Always get a second opinion

[John Morgan]

After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on the road: evil of all
evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast put on. After
probing my wrist, the doc told me that it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you
also imagine my anger?

Given: the doctor I saw in the emergency room wasn't a bone specialist. However, you'd think she
could look at the 6 xray pictures of my wrist and tell if it was broken or not. When I first saw the
xrays, I didn't believe it was broken. It took two doctors and a sports medicine "expert" in the
room to convince me that it was.

The good news is... I'll be back on the bike much sooner than I expected. Instead of 8 weeks, I
am predicting 2. The wrist is still bruised from the impact, and stiff from wearing the splint
for a week.

Life lessons learned: Always call the police and get the offender's insurance, just in case. Wear a
helmet, even if it's just a couple blocks away. Always get a second opinion, it can save you time,
money, and hassle.

-John Morgan praising the mtn. bike buddha that I won't miss the cool weather season. **speaking of
which... it was 103 F today... so I haven't missed anything yet**

 

[Shaun Rimmer]

"John Morgan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4lqlb.72510$vj2.2703@fed1read06...
> After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on
the
> road: evil of all evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast
> put on. After probing my wrist, the doc told me
that
> it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you also imagine
my
> anger?

Yup!

I've had it the other way around, these stoopit medical types telling me "Nope - it ain't broken,
you'd know about it if it was.", Me telling them "Well, I'm telling you I know about it!". Of
course, there was a break on each occasion, because I am clever ',;~}~

> Given: the doctor I saw in the emergency room wasn't a bone specialist. However, you'd think she
> could look at the 6 xray pictures of my wrist and tell if it was broken or not. When I first saw
> the xrays, I didn't
believe
> it was broken. It took two doctors and a sports medicine "expert" in the room to convince me
> that it was.

Huh, typical!

> The good news is... I'll be back on the bike much sooner than I expected. Instead of 8 weeks, I am
> predicting 2. The wrist is still bruised from
the
> impact, and stiff from wearing the splint for a week.

Work that suckah! ',;~}~

> Life lessons learned: Always call the police and get the offender's insurance, just in case. Wear
> a helmet, even if it's just a couple blocks away. Always get a second opinion, it can save you
> time, money, and
hassle.

Well, I always have a second opinion as soon as I see the first doc, my opinion being the first
one ',;~}~

(Know your mind, know your body! Heheheheh......)

> -John Morgan praising the mtn. bike buddha that I won't miss the cool weather season. **speaking
> of which... it was 103 F today... so I haven't missed anything yet**

Oooooo, toasty!

Good to hear it ain't all busted John!

Shaun aRe

 

[Jon Bond]

"John Morgan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4lqlb.72510$vj2.2703@fed1read06...
> After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on
the
> road: evil of all evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast
> put on. After probing my wrist, the doc told me
that
> it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you also imagine
my
> anger?
>
> Given: the doctor I saw in the emergency room wasn't a bone specialist. However, you'd think she
> could look at the 6 xray pictures of my wrist and tell if it was broken or not. When I first saw
> the xrays, I didn't
believe
> it was broken. It took two doctors and a sports medicine "expert" in the room to convince me
> that it was.
>
> The good news is... I'll be back on the bike much sooner than I expected. Instead of 8 weeks, I am
> predicting 2. The wrist is still bruised from
the
> impact, and stiff from wearing the splint for a week.
>
> Life lessons learned: Always call the police and get the offender's insurance, just in case. Wear
> a helmet, even if it's just a couple blocks away. Always get a second opinion, it can save you
> time, money, and
hassle.
>
> -John Morgan praising the mtn. bike buddha that I won't miss the cool weather season. **speaking
> of which... it was 103 F today... so I haven't missed anything yet**

Hmm, you might want to get a 3rd opinion. My dad's pointed out all my cracked, fractured, and
seperated bones and whatnot for me, and sometimes docs really have to guess. Xrays are great, but
they're not perfect - sometimes you'll only be able to see the fracture from one very specific
angle, and if the Xray tech isn't good, or they're looking for the wrong thing, it can be easily
missed. Especially in a joint as complicated as the wrist! Now, if you fractured your femur in the
middle somewhere, that'd be a hard one to miss. (Note: this also means doctors might say its broken
when they only have a very strong suspicion, but the xrays are inconclusive)

Either way, baby that wrist. Ice a lot, and so on. If it still hurts when the doc said it should be
ok, have him take a look at it again. Heal up quickly, and here's hoping the 2nd opinion was right!

Jon "the MD passes down through genes, right?" Bond

 

[Stephen Baker]

Jon Bond says:

>Jon "the MD passes down through genes, right?" Bond

Probably. ;-) I married into a medical family (two doctors, two nurses) and the over-riding
impression at first was that their lunch-time conversations were _much_ more interesting than
everyone else's, as long as you had a strong stomach. ;-P```

Steve

 

[Paladin]

"John Morgan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<4lqlb.72510$vj2.2703@fed1read06>...
> After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on the road: evil of all
> evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast put on. After
> probing my wrist, the doc told me that it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you
> also imagine my anger?

