advice please! not sure what to do with broken wrist- private vs nhs...

[oopsagain]

ok,
just to out this in perspective.
i need my wrist put iin plaster in the next 5-7 days when the swelling has gone down.

This year i have worked on a contract covernign somebody's mat leave at a place i once worked full time..

In the first 2 weeeks of my contract i was off sick due to an eye probelem.
Worked for another 8 weeks, now have had a week off due to swine flu.

I will be going back next monday after teh flu thing,
but the only time they can plaster my wrist is mondya AM.

I just can't face ringing my boss for more time off.
Once it is palc=stered i can do the same job that i was doing with my vision problem- it'll be ok.
But i can't face asking for more time off TBH.

I could take some money out of what we put aside for our holiday to pay for private tx...
do you think they will do sat/sun clinic to plaster my wrist and where can i go... north london?
and how much do you reckon it will cost????

iknow it;s a big ask, but i don't know the first thing re private health tx.

Bit confused. Why is your wrist not already in plaster? When I broke mine, they put it in plaster straight away when I went to casualty.

they said i need to wait for the swelling to go down first.

And it is pretty swollen, i can see that

aghh, thanks for replying, what bit did you break?

I broke the scaffoid bone. Mine was quite swollen too, but they still put it in plaster. It needs to be kept really still so it heals properly. I went to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham where they have a proper fracture clinic. I'd go back to casualty if I were you!

is it in a half cast/back slab at least?
i would be very worried if they saud it was broken and didnt stabilise it then in a and e/plaster room

also do they have to do a risk assessment for you to be in work with a plaster cast or fibre cast on?

it is in a splint to stop the thumb from moving, which seems to make sense.
I went to two casualties yesterday- one near the fun fair at the seaside where i bust it- and one at home where i am registered.

I do think they've followed the correct procedure as far as i know- putting something in plaster when very swollen isn't sensible as the palster needs to be a snug fit- when the swellign goes down then the plaster gets too loose.

and if it swells more, it could get too tight initially.

I was just looking for advice on whther or nto private clinica would do this at the weekend.. and if so - where in london??

I suppoe the risk asessment is correct.
But one of my colleague did the same thing and it was ok- i think he came to work and di alot of the paper worky stuff...

thanks for your help so far- anyone know about norht london?

Even when it's in plaster then you won't be able to use it. Your best bet is to call work and let them know what you've done and take it from there. There isn't alot you can do about it.
They x-ray'd it right? What bone did they say was broken?

Are you keeping it elevated in a sling to help reduce the swelling?

With me, they put a temporary plaster on for one night (probably because of the swelling thing etc) and then they put a proper cast on the next day. Five to seven days sounds like an awful long time to not have it in plaster.

DS had his plastered same day and we had to change it last week as it was getting loose. He was VERY swollen

I wouldn't muck around, if it is your scaphoid (like DS) they can take ages to heal, but vastly improved in plastered straight away.

Don't even know if private clinics have plaster rooms even.

Hope you sort it soon.

Are they 100% sure its a scaphoid fracture, or a suspected one?

bones often not plastered straight away because of swelling.
no idea about the private thingy. would your own fracture clinic do it over the weekend if you begged? if the swelling is down a bit anyway?

It is standard practice to put it ina "backslab" plaster or splint in A&E - as any further swelling can cut off circulation.

It is usual to wait at least 3 days for swelling to go down before putting a "permanent" cast on.

I don't think there is anything wrong with teh protocol at all.

TBH I would just sort it with work and take it on the NHS. Or if you are desperate take it as annual leave/unpaid leave. TBH the cost of a private plaster would probably be the same as/more than the "effective" cost of half a days holiday.

Scaphiods are a PITA, you have to go back for another set of x-rays after 10 days because a fracture doesn't always show up right away. A fracture clinic shouldn't leave a fracture for too long as there's a risk of it setting in the wrong way. It shouldn't make any difference if you are seen privately or not.

thanks again.

I tired to find somebody to plaswter it privately... but obviously i need a consultant appt first and xrays so would end up getting too pricey really.

Lol at the person who thinks i could get the nHS locally to plaster it at weekend around here!

it's monday only i'm afraid.

The deal is that scaphoids are had to diagnoses initially so they trest them all as if broken so they didn't mess up if it was brokena nd not visible on the xrays.

oops did you see my reply on your other thread?

i did giraffes... poor you.
I'm hoping that you get it sortede soon and with least stress.

I suppose sometimes stuff looks straightforward to begin with and then it becomes obvious that it isn't..... ligament damage is hard to assess on xrays... and i know I wouldn't want my hand/wrist maniulated to feel for lig damage

ouch ouch ouch

my wrist is swollen, and the back of may hand.

I have kids hoe from school 1 more day and then a job interview tomorrow that i can't drive to
i'll take off the splint and wear a tubigrip for the interview.
I don't wan them to know that i am poss looking at 2months in plaster until they actually offer me the job!!

and thanks for the input- i have to do the nhs
i can't afford private- they won't just plaster it up and leave it at that- it makes sense but i need a consultant appt at £200 first and then prob re-xrays and stuff.

so my princples remain intact and i will have to have more time off sick from work...

i feel a bit like i'm in a tunnel just now and need to get through each day intact.

i'm breakeing down the day into tasks and timimgs so that kids get what nthey need, i get stuff done i need do etc

also the thing is, the nhs orthopods also do the same private work, so not a better serice, out nhs hospital plasters at weekends and we have fracture clinics at the weekend,
scaphoids breaks dont show up dor 14 days until the bone starts to die and then the fracture can be seen, they should have put it in a backslab and then brought you back in a week for re assessment. even with suspect scaphoid fractures they still plaster and then 2 weeks later take the plaster off to find no breaks, frustrating but better that having a misplaced fracture.