Broken Vertebrae

Thanks for the reply

I have been in non-stop pain ever since I woke up and am worried I've done more damage from yesterday, but unfortunately I get discharged from hospital tomorrow and I don't have another x-ray for 2 weeks. They gave me a hot water bottle yesterday (aka a glove filled with hot water in a pillowcase) which helped but when I had to get up around an hour later so that I could change and brush my teeth etc, the pain was still there.

About lifting and bending, I have been lifting stuff when I've felt able (e.g. When I can actually lift it and it doesn't feel too heavy. Same object- chair, which isn't heavy but my bones say it is sometimes). Bending isn't very painful so I do it when I know I can get up again (also normally wearing the brace).

It is so strange going from being able to do everything to being able to do little I know the fall was my own fault so I feel like I need to push myself and stop feeling sorry for myself but it's hard.

They said the breaks weren't as bad as they thought so I don't know if that means they're almost non-existent fractures or not.

My mams partner fractured his vertebrae a few months back and it took him about 8 weeks to recover, don't be to hard on yourself and forget about trying to do what you used to for now and concentrate on healing, you don't want to never be able to get back to normal I can tell you it is a living hell so please take it from me, to fully recover you really need to listen to your body, don't over do it but keep moving, ice/heat what ever works best for you and don't rush it. A few weeks/months of frustration now is better than a life time of it, your fears are normal and as you heal they will go away 😊

Thankyou I'm fairly young (17) so I'm normally quite active so it's hard to break those habits. I remember on the first day I couldn't move my back at all and had to be log rolled into the ambulance and on both hospital beds, among other things that I couldn't do myself.

You will get back there soon enough, your bones will be strong and heal well hopefully, I understand your frustrations totally and the log rolling.. Ye I had to do that for 7  years after I had a fusion, it was only when I started having cortisone injections in my spine that I could move better, in a few months hopefully you can put it behind you and get back to normal life, I wish you well and a speedy recovery, my mams partner is doing great now so it won't be long for you to😊

I have been trying but unfortunately came out of hospital Monday evening so I’ve had to be more independent. My mum being as caring as she is, is making me do pretty much everything myself. If I drop something, I have to pick it up myself. If I’m lying down and in pain, I still have to get myself up. The only thing she will do for me is holding stuff, and even then after the first day I’ve been holding all my stuff.

I fell down the stairs yesterday after my stepdad left a towel on the stairs. There was no initial pain but about 10 or 20 minutes later it started up again. Not major pain (around 5/10) but more than I had been having (which was around 1/10 or 2/10). Today I’ve been in more pain vs yesterday with little pain. The tablets don’t appear to be making much difference.

One good thing that happened was that I learned how to tighten my brace, which I kept having to hold up while walking because it became looser since I left the hospital (typical!).

Thanks for the advice I got discharged Monday evening (so yesterday). Unfortunately because of this, my mother is making me be a lot more independent than I feel capable of, and I have pulled some muscles (this I’m not sure about, I just have pain in both legs and the pain right at the bottom of my back is getting worse so I fear it’s another broken bone, but unfortunately I have to lie on it. It hurts to sleep on my side too). When I don’t do stuff that she thinks I can do, she calls me lazy so it’s not as simple as just saying I can’t.

I have another X-Ray in a week so I may mention the pain then to see if they can increase the X-Ray area just incase, as I have this niggling thought that I may be right.

That really upsets me a great deal that your mother treats you that way. Unfortunately it happens all the time to a lot of people who have chronic pain. Family members and friends don't believe them. They think they're being lazy. And if you happen to need to be on opiates to control the pain so you can have a life then you're an addict. It just sucks. And I'm sorry that you have this burden to deal with.

Thankyou also I have a question- would you suggest coming off the pain meds (I’ve taken ibuprofen and paracetamol pretty much non-stop for the past two weeks) if the pain isn’t that bad? I’ve taken myself off them but my family are saying that if I’m still in pain that I shouldn’t have. I just feel like I don’t want to become too dependent on them, and if the pain is manageable and better than it was before then why not? 

This was back when I was in hospital I had visitors so the chair next to me was always moved and I always had to move it back so that I could put my brace on it at night (so it’d be in reaching distance, since it was the only safe place I could put the brace).