Heh, yeah, talking to people feels a bit like a chore right now. We're just sort of in limbo. This area is known for its sub- (sub, sub, sub) par medical care. It's never been an issue before, but now we're feeling it. We've been supposed to see a specialist for 6 weeks, and keep getting the runaround. Meanwhile, the orthopedist does nothing but tell us to come back in a week. No cast, no 'try this', *nothing*. I was all a-panic, but daughter finally consented to let me treat her with herbs and such after our last 'no signs of healing' visit, so I at least feel like I'm doing something now. (Comfrey for bone healing, Cal-Mag-D3 for mineral building, and when the order finally gets here, chickweed to dissolve the tumor.) I'm confident in my abilities to treat most health issues myself, and usually relegate the doctors here to "good for broken bones and gunshot wounds". Now they've been downgraded to just gunshot wounds... Boy, I hope none of us get shot.
It's probably a unicameral bone cyst, but since we're still waiting on that specialist, this is my guess from studying the xrays and the MRIs and going online and studying slide shows about bone problems. There are a lot of xrays online that look *exactly* like hers. If that's what it is, UBCs are not a problem, other than that they weaken the bone. Which is what happened. Basically the tumor/cyst developed in the marrow channel and then grew and grew and ate up the outside hard bone until it was so weak that it snapped. (Totally scientific explanation.) There are treatments, but... they don't seem to have very good success rates? I don't know. Mostly they just hope it'll resolve on its own, which it sometimes does, but this doesn't appear to be one of those sometimes. Here's hoping the specialist knows more than I do, if we ever get to see him. If your BIL has any advice, I'm all ears.
As for the not healing, I don't know if the bone is just too dissolved to heal, or if it's because she's always been a very slow healer when it comes to cuts, and this is just following the same pattern. No answers from the orthopedist... Her solution is to just cut the whole arm off, but hopefully we'll find a less drastic solution! :D
I'm so glad you have family members you trust to do the surgery. One less thing to worry about! Hugs back!
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It's probably a unicameral bone cyst, but since we're still waiting on that specialist, this is my guess from studying the xrays and the MRIs and going online and studying slide shows about bone problems. There are a lot of xrays online that look *exactly* like hers. If that's what it is, UBCs are not a problem, other than that they weaken the bone. Which is what happened. Basically the tumor/cyst developed in the marrow channel and then grew and grew and ate up the outside hard bone until it was so weak that it snapped. (Totally scientific explanation.) There are treatments, but... they don't seem to have very good success rates? I don't know. Mostly they just hope it'll resolve on its own, which it sometimes does, but this doesn't appear to be one of those sometimes. Here's hoping the specialist knows more than I do, if we ever get to see him. If your BIL has any advice, I'm all ears.
As for the not healing, I don't know if the bone is just too dissolved to heal, or if it's because she's always been a very slow healer when it comes to cuts, and this is just following the same pattern. No answers from the orthopedist... Her solution is to just cut the whole arm off, but hopefully we'll find a less drastic solution! :D
I'm so glad you have family members you trust to do the surgery. One less thing to worry about! Hugs back!