"Serious wrist injury ignored"

Way back in April 2015 I had an accident falling off my bike, I broke the fall with my wrist, aggravating an old break from about 7 years earlier. At first I thought it was only a sprain so did not go to the A&E as I knew that they would just turn me away just like the last time I sprained my wrist. When it did not heal and the swelling went down I realised that it was far more serious. What I think is my Ulna bone is sticking out very noticeably from my wrist, I can temporarily pop it back in to place by holding a bone in my palm in place.

From my research I THINK this is called a Triquetral Fracture. (Had to do my own research as nobody would tell me what was wrong) I went to my GP about it in June and as I knew would happen he told me it would heal on his own. I phoned my GP back after 2 weeks when they told me to phone back if nothing had happened, no matter how much I complained about the serious pain I was and still am in, my GP would do nothing about it. I then went over their head and referred myself to X Ray, but due to the nature of the injury it showed nothing, however I am disappointed that the staff did not even point me in the right direction.

Again I referred MYSELF to Physiotherapy, praying that I would not have to do countless, pointless wrist exercises that would more likely injure me further than help in any way. (How is moving my wrist around going to put a bone back in place? ). By this point it was July, FINALLY I met a member of staff, he told me that the same thing had once happened to him and referred me straight to Orthopaedics, however even this process was delayed by another month because my GP never put the request through until I phoned up several times. I kept getting tossed between Physio and my GP, each blaming each other for losing this form or not submitting that request, all through me without ever thinking to just phone each other. So finally I settled down to wait for the phone call, In January I thought I would check on the status and see how long it would take…SEPTEMBER! ! ! Another nine months for a simple five minute consultation, followed I’m sure by more waiting. I am passed the point of tears, almost every single member of staff I have encountered have been far from helpful.

This injury is seriously affecting my life, I cannot go to the Gym and have lost my appetite as a result, without the motivation to eat properly therefore I am losing an unhealthy amount of weight. This affects my self-esteem, bringing me down even more. I cannot snow board, climb, mountain bike, the list goes on. This has effectively ended my social life and stopped me from exercising in any way. I am lethargic, my skin is spotty, I spend too long in bed, my motivation to do anything is at zero, I would even push as far as to say it has made me depressed. It even hinders me looking after my dog properly. My wrist hurts all the time, it hurts when I wake up, when it’s cold, when I bike to work (my only way of getting around), when I lift anything even remotely heavy, in fact any activity that even slightly involved my wrist. It even hurts when I am not using it… in other words I am in constant pain! ! !

It affects my job too; my job involves lots of sports and outdoor activities, so I am seriously hindered in my ability to make a living! My job and degree both involve a lot of typing, and would you guess…that hurts too! In the future I want to join the R. A. F, but that’s looking more and more difficult especially as my levels of fitness continue to decline.

All my friends and family are stunned by how obvious the injury is, they all comment “how has nothing still been done about that? ” as well as the negative comments about me, “you’ve lost so much weight”, “you look ill”, “why don’t you go out any more? ”.

I am truly shocked by how poorly I have been treated as a patient and just want this to be over, I cannot believe that one simple fall has had such a hugely negative effect on my entire life. I am truly one unsatisfied NHS patient!