Third times a charm with some Drs.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Third times a charm with some Drs.

Posted: 3/9/2006 12:49:08 PM EDT

Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:07:28 PM EDT

[#1]

Ouch! My nephew broke his in 1986, so I've seen how painful that is and how long it takes to recover. Isn't that just typical of doctors? They can't even bother to even look at an x-ray. At least it wasn't a much more expensive MRI that they ignored like a neurologist did with my wife.z

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:11:29 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Did you ever think that it was bruised and that you made it worse by walking on it? It happens a lot, espeically with stress fractures. X-rays dont lie. Also, most likely the x-ray was read by a radiologist, so you have an independent judge of your x-ray. I am willing to bet that there are no fractures in the first x-ray.

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:19:26 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Did you ever think that it was bruised and that you made it worse by walking on it? It happens a lot, espeically with stress fractures. X-rays dont lie. Also, most likely the x-ray was read by a radiologist, so you have an independent judge of your x-ray. I am willing to bet that there are no fractures in the first x-ray.

Very well could be. Could i call the hospital and get my x-rays that were taken 6 weeks ago ?

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:22:42 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Did you ever think that it was bruised and that you made it worse by walking on it? It happens a lot, espeically with stress fractures. X-rays dont lie. Also, most likely the x-ray was read by a radiologist, so you have an independent judge of your x-ray. I am willing to bet that there are no fractures in the first x-ray.

Very well could be. Could i call the hospital and get my x-rays that were taken 6 weeks ago ?

Sure why not. Its your films. You just have to put in a request and pick them up.

6 weeks have past and there could have been a lot of changes since the original injury. You have have reinjured it or made the old injury worse.

Its like driving a new car off the lot. Once you are out the original diagnosis may change with time.

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:24:33 PM EDT

[#5]

Calcaneus fractures are very difficult to recognize. It requires special angled views on an xray or a CT scan to see some of the funky ones. Many docs unfamiliar with orthopedics miss them.

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:24:52 PM EDT

[#6]

You should be able to get your xrays (although you may have to pay a fee to have them printed).

Some minor fractures don't even show up on xrays until the healing begins (I had a fracture of my wrist - distal radius - that only showed up on MRI - and I had a ton of xrays, from multiple angles, at 2 different visits, about 5 days apart).

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:26:22 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Calcaneus fractures are very difficult to recognize. It requires special angled views on an xray or a CT scan to see some of the funky ones. Many docs unfamiliar with orthopedics miss them.

+1111111111111111111111111111111

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:27:45 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
You should be able to get your xrays (although you may have to pay a fee to have them printed).

Some minor fractures don't even show up on xrays until the healing begins (I had a fracture of my wrist - distal radius - that only showed up on MRI - and I had a ton of xrays, from multiple angles, at 2 different visits, about 5 days apart).

Yup, what happens is that a bump of bone forms over the site and makes it obvious. The new injuries dont have anything that gives it away.

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:30:01 PM EDT

[#9]

Sue the first two, they deserve it

Posted: 3/9/2006 1:34:47 PM EDT

[#10]

Bad &/or "reckless" advice telling someone they can simply take pain pills & go back to work when the bruise could potentially become a more acute condition. Would've been smart if the good doc had advised you to rest & let it recover for a short time.

Probably my biggest pet peeve concerning recovery treatment is the way rest is seemingly discouraged. Physical therapy is a prime example in that they tend towards pushing someone to start exercising the affected area immediately instead of focusing on treatment w/o exercise & letting the injured area recouperate some. A good friend of mine wound up having multiple tears develop in her shoulder after the PT's put her through exercise sessions after her shoulder injury. Now, she has to have surgery to suture the extewnsive muscle & tendon tears.

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:05:13 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Calcaneus fractures are very difficult to recognize. It requires special angled views on an xray or a CT scan to see some of the funky ones. Many docs unfamiliar with orthopedics miss them.

And some fractures are so subtle that they only show up after healing begins, typically 10-14days. In any event ClayP is correct, there is better Xray equipment out there now than there used to be and not everyone has state of the art equipment. Same as you don't replace your TV every year.

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:19:37 PM EDT

[#12]

Tanam,
Find a fellowship trained foot and ankle surgeon to look at your CT scan. You need more than a general orthopedic surgeon.
This is your best bet.

Where in Michigan are you? I know multiple excellent foot and ankle surgeons all over the state.

BT--orthopedic hand surgeon

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:27:32 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Sue the first two, they deserve it

Here we go.

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:30:09 PM EDT

[#14]

Going to add something else to this thread. Just because one doc tells you another is wrong does not make him correct. Something to think about.

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:33:00 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Going to add something else to this thread. Just because one doc tells you another is wrong does not make him correct. Something to think about.

Yup I get a lot of these patients wanting me to say that something was missed. Most of the time there was just a lack of communication or a misunderstanding.

Again a lot of time has gone by since the first evaluation by the first doc. The fact hat you have 2 docs agreeing to the original diagnosis tells you the scenario that I laid out is the most likely one.

Posted: 3/9/2006 2:53:46 PM EDT

[#16]

BlueTommy-- I've picked up fx that the Radiologists and other Doctors (normally ER or FP/GP/IM PCPs) have missed. But, as ARDoc says--it is almost impossible to pick up an early stress fx on an X-Ray...the bone callus that forms later is often the best indicator.

