# broke my wrist



## Treetom (Jun 9, 2009)

6-foot dbh red oak, split into two trunks at about 6-foot, i'm free-climbing to around 15-foot or so on one trunk, so i could set my wire core lanyard, stepped on a questionable limb so i could take my next step (stepped close to trunk thinking it would hold)- it did not hold: landed on both knees, both hands, head smacked the ground. now typing with one hand. the first thing i heard from the other climber was: "ryan, bring the bigshot." he must have figured it'd be best to set a climbing line before scaling the other trunk. Treetom- in pain, feeling dumb, humbled and grateful: the 200t didn't even get scratched.


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## tree MDS (Jun 9, 2009)

Sorry to hear that Tom.

Good on you for posting it, I'm sure alot of people on here could benifit from it. I always tell anyone I see climbing even a short distance without a lanyard to put it on - for just that very reason.

Hope it heals well and soon man!


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## Treetom (Jun 9, 2009)

thanks, mds. the crew is still on job, finishing up. ryan is all geeked up, just set the climbing line on the first shot with the bigshot.


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## masiman (Jun 9, 2009)

Treetom said:


> 6-foot dbh red oak, split into two trunks at about 6-foot, i'm free-climbing to around 15-foot or so on one trunk, so i could set my wire core lanyard, stepped on a questionable limb so i could take my next step (stepped close to trunk thinking it would hold)- it did not hold: landed on both knees, both hands, head smacked the ground. now typing with one hand. the first thing i heard from the other climber was: "ryan, bring the bigshot." he must have figured it'd be best to set a climbing line before scaling the other trunk. Treetom- in pain, feeling dumb, humbled and grateful: the 200t didn't even get scratched.



Thanks for posting. I sincerely hope you heal fully and quickly.

Thanks for reminding all of us to only free climb as high as you are willing to fall.


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## oldirty (Jun 9, 2009)

glad to hear about the saw but not so about the wrist. heal up man.


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## Blakesmaster (Jun 9, 2009)

That sucks, man. Hope you heal soon.


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## Adkpk (Jun 9, 2009)

Bummer man, get well soon.


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## Treetom (Jun 9, 2009)

masiman said:


> Thanks for posting. I sincerely hope you heal fully and quickly.
> 
> Thanks for reminding all of us to only free climb as high as you are willing to fall.



i just got all the "willingness" knocked out of me masiman.


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## gilraine (Jun 10, 2009)

any accident that your are alive to feel dumb about is a good one, especially in your business..


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## ropensaddle (Jun 10, 2009)

I have broken mine from my early days not tree related and now they hurt it stinks as you start to season imo. I sometimes get a pain and remember oh yeah that was the time I tried to jump that ditch on the Elsinore and think I was stupid lol. Get better pard


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## Bigus Termitius (Jun 10, 2009)

ropensaddle said:


> I have broken mine from my early days not tree related and now they hurt it stinks as you start to season imo. I sometimes get a pain and remember oh yeah that was the time I tried to jump that ditch on the Elsinore and think I was stupid lol. Get better pard



LOL! I wish I could point to a specific time. I was 10 foot tall and bulletproof( often 90 proof) well into my twenties.

Now, I'm losing count of all the bulletholes I never knew were there.

Get better Treetom, sure glade it was only a wrist. 

Are you just sitting in a cast waiting for it to heal? I might be able to suggest somethings to speed things up, but I'll have to wait till my much better half gets home.


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## masiman (Jun 10, 2009)

Treetom said:


> i just got all the "willingness" knocked out of me masiman.



 We're never too old to learn


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## outofmytree (Jun 10, 2009)

Everyone makes stupid mistakes at some time or another, I know I have. Posting them in a peer based forum takes guts.

Get well soon.

Billy Joel "You learn more from your accidents than anything you can ever learn from school".


