January 1, 2013 - accident at Outback, need advice

Well, decided to start the new year right and go up to get my first turns in of the new year. Light started getting flat and fog rolled in. Went to take a left turn on the cat track just at the bottom of the first pitch of Outback going about 20mph (not too fast considering I've already been up to 57mph on my Super G's this year in training runs), didn't see the berm which launched me into a tree ramming into my upper arm. Thought it was just a bad fall, went through my mental checklist, no gear sale, skis attached, right leg working, left leg working, left arm working, right arm.... nothing, wiggled my fingers, things were working up to my forearm, but when I tried moving from my shoulder, nothing was happening, felt like my upper arm was just not even there. Ski patrol was called, got me splinted and down the mountain (kudos to those guys, they were an awesome crew). Drove myself down to Issaquah Swedish ER. The verdict: Fractured humerus in two places, Proximal break at the surgical neck, oblique fracture at the shaft. Proximal break was in complete alignment, shaft was in very close alignment. Gave me a nice big shot of morphine, put me in a sling, and back home I went (my wife driving of course). My goal: Get back on skis ASAP, whatever it takes. Have a trip set up to go to Whistler the end of March for my 50th birthday. So, the questions:

Does anyone know a really good orthopedic guy they can recommend? Physical therapist? (I saw one that was a referral from ER, actually I only saw his nurse practitioner while he was up front BS'ing with one of the admins, sort of frosted me that he couldn't find time to even come in the examination room, so don't want to go back to him)

Does anyone have first hand experience with a broken humerus, if so how long before you could actually get out there and do some nice and easy cruising?

Just for clarification, unless your appointment was specifically with the Dr., there was no reason for him to see you since you were cared for by the Nurse Practitioner. The real question would then be, were you dissatisfied with the NP? If not, no reason to change care if you have already established yourself as a patient with that office.

I broke my humerus once and was up and running within 2 weeks. Unfortunately that's when I fell out of a window and landed in the lawn flat on my back. My parents took me back to the hospital where they x-rayed me head to toe and found the break in my arm... I was less than 2 at the time and didn't have much to say about it.

I don't really have anything to add but hopefully you'll get a chuckle out of my experience. Good luck with the healing and if it's just bone my experience has been back in action in ~6 weeks. If there is serious soft tissue damage then things may take longer. At least it was an arm and you're still able to walk around.

Fractured my arm in two places, just below the elbow and very near the wrist with two cracked ribs. Nothing as serious as a bad break but still debillitating. Was back mowing my lawn in one week and mobile with not much strength in the arm but could still do ordinary stuff.
I was in my mid 50's then and I would think that with a skiers mind set you could be skiing in three weeks with the mental carefullness to Never Fall.

Hi Kevino,

My appointment was specifically with the doctor, have no problem with a PA handling things if the doc is tied up, running late etc.  The issue in my mind was that he wasn't even busy. He was just sitting out in the front area BS'ing with one of the admins, didn't do so much as introduce himself.  The NP was pretty terse, and didn't provide a whole lot of information. I did go to another orthopedic doctor today (he is one of the orthopedic doctors for the Seahawks) and it was a completely different experience. He explained all the options and explained each giving me his recommendation. He put the arm in what's called a plastic cast which is actually removable and is molded to the arm shape and has tiedowns which can be tightened as the swelling goes down, which then keeps the bones in alignment without worrying about any twisting or torquing when I need to take the sling off, pretty neat and allows me a lot more freedom and comfort in doing just daily tasks. This option was not even discussed with me at the other orthopedic doctor visit. In short, i walked away with a whole lot higher confidence in my situation, and a lot more comfortable. Standard healing time will be six to eight weeks for the bone to heal which would allow me to get back out there. Pretty tempted to get some green runs though before then to get a quick fix.

Just for clarification, unless your appointment was specifically with the Dr., there was no reason for him to see you since you were cared for by the Nurse Practitioner. The real question would then be, were you dissatisfied with the NP? If not, no reason to change care if you have already established yourself as a patient with that office. 

Advice...

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