Airbag Fractured Mom's Ribs & Sternum!

Parent Cafe
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<p>The car mom was driving was a brand new Mercedes with only 691 miles on it! It is totaled!</p>

<p>The good news is that mom is recovering extremely well, though she finally consented to taking 2 extra strength tylenol so she could sleep last night & was nodding off when we left at 7:45.</p>

<p>She took a shower and is using the incentive spirometer. She is mostly concerned about not catching a bad cold or pneumonia during her recovery. She amazed the nurses & walked around the hospital before being discharged after an evening of observation. She is walking around the house – inside & out now. Brought her some library books–Zits. Will bring her more tomorrow.</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone for the good wishes. Will see about possibly doing something with D’s car pedals as well. I don’t like how close she sits when she drives but she can’t reach the pedals otherwise. I always worry that she’ll smack her knee if she is in an accident. Mom was hit from the back & the SUV shoved her into the SUV in the front. Both the steering wheel airbag & the one by her feet deployed. She has no visible bruises that I have seen.</p>

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<p>Glad to hear your mother is recovering well. Considering her car was totaled, she was very fortunate that the airbags served their function.</p>

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<p>Yes, it was amazing to view the car yesterday at the tow yard. The front and back end are totally wrecked but the middle where she was sitting looks just fine & in pristine condition except for the two airbags which deployed. Don’t know how the SUVs which were also in the accident fared, but suspect they did pretty well. My sister who was 1st on the scene among our family said that they were both MUCH larger then her car (reaffirming sis & her H’s decision that they should only drive SUVs, which they do).</p>

<p>At a meeting yesterday, several attendees said yes, airbags do seem to be related to a lot of broken bone injuries and we also had a client who suffered a lot of burns because airbags deployed. We are all grateful that she should fully recover from these fractures.</p>

<p>Have never personally been in any accident where the airbag deployed, nor fortunately have any of my family members except now for this accident. I know we had clients who died because they struck the steering wheel in an accident & it severely damaged their heart.</p>

<p>Mom always wears seatbelts, but am not sure whether she will be comfortable doing so now that she has the fractures, until they heal in 6 weeks. If we drive her, under HI law, she can sit in the back seat & doesn’t HAVE to wear any seat belt, but am not sure how safe that is either.</p>

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<p>Any docs or pharmacists around that can address tylenol vs. ibuprofen for pain from fractured ribs & sternum? Thanks!</p>

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<p>It is not all that safe, since back seat passengers can get bounced around the car or ejected in a crash.</p>

<p>As far as the acetaminophen and ibuprofen go, be sure to pay attention to the warnings and dose limits – be careful of other drugs that may contain these drugs which may unintentionally cause one to exceed the dose limits (not a doctor or pharmacist, but have read articles about accidental overdoses due to people not realizing that some other drug they took contained a common over the counter drug like acetaminophen and caused them to overdose when they were taking acetaminophen separately).</p>

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<p>Yea, maybe she can try to figure out what side of the seat to sit in so that the seatbelt won’t bother her fractured ribs and sternum. She needs to go for a recheck on Monday and/or Tuesday.</p>

<p>She is not taking much pain relief, 1000 mg of Tylenol so she can sleep.</p>

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<p>Please be careful with the Tylenol. 1 gm is quite a bit. 4gms a day is the max for an average person. A senior is not the average person. Plus many drugs contain acetaminophen (Tylenol). Alcohol, which may be in cough and cold liquids may contribute to possible liver harm. My personal preference is a non steroidal (ibuprofen) for inflammation / irritation pain.</p>

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<p>Even OTC drugs can be more problematic in seniors. Tylenol can easily be overdosed and cause liver damage, but Advil can cause stomach upset and is more likely to exacerbate bleeding especially if other drugs she takes (even daily aspirin) cause blood thinning.</p>

<p>Whatever she takes, ask her to pay attention to all the changes she feels. My mother was advised to take Advil after a fall, I take tons of Advil & have no problems, but she felt stomach upset the first time and never mentioned it until she had taken 40! She was also too intense in following the general instructions, even waking up in the night to take it every four hours. Once she mentioned the pain & I discerned it was not from the fall, I had her stop, but it took a couple of weeks on omeprezole & a bland diet to get over the stomach upset!</p>

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<p>Mom is NOT taking any other medications AT ALL. I was able to get her to take 200mg of ibuprofen with lunch, as she was wincing quite a bit. She stopped wincing after that. She only takes the 1000mg of Tylenol so she can sleep without pain at night. Will try to have her take 400mg of Ibuprofen at night instead starting tomorrow & see how she does.</p>

<p>Mom does NOT wake to take any medications. She takes the absolute minimum & only decided to try the extra-strength tylenol because she didn’t sleep AT ALL at the hospital because the pain kept her up (& that was what dad bought at the market for her). I will try to get her switched wholly to ibuprofen instead, since a slight stomach upset sounds safer than possible kidney damage, to me.</p>

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<p>Good morning. There have been some studies concluding that Ibuprofen, (which appears to be more effective in relieving muscle pain), inhibits the rate of bone fracture healing as well as the risk of increased bleeding. My concern besides pain management is in your mom’s fractured ribs. If she is experiencing pain, she is less likely to use the incentive spirometer as effectively as she should. Does her MD’s office have a PA or an APRN that she may speak with? Perhaps they will be able to tell her that it is beneficial to her healing to have the pain well managed. Many elderly do not want to take medications, and of course many elderly are over medicated or have stronger reactions to combining medications. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>HIMom…prayers that your mom heals completely. How scary!</p>

