early Arthur

noeltone

I mentioned on another thread of the black thoughts and my black days when I remember what I put up with with arthur early in my teens so I thought I wold bore I mean share some of those experiences whilst getting tehm off nmy chest as someone on here suggested.


Part One

On the fall itself I have little recall I only know it was from a tree some twenty feet up and I was with my brothers and they laughed as I lay in pain on the stone path. Arthur began after that when I was about 13. One moment I was up this tree and the next I was lying in a heap on landing and when I tried to moved there flared in my spine, right hip and right leg a pain such as I had never experienced then but have since and a pain I never thought possible to own. Even as I lay there, nauseous, unwilling to attempt the smallest movement lest it was to bring on even more pain, I was perfectly aware of what had happened as I looked up at the high branches, I knew what had happened until I blacked out. My brothers had forced me to see how high I could climb up that tall tree. I was given or rather my step parents were presented with a report of what had happened by the medics, I have it now, this was a report which provided an intimate and clear picture of the pathology complaint that had affected my body. It states that 'it was really quite clear that after a fall like the one I had suffered had resulted in an impact which had left the neck of the femur rightly fractured' I had broken my right hip and a rib and I was breathless but of course Arthur liked this as he came into his element inflaming and racking my body as he began his long association with me.

I suppose I must have passed out again as I was removed from under the tree as I had a dim awareness of distant voices and being loaded on to a stretcher amidst much cursing about the geography of my fall as I was carried by some quite irritable and breathless medics downhill and up a steep incline and through a boggy mire,branches were swishing about and whipping their faces as I rolled in and out of awareness and everything that jarred my body had me waking and crying out with the pain. It wasn’t until I was in a hospital bed that someone decided that it was alright for a boy to have a shot of morphia and after that shot I relaxed and then mercifully---nothing. The last thought I think I had as the needle went in was the phrase ‘pin and traction for you my boy.’

My notes stated that 'a broken hip is pretty straightforward it needs to be opened up and the operation of dissecting away the muscle and the banging in of a steel pin must begin pronto' and Bob’s your uncle well I did have an uncle called Bob so this action must be the right one to have been taken. This procedure was called a Smith- Peterson and it held the broken ends together and was carrie dout in other joints. During cold weather or when I’m tired or if I’ve been on my feet too long or overdoing it it’ll produce added inflammation in the femuro-pelvic joint where the neck of the thighbone fits into the pelvis then it hurts like the devil and that’s when I need soothing by the action of a mouthful of tablets or a shot of morphia in order to keep me insane and more cheerful and with this I well and truly know I have Arthur as unpleasant company.

vonski

Hi

What can I say but ouch. You have proved that bone injuries do cause arthur but you were so young.

Hope you are OK.

Love
Vonski x

joanlawson

Hi Chrisov

That was a horrible experience when you were so young. You have written about it in your usual vivid style, so I felt as though I was with you falling out of that tree. Thank goodness I wasn't though! What a lot of pain you have had to put up with since then. It is no wonder that it gets you down sometimes.

I hope you are feeling reasonably OK at the moment. I have just seen the weather forecast for next week, and the sun is going to shine at last, so they said. I hope they are right so you get some warmth to help your joints ( and mine!)

All the best

Joan

debatat

Hi Cris, thank you for sharing your experience. It must have been terrifying and had such an impact on your life. I enjoyed your extremely well written account. I am looking forward to the next installment. It must have been so very hard for you, the teens are a tough age anyway without any extra burdens. I can imagine well the cause of your black periods, you have my empathy. Thinking of you.

Deb x

woodbon

Hi, what a writter you are; I'm almost tempted to say you've missed your calling, but that sounds silly and patronizing. Seriously do you or have you ever thought of being a writter?

Your story sounds a frightening one; about how a few seconds can change the course of our lives. Just one slip...Gosh, what a hard world we live in.

Thank you for allowing us to share that vital and intimate time with you. Take care. Love Sue

sharmaine

Hi Noel
It's interesting that your terrible fall and injuries resulted in arthur.

I suppose a survey of people with OA would be a good start to obtain stats on this. Some of the questions could be. Did you have a major accident as a teenager - explain injuries sustained? Did you have any medical implants (cancer patients have these as do women have endometrial ablations - to stop heavy menstration); broken bones etc.

I wonder if GPs have the time these days to make the link with their patients of childhood accidents/fractured limbs to Arthur? Perhaps its the patient that needs to fill in a questionnaire?

Take care and I hope you have a pain free week.

