.
We'll see if that helps at all. I'm hoping. She said this is a bad
injury and no doubt is every bit as painful as I say it is. She's
not dismissing it, in any way.
I also asked her if I needed a swine flu shot or anything. She said
I can't get one because I'm not quite in that high risk group, and
they don't have any of the regular flu shots left anywhere. She noticed
I also have thrush (in my mouth), hence the sore throat, and hence
everything I ate tasted horrible. She
can't imagine how I got thrush, but she gave me some medicine that
should clear it up.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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good news, pat.
keep us posted. i hope the patches help.
you can't heal if you can't sleep.
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MH2
climber
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Did that patch come with information? If is fentanyl like we use, the pain relief is slow. It takes time to get though the skin in effective quantity. Seems it would be better to put it on right away. Can't they give you much cheaper morphine?
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there pat, say, good to hear that you got more info and a bit of help...
say, you got me wondering...
what did folks in the old days do, meaning the native indians here, or the old-school folks from europe...
did old timers in either culture or any of the south seas or african cultures have old time ways of "pain plaster" type stuff that they "slapped over" wounds, etc...
just curious now... wonders which ones worked safely for pain and inflamations...
hmmm...
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 2, 2009 - 09:45pm PT
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The life spans of our predecessors were less than
ours, and even then they were probably a tougher breed.
The patch is a flector patch -- diclofenac epolamine (lots
of ingredients, but not the one named above).
I'm putting it on now, as I wanted to wait a bit so that it
might carry me through the night (if indeed it works). Here's
hoping. The pain is everything it has been from the start.
All the best to everyone. Thanks for your concern and
your thoughts and suggestions. Everything provokes thought
and is helpful, though at times a bit scary, Jan....
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MH2
climber
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diclofenac epolamine
Not a narcotic. If it works, great! Max plasma concentration in 10-20 hours according to nih info.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 2, 2009 - 11:19pm PT
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Well it is supposed to "last" twelve hours, so it must do
something during that first twelve hourse, or one would think it
would say so? I guess I will have to see and then report back.
No appreciable difference yet.
I would love to say otherwise. I usually am very careful
about all my medicines, and I am super sensitive to how they
affect my kidneys and liver. I'jve had so much today my right kidney
has a dull pain in it, so I have to keep drinking a lot and hopefully
do less tomorrow?
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Pat-
Thanks for going to the doctor again! The rest of us at least will sleep better tonight.
Given the number one symptom of compartment syndrome is pain that even morphine won't touch, that is not an inappropriate thing to worry about. Meanwhile, if your doctor is wrong, thanks to ST you've got a great malpractice case with impeccable time documentation and dozens of witnesses.
And if you're still bad in another week, look forward to more nagging.
As you know from your experience at trying to help myself and my mother when she had her heart attack, not all family members necessarily appreciate the effort, but those that count do!
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2009 - 02:10am PT
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Well, I certainly do appreciate the concern and the effort
on the part of everyone. And yes to think Compartment Syndrome
was interesting. I can imagine I have some kind of thing similar
to it going on. Certainly parts of my leg seem blocked off
at least a little from others.... Certainly the circulation
isn't great. But the doplar test (ultra sound) showed good flow
along the main, critical arteries. It's only on the outside right
side that smaller, less significant arteries were crushed and
messed up and bleed. Maybe even the bone itself (femur) bleeds.
Even though the doctor says the bleeding has stopped, I wonder
if it's true. It feels at times as though it still does bleed,
and hence the slight swelling off and on, the return of tightness,
and the ongoing pain...
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Flumoxing Fascia....
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ionlyski
Trad climber
Kalispell, Montana
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Also Pat, do you have one of those freeze wraps? Often used for knee injuries. You can buy one at a good physical therapy office. The larger the better. They're about 3/4" thick and say 12" X 18". Stick it in the freezer for a few hours, then wrap it or lay it around the leg or knee. You can keep it in place with a velcro wrap or something. Nothing I've used can concentrate that much cooling to a large area, such as your injury. It can take HUGE amounts of pain away because pain is most often due to inflamation (that presses on nerves).
Sorry you hurt.
Arne
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Ray Olson
Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
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hey Pat -
just a big hello and best wishes from socal...
your post on the "is this really accurate??" thread was the best man.
warmest regards
and love,
Ray
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MH2
climber
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the doplar test (ultra sound) showed good flow
along the main, critical arteries.
That's what I wanted to hear!
Sounds like you might be okay.
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