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<p>HIMom, re: the seatbelts…</p>

<p>H is recovering from abdominal surgery that he had in April. Seatbelts are particularly uncomfortable for him, they cross right over the incision/stoma site. One thing he has found REALLY helpful is to use a clip of some kind to hold a little slack on the seatbelt. Put on the seatbelt, pull out a little slack, then put a clip on the belt (up on the ceiling or floor where the seatbelt retracts, or near the buckle, if it is moveable). The seatbelt is not really snug against his body, but it’s close enough to help in case of an accident. Hope that makes sense. It’s made a world of difference for him.</p>

<p>H is using a black binder clip for this, you could also use a clothespin or something.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all these thoughts. My sister will be driving her today & I’m sure they will figure out something for her to be driven with the seat belt. Sis tends to bristle when I make any suggestions but sis has had broken ribs a few times and may be able to think about what will keep mom as comfortable as possible.</p>

<p>Mom was told that she doesn’t need to use the incentive sprirometer so much, since she’s completely ambulatory (even though she stays home). She is up and about rather than bed-bound. She has had a very tough time getting the main piston on the incentive spirometer to move much at all. I will tell her to please bring it to her appointment with the trauma center today, so she can ask them for tips on doing better with it.</p>

<p>Thanks for the thoughts about the different pain relievers.</p>

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<p>Anyone with experience or knowledge of naproxen for pain relief in elderly fracture patient? Wondering about the pros & cons of it compared with tylenol and ibuprofen.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>I second the mom getting advice from medical professional familiar with her history. Frankly, whatever works and does the least harm for the patient is the best. I wouldn’t switch from tylenol, to a non steroidal (asa, ibuprofen, naprosyn, etc) unless I was getting better results. Have you tried just one tylenol ES instead of the 2 (1gm), or maybe continue with the mid day something. What did they prescribe when mom was discharged?</p>

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<p>Not at all an MD, but I do know that tylenol is most often recommended because it doesn’t interact with blood thinners the way others can. DH had recent surgery and was told to stay away from everything other than tylenol or vicoden for pain. No aspirin, aleve, advil.</p>

<p>We bought a CR-V recently and I noticed today how much further away the steering wheel is compared to our others. Now I know why. Was in a bad car accident once where the airbags went off. Fortunately. I just remember how I had to open the car door and pour myself out because the smell was terrible.</p>

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<p>I did suggest she try to see whether taking only one extra-strength tylenol instead of two would adequately control her pain so she can sleep. She doesn’t take ANY pain meds during the day. Don’t believe she’s taking any blood thinners either. Will see tomorrow whether taking just one 500mg tylenol was enough & perhaps we can eventually titrate down to 1 regular strength one after that.</p>

<p>She still does have pain & discomfort when she moves wrong or suddenly or coughs but otherwise is OK.</p>

<p>The trauma doc only spent about 5 minutes with her & didn’t really have much of anything to say, according to mom.</p>

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<p>HImom, how is your mother’s recuperation coming along? Has she received any follow up care? I can’t imagine how much worse such an accident would be for an older person, and I wish her all the best.</p>

<p>I remembered your posts shortly after I was injured by a low speed airbag deployment a few days ago. I was in the front passenger seat which was pushed as far back as it would go, wearing my seatbelt, and dozing off and on. I had my legs crossed and the raised knee took quite a hit. Walking is very painful. I am bruised from shoulder to hips, with really dark bruises on one breast and my ribs from the seat belt; there are some mild burns on exposed skin; my hearing seems to have been slightly damaged, but at least my there’s no more ringing or burning sensation; there’s a welt on my neck; the next morning I was congested and had respiratory problems; and, as my doctor predicted, the second day I felt fatigued and achy all over. The driver sustained similar injuries, but also has chemical burns on one leg (maybe my jeans prevented them), bruised and swollen hands, tinnitus, and more extreme fatigue and brain fog. The latter is the most worrisome, but my suggestions about seeing another doctor have been ignored.</p>

<p>Despite the bleeding and chemical burns, the EMTs released us after checking vital signs since the driver refused to go to an ER. I saw a doctor at my PCP’s office (new partner, unfortunately) several hours later; that was probably sooner than we would have been seen at an ER since we did not appear to have critical injuries. The driver had some x-rays taken and received wound care; we both were given Rx pain meds.</p>

<p>There’s a lot I don’t remember, but I do recall my panic over the smoke (and what I thought was fire on the driver’s side) and difficulty getting the windows down to air out the vehicle. The driver was stunned and not responsive at first, so I called 911. The police and EMTs came quickly and were all very kind. Until they arrived, I was terrified that we might be rear-ended. </p>

<p>While I’m very thankful that our injuries were not worse, it’s still hard to cope with them, especially since I was almost fully recuperated from surgery and was so looking forward to being able to totally fend for myself again. </p>

<p>I called my car dealership to ask about pedal extensions and was told they don’t sell or install them. I’ve found several sellers online, but their actual product looks to be the same. If anyone can suggest a model that’s best or a reputable dealer, I’d appreciate it.</p>

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<p>Glad you are ok, silpat</p>

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<p>“Glad you are ok, silpat”</p>

<p>Thank you, Jym626! I need to focus on the positive. Maybe in a month or two, this will just be a bad memory and everything will be back to normal.</p>