Sharmaine

noeltone wrote:

I mentioned on another thread of the black thoughts and my black days when I remember what I put up with with arthur early in my teens so I thought I wold bore I mean share some of those experiences whilst getting tehm off nmy chest as someone on here suggested.

[TEXT DELETED]

[Please avoid quoting long messages as this can make the page difficult for some people to read - Moderator (T)]

frogmorton

Hi Chrisov
I know that it isn't the happiest topic, but I really do enjoy yout writing.
It is so 'readable'.
That poor little boy - fair brougt tears to my eyes to think of him (having 2x14yr olds and one 11 yr old myself.)
Will there be a part 2?
I hope so
Take care
Toni x

kathbee

Hi Chrisov

I always like to read your stories, but
this one is alarming as you dont expect
childhood falls albeit a real bad one to cause
the onset of arthritis.

But thanks for telling us about it.

Hope you are having a decent day.

Kath xx

woodbon

sharmaine wrote:

Hi Noel
It's interesting that your terrible fall and injuries resulted in arthur.

I suppose a survey of people with OA would be a good start to obtain stats on this. Some of the questions could be. Did you have a major accident as a teenager - explain injuries sustained? Did you have any medical implants (cancer patients have these as do women have endometrial ablations - to stop heavy menstration); broken bones etc.

I wonder if GPs have the time these days to make the link with their patients of childhood accidents/fractured limbs to Arthur? Perhaps its the patient that needs to fill in a questionnaire?

Take care and I hope you have a pain free week.

noeltone wrote:

I mentioned on another thread of the black thoughts and my black days when I remember what I put up with with arthur early in my teens so I thought I wold bore I mean share some of those experiences whilst getting tehm off nmy chest as someone on here suggested.

[TEXT DELETED]

[Please avoid quoting long messages as this can make the page difficult for some people to read - Moderator (T)]

I suppose it might be too much for the average GP, especially at the moment, with the flu' outbreak. Science and statistians come work and learn as students in local collages and universities, maybe someone could take that angle with say a rheummy dept. It could be an interesting project for someones studies. Especially if they had arther. Sue

noeltone

Hi all i did intend to write some more about early arthur have loads of thoughs on the wherewithal of why i personally got arthur etc but I realise this writing is not for everyone as some mods feedback cutting texts and some say it is all doom and gloom and that i annoy some on here as in the past so will not write until i get some feed back im often asked about how i got arthur and i think our own experiences should be known as the doctors etc have not the time to analysise our life events, a questionnaire would be good idea?

noeltone

To carry on with my early experiences of arthur and especially relevant given my recent nhs ops and thank goodness the nhs has improved with its day procedure units and open wards etc.

After that fall in my youth my hospitilastion continued as i was admitted to a surgical ward witn an attending physician. It was a Nightingale ward with 15 beds down either side of a long high celinged white washed distempered room and the colouring was engrossed with nicotine stains as lots of staff exspecially the male doctors smoked then and my attending physician smoked a pipe. Each patient had their own fever chart attached to a clipboard and this dangled from a hook at the foot of ones bed. The floors were parquet and were an early form of todays minimalist melamine wood floors without any carpets and the floors sqeaked and the end walls of this ward as similar to all the wards in the hospital were painted pale green up to shoulder height with the standard white come nicotine above this level and there were three large windows down each wall with potted plants of varying kinds on the window sills and these were watered by the very junior nurse.

The smell of antiseptic permeated through everything. It was a busy place with pateints shuffling about in dressing gowns, being wheeled off for this test or that and nurses would be running up and down and there would be wards rounds morning and evening and all the beds would be moved around daily so the floor areas under them could be cleaned thoroughly with a feroucious matron overseeing such an operation i think there might be lessons to be learnt regarding this cleaning in todays hospitals dust and do quick flick here and there but the moving off beds would be a massive underttaking today and one most managers would not sanction because of the costs involved but i know some nurses would like to do this to stop bugs and to clean up isolation wards and recent outbreaks etc and some matrons ahve returned

A Mr. MCCALL who i was under would would move from bed to bed with Sister and twice a week grand rounds would occur with Cousins the main man of the hospital himself and before his visits much more cleaning would go on. This place was frightening to a young boy and I would especially dread Mc Call and Cushions footsteps as they came clattering around the ward from their senior common room

eckstardeluxe

Hi there

What a heartfelt story to share with us. Your memories have remained with you all this time.

I know this is a different side to things posted but when you had your accident, did they ever when you were being treated tell you that you'd get arthur or be monitored for it, ie scans through your life?

