16 weeks ... let's check the progress!

Today was another follow up and things are going really well with the fracture.  The bone continues to heal well and x-rays show new bone growth which is always what you want to see.  It's hard to see the fracture line in the original x-ray with all of the hardware but I am reminded again of what a terrible location the humerus broke.

the pink line represents the fracture - what a mess!

The Dr. is really happy with the recovering radial nerve.  The wrist continues to get a little stronger each week and now I patiently wait for the fingers to follow!  There was a resident from University of Iowa in the office today so much of my visit was spent educating him about the injury I had and the healing process.  I really like teaching moments because I always learn a little bit more, too.

My surgeon told the resident that he didn't remember the radial nerve showing signs of injury in the ER and the location of the fracture is not indicative of a radial nerve injury so he feels that the multiple surgeries in my arm as a child and scar tissue may have contributed to the trauma on the nerve as it was moved out of the way while they repaired the injury.  We will never know but it is very unusual for this particular fracture.  In fact, I was reading an article that said this type of fracture in adults is very unusual, too.  Like everything else with me -- it's "uncommon."  Shocker.  :)

So, now we try to figure out how to best heal the shoulder.  One MRI with contrast, one more follow up and one cortisone injection ..... never a dull moment!  We will meet and discuss only the shoulder one week from today.