> -John Morgan praising the mtn. bike buddha that I won't miss the cool weather season. **speaking
> of which... it was 103 F today... so I haven't missed anything yet**

Good news!

Paladin

 

[Raptor]

Jon Bond wrote:
> Hmm, you might want to get a 3rd opinion. My dad's pointed out all my cracked, fractured, and
> seperated bones and whatnot for me, and sometimes docs really have to guess. Xrays are great, but
> they're not perfect - sometimes you'll only be able to see the fracture from one very specific
> angle, and if the Xray tech isn't good, or they're looking for the wrong thing, it can be easily
> missed. Especially in a joint as complicated as the wrist! Now, if you fractured your femur in the
> middle somewhere, that'd be a hard one to miss. (Note: this also means doctors might say its
> broken when they only have a very strong suspicion, but the xrays are inconclusive)

I'm still bugged by an ankle injury that happened in July. X-ray'd, the sports doc diagnosed a high
ankle sprain and said it might well be annoying for a long time, bone bruises heal slowly, etc.

I don't know what a high ankle sprain really feels like, but it felt real bad when it happened,
electric pain shooting up my leg to almost knee level as I planted from a wild jump shot (that I
made. I can really use the joint now, but it's got good and bad days.

One wonders if a fracture or torn ligament would behave any differently.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[Jd]

"John Morgan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<4lqlb.72510$vj2.2703@fed1read06>...
> After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on the road: evil of all
> evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast put on. After
> probing my wrist, the doc told me that it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you
> also imagine my anger?

Now go ride your bike.

JD

 

[Shaun Rimmer]

"Raptor" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> I'm still bugged by an ankle injury that happened in July. X-ray'd, the sports doc diagnosed a
> high ankle sprain and said it might well be annoying for a long time, bone bruises heal
> slowly, etc.
>
> I don't know what a high ankle sprain really feels like, but it felt real bad when it happened,
> electric pain shooting up my leg to almost knee level as I planted from a wild jump shot (that I
> made. I can really use the joint now, but it's got good and bad days.
>
> One wonders if a fracture or torn ligament would behave any differently.

Sprains in ankles can quite often cause morepain, and for longer, than a fracture would, or so I've
been told many, many times over the 16 or so years I've had problems with mine.

Shaun aRe

 

[Slacker]

> After breaking my wrist last week in a car/bicycle crash (see: Biking on
the
> road: evil of all evils), I signed myself up for a visit to the orthopedic surgeon to have a cast
> put on. After probing my wrist, the doc told me
that
> it's not broken! Imagine my joy upon hearing this! Can you also imagine
my
> anger?
>
> -John Morgan

Last time I asked for a 2nd opinion I found myself on a table, pants around my knees, in the fetal
position and a doctor with a well lubed latex glove approaching me.

"What the hell!!! Is this the insurance company's way of discouraging 2nd opinion requests because
it's very effective," I said.

Real nice... ask for a 2nd and get screwed... never again!
--
Slacker - glad to hear you're doing better though

 

[Sorni]

"Slacker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Last time I asked for a 2nd opinion I found myself on a table, pants
around
> my knees, in the fetal position and a doctor with a well lubed latex glove approaching me.

And that was for a SORE THROAT!!!

{Thankyou...Thankyouverymuch.}

Bill "just found out I've got some thyroid issues (hopefully explaining fatigue last...oh, two
years)" S.

 

[Slacker]

> "Slacker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > Last time I asked for a 2nd opinion I found myself on a table, pants
> around
> > my knees, in the fetal position and a doctor with a well lubed latex
glove
> > approaching me.
>
> And that was for a SORE THROAT!!!
>
> {Thankyou...Thankyouverymuch.}

ROTFL (but really crying inside)

> Bill "just found out I've got some thyroid issues (hopefully explaining fatigue last...oh, two
> years)" S.

And I just thought it was all that pot you've been ingesting! {Thank YOU very much!}
--
Slacker

 

[Sorni]

"Slacker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > "Slacker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > >
> > > Last time I asked for a 2nd opinion I found myself on a table, pants
> > around
> > > my knees, in the fetal position and a doctor with a well lubed latex
> glove
> > > approaching me.
> >
> > And that was for a SORE THROAT!!!
> >
> > {Thankyou...Thankyouverymuch.}
>
> ROTFL (but really crying inside)
>
> > Bill "just found out I've got some thyroid issues (hopefully explaining fatigue last...oh, two
> > years)" S.
>
>
> And I just thought it was all that pot you've been ingesting! {Thank YOU very much!}

None since '82. (Except when I'm downwind of Chip who shall remain nameless ;-)

Bill "won't ask YOU {cough-cough}" S.