I only ask as I caught MRSA at 12 during a routine kidney OP, I got Spinal Osteomyelitis and an Epidural abscess. I am now in the proceeds of a medical negligence claim against the NHS as was never warned this would cause arthritis. Like you mines started back then, I only found out in January, 21 years later!

Like you I have had dark days throughout my life, I never realised what this burden was until I went for counselling and accessed my medical notes. Very cathartic but also very distressing at the same time, having found letters admitting my case being filed for three years after the Consultant recommended close follow up.

It is a very hard thing to take on, but it has given me a positive outlook on things. I just ask as it may be you have a case also. What you have written pulled on my heartstrings as like you I was at a similar age when I was in this place all alone and the experiences I had, I am sorry but I cannot share, they are in my claim notes but seriously you all would find them horrific. The mental damage caused is all in the loss side of things, you wouldn't believe what they want as losses - every car journey my parents made or I made to Hospital, mental stress to me and my family, all the sick days I had taken when not paid for them, reducing my hours losing income, even going right back to the 5 mattressess, bedding, plastic sheets and even a carpet my mother went through (my kidney reflux progressing to grade 5, sadly I discovered in January was due to delay in diagnosis, meaning I'd have never needed the kidney op in the first place) the list is endless. And someone agrees with you that someone needs to be held accountable, that feeling is wonderful.

take care

Eck xxxx

nick55

I say 'enjoy' the dark days, and the depression, but when you get sick of them make a cup of tea and remember the sun does shine!!!! and there is always someone to say a few kind words to somewhere.
and the world for all the ravages caused by humanity is a very beautiful place. even when arthur ritis is bad one can still have a sense of humor, and even in winter when just getting out of the chair, makes us wince, and i did my share last winter, one can still laugh about it-- can't we???

best wishes,

Nick

woodbon

I don't know about Christov, but in the days of my youth, MRSA didn't exist. It came from the overuse and unfinished courses of antibiotics, the germs changed their structure so that they were not harmed by the anti biotics, thats a very simple way of putting it, I think its more complex :shock: I'm only 54, but until my teens even simple scanning hadn't been invented. I worked with one of the people who started the use of MRI scans in clinical diagnosis, his name was George Radda, now Sir George! CT was an earlier type of scan but only a few years! The first clinical whole body MRI machine in Oxford was opened by Princess Diana in 1989 or early 1990s cannot remember exactly and the only people to get a to have an appointment were very ill and neuro cases they had to wait about 1 YEAR for an appointment. This is as I remember things then. Medicine has changed and is changing with such speed these days, its hard to keep track of things. Sorry to go on Christov I'm takinging over your very good thread. Appologies.
Love Sue

eckstardeluxe

woodbon wrote:

I don't know about Christov, but in the days of my youth, MRSA didn't exist. It came from the overuse and unfinished courses of antibiotics, the germs changed their structure so that they were not harmed by the anti biotics, thats a very simple way of putting it, I think its more complex :shock: I'm only 54, but until my teens even simple scanning hadn't been invented. I worked with one of the people who started the use of MRI scans in clinical diagnosis, his name was George Radda, now Sir George! CT was an earlier type of scan but only a few years! The first clinical whole body MRI machine in Oxford was opened by Princess Diana in 1989 or early 1990s cannot remember exactly and the only people to get a to have an appointment were very ill and neuro cases they had to wait about 1 YEAR for an appointment. This is as I remember things then. Medicine has changed and is changing with such speed these days, its hard to keep track of things. Sorry to go on Christov I'm takinging over your very good thread. Appologies.
Love Sue

You make very fair points though Sue. Although I'm sure Christov wouldn't have MRSA, it is possible they never mentioned to him he might get arthritis and I only know now having taken the action I have, that is considered delay in diagnosis and negligence.

(Sorry Christov, off topic part) Back in 1988, they never called it MRSA, just plain old Stapphylococcus Aureus (what a mouthful) only after accessing my notes did I see biopsy reports showing what the bug was resistant to, similar studies now, show it would have been classed today as MRSA.

I informed a man at work who'd been in a car accident twenty years ago who suffered horrific injuries and now has arthur what I was doing legally. He has just started his case. There is a 3 year Statute of Limitations BUT if you have a new disorder you have become aware of in this 3 years ie arthritis because of what happened before, the law allows the Statute to be overlooked.

