Any Handwriting Detectives about for A&E Dr's report?

[TrailingPearls]

Was in A&E with a buggered ankle in 2010 and just trying to decipher what the Dr wrote in this report. I remember an X-ray and pain relief but cannot for the life of me remember the diagnosis! Just that it wasn't broken and I couldn't walk on it for 2 weeks It was weak for months.

What the hell does it say?! I've got as far as the date and time and possibly spotted the word 'today' so still no major clues . I'm guessing the L circled was my left ankle, which is weird, as I would have put money on it being the right one Memory eh.

PS. No alcohol involved, I'm just hypermobile.

Good grief. I'm usually good at these things but the mix of jargon and scribbles is a nightmare.

So far I've got:-

Injured left ankle today
Complaining of pain - lot
Complaining of left ankle

37, female
NKDA - no known drug allergies.
Involving L (left) ankle
(that's all I've got so far)

Blimey, if that person was your partner and wrote you a letter, you wouldn't know whether he/she was writing a love letter or dumping you!

And this is why the nhs is is introducing computerised notes...
That is shockingly bad. Sorry.....I have nothing more useful to add...

I think it's basically, 37 year old woman, otherwise healthy, complaining of pain left ankle from an injury that day. Then a list of the different things they checked, noting that it's tender and swollen. X-ray done, everything ok then a list of the three things they actioned. Probably tubigrip etc.

37, female
no known allergies
inverted injury left ankle
complaining of pain - lot
L ankle
Transactional analysis - only ones I can read are NV- nausea and vomiting and NB note well?
swollen to touch
Xray ankle with 3 different angles to take films from I think...

Quick check again - swollen and tender lateral malleolus so the outer nobble. And that you are weight-bearing..

X-ray- no deformity or bony injury

Ah, you're all brilliant! I've waited ages to get these notes and didn't expect them to be so illegible. Gah.

HOW did you work some of these words out?

@HollowTalk

Blimey, if that person was your partner and wrote you a letter, you wouldn't know whether he/she was writing a love letter or dumping you!

Exactly!

Lucky I wasn't unconscious or delirious that day, I wouldn't have had a clue what happened.

There was a story about someone having the wrong leg amputated in our local hospital, now I can see how it might have happened.

@ExCwmbranDweller impressive! ..'swollen and tender lateral malleolus'

So what summary diagnosis would I put on my summary of records? Was it a ligament injury, sprain, strain?

All I remember is the PAIN! I was weeping & hyperventilating in the busy office at work expecting to vomit everywhere at any point and wishing I could bite on a wooden spoon.

It was a bulbous swollen greeny blue for weeks afterwards & I was amazed it wasn't broken.

There was a story about someone having the wrong leg amputated in our local hospital, now I can see how it might have happened

Ruddy hell!

Who is the record for? Can't you just put 'sprained ankle'? You know it wasn't broken and obviously it wasn't dislocated. It healed itself, didn't it?

@HollowTalk It's for my GP & Rheumatology. I have a history of musculoskeletal injuries from childhood and am now housebound in a wheelchair. I'm doing what no-one else has so far thought of, which is pulling together all my records so that I can be correctly diagnosed and receive appropriate care in the future.

Handwriting is slowing it down, I can't decipher my childhood records either!

Thank you everyone, this has been really useful!

I bloody love Mumsnet! It has helped me diagnose so many personal and family health issues, all of which were then later formally diagnosed!

I would put Severe Sprain with large amount of swelling and considerable bruising for x weeks after the injury. If you want to talk about treatment it was examined and xrayed and other than bandaging and painkillers no other treatment

@RB68 Thanks! Seems obvious when you put it like that

I just wanted to check there wasn't a specific something in my records that was missing from my history.

Oof - hypermobile injuries are nasty - we tend to overstretch rather than snap, so as nice as it is to avoid broken bones, you get the overstretched/ripped tendons, ligaments and damaged tissue which can be equally horrible.

Good luck with the rheumatology. I hope they can connect all the dots and find something helpful for you!

As an aside I would always copy the originals in with any summary in case they can see something us lay folk can't.

I just learnt I have hypermobility in some joints...explains alot over the years....

@UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe & RB68 Hey, some fellow bendies! Thanks for popping up with solidarity & advice. Giraffe you made me feel SO much better about the fuss I made about my ankle!

'Just' a sprain seems so minor & unimportant. However as you know, everything is a spectrum & those with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) or EDS Type 3 can be very disabled. I didn't realise that the faulty collagen issue can cause all sorts of internal issues too. I also have POTS & find it difficult to stand up.

So far, I've been totally dismissed with 'just benign hypermobility' which is turns out if not even a valid diagnosis anymore. I do hope any other bendies reading this are able to access better medical care without having to fight for it like I have.

Ooh yes UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe a RIPPED TENDON would look so much better on my medical history! The pain was definitely on a childbirth level & all I have is 'an ankle sprain' to show for it

RachelGreens I think you could be onto something with the three x-rays there's a dash from the bottom one that looks like it says 'with lateral'. As a radiographer though I have no idea what the top two are and I have a career in reading bad handwriting. He'd have his form sent back if it was like that . Also for putting 'with lateral' because you get that as standard as he should well know. This is why radiographers always ask you about how you injured yourself - makes more sense than the scribble. Computer forms have taken half the fun out of the job.

Ah ExCwmbranDweller thanks for bringing that up, I'd missed @RachelGreensThanksgivingTrifle post about the X-rays. I didn't realise Transactional Analysis was part of an A&E assessment. Does that always happen?

This has been brilliant. I'm one of those people who hates not knowing stuff & needs to know answers. What a day of enlightenment