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## Treetom (Jun 10, 2009)

"Are you just sitting in a cast waiting for it to heal? I might be able to suggest somethings to speed things up, but I'll have to wait till my much better halve gets home?" 

thanks, Bigus, i have a soft cast for now. tomorrow it's off to the ortho...ortha.. bone doctor, surgery most likely. for now it's ice, elevation, and opiates. my better half broke her wrist last winter on a wednesday, surgery on friday. healed up relly quick. hoping for the same. in the meantime, i can operate the crane, giving the new climber a chance to ride the ball. 
__________________


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## pdqdl (Jun 10, 2009)

Be sure to let us know what bones you broke. Some are much worse than others.

I broke my elbow twice when I was 15; after two surgeries, I have a permanent pin now. It never causes me any problems. Other fractures: not so lucky.


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## Treetom (Jun 11, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> Be sure to let us know what bones you broke. Some are much worse than others.
> 
> the left radius was broken lengthwise in two places at the end toward the hand, some small bits and pieces also shattered on impact. catscan tomorrow will reveal more. surgery scheduled for next thursday. expected recovery time of three months. work safe, everyone.


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## pdqdl (Jun 11, 2009)

Are they plating it, wiring it together, or pinning it? 

You might be lucky, in that your injury does not involve too much "joint". The articulating surfaces of joints (the parts that rub) are much more inclined towards arthritis. The radius definately participates in the joint of your wrist, let's hope your fracture is well behind that.

I had what is called a "parchutist's fracture" of my ankle in 1981. Essentially, my foot bones were driven between my two leg bones like a wedge, and all the ligaments that hold the tibia and fibula together were ruptured. I have pretty bad arthritis in that ankle now; it is useless to consider walking on all day.

I can see how you might have a similar fracture in your wrist. If that is the case, you should expect problems with flexibility and post-injury arthritis. Although my ankle hurts like heck, it is plenty strong enough.

Follow your therapy instructions carefully. After the immobility of a fracture, surgery, and healing time, you will loose all flexibility in your joints. Restoring that flexibility soon is imperative to your long range healing of the injury. BTW, physical therapy is can be far, far more painful than the initial injury or the surgery. 


And take longer too...


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## Treetom (Jun 11, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> Are they plating it, wiring it together, or pinning it?
> 
> BTW, physical therapy is can be far, far more painful than the initial injury or the surgery.
> 
> And take longer too...



doc says he'll be putting a plate in. sounds like we have similar injuries at opposite ends of our bodies. how did you get the "parachute injury"? as i mentioned earlier, my better half fell on the ice last winter and had a similar wrist injury (with metal plate repair) with a very short (a few weeks) recovery period. hoping for the same.


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## pdqdl (Jun 11, 2009)

Motorcycle wreck; foot first into a curb at about 50 mph. Did really bad things to my foot and my back. Funny thing is: if the curb hadn't been there, I would have gotten out without a scratch. I was real good at controlling slides. If I had bounced and tumbled on the ground like most folks do, I would probably have been scuffed up like crazy, but not broken up so bad.

Stupidity, going WAY too fast.


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## pdqdl (Jun 11, 2009)

Did the doctors say anything about immobilizing your wrist by pinning or screwing the radius to the ulna? They pull the pin/screws out later. That is what they did to my ankle to make sure that all the damaged ligaments could knit together again without any movement. 

If it is as simple as plating the cracked up bone back together, it sounds like you didn't tear up the wrist joint itself. That would be a good thing.


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## tree md (Jun 11, 2009)

Get well soon Tom!

I climbed with a guy when I was in my 20's who worked at the same place I did and he got paralyzed from only a 10' fall. He was free climbing up a spar because it was too big to get his lanyard around. He was 22. I used to free climb but I have always set a line after that.


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## Treetom (Jun 11, 2009)

tree md said:


> Get well soon Tom!
> 
> I climbed with a guy when I was in my 20's who worked at the same place I did and he got paralyzed from only a 10' fall. He was free climbing up a spar because it was too big to get his lanyard around. He was 22. I used to free climb but I have always set a line after that.



thanks, tree md. i'm one of lucky ones. 

pdql, i'm not sure of the reasoning behind the steel plate. (you're lucky to have a foot.)