Sorry Christov if that is not really the support you were looking for, but I just wanted to let you know, these bad things that came from your accident. You are not to blame for them, it wasn't your fault.

noeltone

Hi nick55 regarding your words why should i enjoy my dark days, and the depression and it is not something i get sick off those days are not something to be discarded when fed up with them well not for me anyway i dont find making a cup of tea and remember the sun does shine helps me most times unfortunanlty i just cant snap out of it i wish i could

eckstardeluxe

noeltone wrote:

Hi nick55 regarding your words why should i enjoy my dark days, and the depression and it is not something i get sick off those days are not something to be discarded when fed up with them well not for me anyway i dont find making a cup of tea and remember the sun does shine helps me most times unfortunanlty i just cant snap out of it i wish i could

Christov. Re the history thing. I had PTSD after the birth of my daughter just over three years ago. The birth was extremely traumatic (can't believe now I was in the advanced stages of arthur & had ten hours of back labour!)

Afterwards I began to suffer nightmares and flashbacks of thing that occured years ago in the Hospital. I even thought I was going mad as these thoughts seemed new to me as if I'd made them up. I spoke to my Dr as by then was feeling suicidal & was obsessed with crashing my car. I was sent immediately for counselling, but when I mentioned the nightmares etc I was sent for Hypnotherapy. I realised these things had happened & my therapist helped me to deal with these even putting positive images into my memories, even now I can't remember them from before she did that. I felt very frightened but she was with me all the time and helped me through.

Maybe this is something you might consider. I know the thought of it is terrifying but it really helped me. I had been seen by child psychiatrists the works after being in Hospital, none finding what was wrong. I spent 15 years of darkness until I met the lady who unlocked these horrible things & helped me come to terms with my anger & depression.

Maybe worth a go.

Eck xx

bertyboy

thank you for sharing your experience it makes interesting reading and made me think about past episodes in my own life re accidents big or small that just might have invited Arther into my life ,its to late to worry about it now for me he is a part of my life now as for depression its not easy its not a thing to be joyful about you cant put a plaster on it and get it signed by family and friends its buried deep and most days only the one that suffer know how it feels , so if i make a cup-per i make it because i want one not for a magical pic me up

noeltone

Hi eck yes they did tell me I had juvenile arthur at that time as I had lots of inflammations and joint probs. and I never got anything like MRSA at that time although I did get a bug after being in hospital and ended up in an Isolation Ward but that was in the ealry 2000s and I had a car accisdnet as well 1998 and did get compensation alkthough they try to say these things are possibly connected insted of probably when it comes to medical negligence but I hope you are succesful and get it backdated.

I have tried lots of counselling and reliving my youth and its horrors on both medical and personl terms but it has not worked for me in allieviating the pain and trauma which gives me black moods but Fay said it might be cathartic to write about it on here so I feel able to do that and I will write some more about those dark days in my teens. when I felt so much alone and still do today unfort and with those feelings I just cant switch off from unfortunatly like some seem to be able to do I wish I could all the best and thanks for your words Chrisov

frogmorton

Hi Chrisov
sorry I hadn't seen the 'new' bit till today (have been having migraine(s) since sta!
I just wanted to say I am enjoying it very much. You do write really well and it is easy to picture the ward clearly.
Please do continue if you can. I for one want to hear more.
Thanks
Toni x

debatat

Hi, thank you for sharing more of your experiences. I enjoyed reading it, you do write so well. I hope it helps you to write it and I know it will help others. I am glad to see you back and with us, you make a very valuable contribution.

Thank you again and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Deb x

karinak

Sorry about your nasty experience in life all too early for ARTHUR, but after reading your account of the fall made me think.......... We bought an old house last year and whilst sweeping the floor one day my O/H opened the cellar door warning me that he had done so. I did not hear him and stepped back falling down it!.............that was a shock and luckily i was unhurt but only bruised, although i slept badly for a couple of months all was mended. Maybe this shock was the start of my ARTHUR visiting me?.................it makes you wonder doesnt it?
Take care now Karina x
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noeltone

Hi Ecks I need to unlock those child hood memories and hauntss and I have not ever tried hypnotherapy but I have had pyscological therapy so I will mention it next time I have an apptmnt and I am glad it helped you though I would give almost anything not to feel down

noeltone

Hi guys I will write some more att I wrote my experiences down in my journals so have it alogged down i find the treatment then compared to now so changed for the better

skezier

Hi Chrisov,

You are so right that treatments have improved and so, thankfully, have attitudes eh? I shall look forward to the next installment when you are ready. Take care, Cris x

kathbee

Hi Chrisov

Thinking of you and hoping you are feeling
a tad better.

Just keep on posting wont you.

Look forward to more of your great
written works.

Kath