After hearing that it was the 3rd visit for the same problem, I probably would have gone for a 3 phase bone scan.

AFARR (Podiatry Resident)

Posted: 3/9/2006 3:29:58 PM EDT

[#17]

Got my popcorn.

Posted: 3/9/2006 3:42:27 PM EDT

[#18]

AFARR,
A fall and direct blow to the calc with a bruise warrents a close inspection of multiple radiographic views of the calc for a fracture. I'll bet the his whole heel was bruised and swollen up. Prolly, had difficulty gettin on tennis shoes or regular dress shoes. As you know, just looking at the skin and type of swelling around an injury limb, can lead you to believe you have a fracture, even it does not show up on plain films. This happens all the time. That is where clinical judgement comes into play.
BT.

Posted: 3/9/2006 3:56:24 PM EDT

[#19]

BT--

a close inspection of multiple radiographic views of the calc for a fracture.

Agreed....he did not specify what kind of doctors he went to initially. Many PCPs rely on the radiologist read, and the radiologist is not looking at the foot clinically when he reads the X-rays. Also, unless the radiologist has some question on the X-Rays and orders different views (normally they just read what the Dr ordered), it can be missed...most PCPs won't order Harris & Beath or Axial Calcaneal views.

3 Phase Bone Scans are still pretty good (and fairly cheap) at showing some bony turnover...would have picked it up quickly--But, not something you order immediately in this presentation.

AFARR

PS--going to scrub with the Ortho attending next week to remove what he thinks is a giant cell tumor on the tendon sheath in the thumb. I already asked the Pathologist if I can check the slides when he gets them made...be an interesting case for me.

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:08:45 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
BlueTommy-- I've picked up fx that the Radiologists and other Doctors (normally ER or FP/GP/IM PCPs) have missed. But, as ARDoc says--it is almost impossible to pick up an early stress fx on an X-Ray...the bone callus that forms later is often the best indicator.

After hearing that it was the 3rd visit for the same problem, I probably would have gone for a 3 phase bone scan.

AFARR (Podiatry Resident)

And I thought you were a real doctor!

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:10:15 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Tanam,
Find a fellowship trained foot and ankle surgeon to look at your CT scan. You need more than a general orthopedic surgeon.
This is your best bet.

Where in Michigan are you? I know multiple excellent foot and ankle surgeons all over the state.

BT--orthopedic hand surgeon

Another fake doctor!

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:14:47 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Ouch! My nephew broke his in 1986, so I've seen how painful that is and how long it takes to recover. Isn't that just typical of doctors? They can't even bother to even look at an x-ray. At least it wasn't a much more expensive MRI that they ignored like a neurologist did with my wife.z

You are a cocksucker. Always have been. Always will be.

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:27:07 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Ouch! My nephew broke his in 1986, so I've seen how painful that is and how long it takes to recover. Isn't that just typical of doctors? They can't even bother to even look at an x-ray. At least it wasn't a much more expensive MRI that they ignored like a neurologist did with my wife.z

You are a cocksucker. Always have been. Always will be.

Even the most harmless topic goes to shit quick now.

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:28:23 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Kaiser?

Posted: 3/9/2006 4:30:04 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Six weeks ago i tripped barefoot and slammed my heel on a rock. Down i went hurt like a mofo. Had x-rays taken that day,Dr told me it was bruised,go back to work. A week later i go to a different Dr,he says it bruised. Gives me some pain pills and tells me to go back to work. Today i go in to see a foot Dr, guess what i have three fractures in my heel. I wish the first Dr would have caught the fractures, walking on a broken heel for 6 weeks sucks.

Kaiser?

?

Posted: 3/9/2006 5:01:33 PM EDT

[#26]

ArDoc:

And I thought you were a real doctor!

Such a nice comment deserves to be rewarded.....let me see if my attendings will let me send you a nice box of amputated toes and feet.....

Posted: 3/9/2006 6:04:43 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Ouch! My nephew broke his in 1986, so I've seen how painful that is and how long it takes to recover. Isn't that just typical of doctors? They can't even bother to even look at an x-ray. At least it wasn't a much more expensive MRI that they ignored like a neurologist did with my wife.z

You are a cocksucker. Always have been. Always will be.

Even the most harmless topic goes to shit quick now.

Yeah, so harmless. You start a doctor-bashing thread without knowing anything about bone fractures . . .

Posted: 3/9/2006 6:11:28 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Ouch! My nephew broke his in 1986, so I've seen how painful that is and how long it takes to recover. Isn't that just typical of doctors? They can't even bother to even look at an x-ray. At least it wasn't a much more expensive MRI that they ignored like a neurologist did with my wife.z

You are a cocksucker. Always have been. Always will be.

Even the most harmless topic goes to shit quick now.

Yeah, so harmless. You start a doctor-bashing thread without knowing anything about bone fractures . . .

Now i didnt bash anyone, i said i wish the first Dr wouldnt have missed the fracture if indeed there was one at that time. I didnt mention lawsuits,or say the Drs messed up. All i did is relate something that happened to me. So yes it is harmless, except to me because im the one with the broken foot.

Posted: 3/9/2006 6:16:40 PM EDT

[#29]

Ask the first two doctors for a refund. It would be a hoot just to see the look on their faces!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Third times a charm with some Drs.

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