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## Mikecutstrees (Jun 11, 2009)

Get well soon.... glad you have some good painkillers!


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## outofmytree (Jun 12, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> Did the doctors say anything about immobilizing your wrist by pinning or screwing the radius to the ulna? They pull the pin/screws out later. That is what they did to my ankle to make sure that all the damaged ligaments could knit together again without any movement.
> 
> If it is as simple as plating the cracked up bone back together, it sounds like you didn't tear up the wrist joint itself. That would be a good thing.



:jawdrop: They pinned your wrist to your ankle to help you?? What would they do to hurt you!?!


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## pdqdl (Jun 12, 2009)

outofmytree said:


> :jawdrop: They pinned your wrist to your ankle to help you?? What would they do to hurt you!?!



_That's good. I needed a morning chuckle._

Each of our four limbs has two long bones in the second section away from our body. One of those bones is mostly load bearing, and the other rotates around the other bone so that we can twist our hand or foot.

In the forearm that is the ulna and radius, in the lower leg that is the tibia and fibula. There are circular ligaments that hold those two bones together, so that the bones in your wrist and ankle have something to ride on. If they are torn, the two bones separate from each other, and you have no support for your wrist or ankle.

The doctors might fix those ligaments by nailing the two bones together (replacing the function of the ligaments) until it all heals; no rotation of foot or ankle is possible for a while. Then they take out the screw, rotation is restored. 

Presto chango! You are as good as new! Well...not really. But as good as can be expected.


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## outofmytree (Jun 12, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> _That's good. I needed a morning chuckle._




Glad to be of srvice..


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## Treetom (Jun 29, 2009)

always tie in. even a short fall can be costly.


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## pdqdl (Jul 1, 2009)

That looks pretty bad. 

Did the doctors mention any need to bind the radius to the ulna or keep the wrist wrapped tight? That looks like a large gap between the two bones in the second view. See how the ulna sort of sticks out to the left of the other wrist bones? 

My ankle was like that too, only much worse. The small triangular wedges knocked off the ends of the radius suggest a massive force to the end of the bone, when all the points in contact with your carpel bones got the worst part of your landing. Came down on your hand, eh?

Unless I am mistaken, that suggests a lot of torn ligaments and a VERY sore wrist. You had better hope that wrists heal better than ankles do, 'cause I don't get much benefit out of my ankle anymore.

Follow the therapy guidelines pretty closely!

BTW: I used to work in the radiology department at the local hospital as a film librarian. I never got any training in radiology, but I sure picked up a lot of knowledge on the topic.


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## Treetom (Jul 1, 2009)

pdql, thanks for the interpretation of the xrays. you're quite knowledgable. yes, i came down on my hand. i see the ulna gap you pointed out. the doc mentioned an initial displacement in that area but is pleased with the re-alignment. it must have been way out of place before. my arm and hand are wrapped in a cast for 3 more weeks. cannot bend at the wrist, yet. thanks for your advice on therapy. and work safe.


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## tree md (Jul 1, 2009)

Consider yourself lucky my friend. I had to bail at less than 20' onetime and fractured my heel. Couldn't walk for a year without the aid of a cane. I learned a lesson on that one.


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## Treetom (Jul 1, 2009)

:agree2: thanks, bro'. i do consider myself lucky.


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## Toddppm (Jul 2, 2009)

Thanks for the reminder to tie in first!


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## Treetom (Jul 3, 2009)

Toddppm said:


> Thanks for the reminder to tie in first!



toddppm, my pain is your gain. work safe. btw,
wut does the ppm stand for?


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## Toddppm (Jul 3, 2009)

That stands for my company name Professional Property Maintenance.


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## Treetom (Jul 4, 2009)

that has a nice ring to it. happy fourth of july. enjoy your weekend, todd.


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