Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:14 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

   Current status, as reflected in a text I just sent my brother and daughters:

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:11 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     Jeebus Howard Christmas. My wife broke her leg in two places Tuesday in what's called a Maisonneuve fracture, where tension on a ligament breaks both the fibula near the knee AND an ankle bone on the other side. It's fairly common, and requires surgery. AND EVERY ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON SHE'S SPOKEN TO SPECIALIZES ONLY IN KNEES OR ANKLES, AND CAN'T FIX BOTH! So she's spent two days in pain, immobilized, unable to obtain care, just making phone call after phone call without success.

     Tokyo Outsider (337ppm) repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:11 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     Both kids came over last night, thinking they were supporting my wife (who broke her leg in two places last Tuesday and STILL hasn't been able to find an orthopedic surgeon to see her, four days later, and so is just lying in bed making phone calls), and really what the kids wound up doing was relieving me.

     The U.S. needs to nationalize all healthcare now. Not just singlepayer; nationalized DELIVERY. "In network," "yes, we take your Medicare but we're not signed up with your SECONDARY insurance," "our clinic only does ankles, not legs, so you need two surgeries to repair one injury," etc. is not only illogical, but evil.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:12 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     Pro tip: don't step awkardly off a step and suffer a Maissoneuve fracture of the fibula and medial malleolus. My poor wife's leg is immobilized from foot through knee (not TO knee; THROUGH knee). Two months of her summer are gone.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:13 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     Update: Lyricdancer indeed broke her fibula (and maybe more; still waiting) stepping off our back deck onto an uneven surface. But little pain (she declined opiates), and she's mostly (a) worried about whether she can still sail this weekend and (b) happy to have been surrounded by sexy firefighters (her not-even-secret kink).

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:53:13 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     Further update: fractured fibula AND medial malleolus. They're splinting her now so she can ice and elevate for a few days, and then she'll see an orthopedist probably Thursday, and then probably have surgery next week.

   • Embed this notice
     Tokyo Outsider (337ppm) (tokyo_0@mas.to)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 01:54:43 JST Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

     in reply to

     @msbellows This sounds truly awful. How can there be no one who can deal with this injury? What would ER do with someone who comes in with multiple breakages? Just send them home, or not treat them? I really hope she can get the care she needs and deserves soon 🙏🧡

   • Embed this notice
     Tokyo Outsider (337ppm) (tokyo_0@mas.to)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 12:50:47 JST Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

     in reply to

     @msbellows Is it worth contacting someone at the original ER dept to see if there's anyone else they can refer her to? If she's being denied care due to some toxic admin person at the place they're sending people (and business), they might want to know about it. And they have a duty of care to ensure she doesn't fall through a gap following their handoff.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Sunday, 16-Jun-2024 12:50:48 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     • Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

     @tokyo_0 In our case, the ER took excellent care of her, splinted her, and referred her to the on-call orthopedic surgeon, whose billing person said they don't accept her secondary insurance and then, when my wife called back to say the insurer claimed they WERE on their list and had offered to talk to the billing person, just hung up on her.