Attn MFW doctors - we have a diagnosis

I don't have pleurisy, pleural effusion, or anything like that, at least not according to my doctor (saw him about an hour ago).

He was poking around and, when he put pressure on one spot, the pain was excrutiating! He said this sort of 'localized pain point' usually indicates a cracked rib. Hopefully it's just a hairline fracture; an x-ray tomorrow may provide more information but he said hairline rib fractures often don't show up on x-rays until several weeks later (once the healing has begun in earnest). I didn't realize people could crack their own ribs by coughing, but the doctor said I wouldn't be the first one. Mine is at the rear and, not surprisingly, on the side on which I've got pneumonia.

We discussed pain killers. I had used Percoset for pain when I injured by back a few years ago. He wrote me a prescription for that but I told him I really didn't like how I felt when I took Percoset so he said there was something a little less strong but otherwise similar, so I got a prescription for that - Vicodin ES. I'm hoping to avoid having to take anything other than Aleve - two Aleve seem to take the edge off enough for me for now, but it gets worse as the day wears on and I more and more tired. Last night I had my wife find the left over Percoset and put it on my night table but I managed to avoid taking it.

I also got an Rx for a rib brace which I'll probably try out later today.

On the other front, my pneumonia seems to be continuing to improve ahead of schedule - chest x-ray show only 'residual' stuff in my lungs, blood work shows all the out of spec numbers either back to normal or returning to normal, chest sounds almost clear.

So there you have it - I don't think I've left out any of the details this time <grin>.

Last but perhaps most important, I haven't felt any particular pain while working out with this injury. I have been working out, albeit with less weight than usual. Anyone got any particular provisos for working out with a cracked lower rear rib?

Glad you're feeling better

Good goin' Steve. Although painful and inconvenient, a cracked rib is much less serious than other types of complications. You will heal from this and go on.

I broke three ribs (bull riding) when I was a teenager. It hurt whenver I did anything at all. I learned to lay perfictly still. Eventually it healed. So will yours.

Had a friend who broke three ribs while coughing. And he wasn't sick either. But he did have some back problems. He went to the ER insisting he was having a heart attack. They checked him out and said he was fine and to go home. He threw a fit and said her was in awful pain and wasn't going to leave until somebody gave him a diagnosis. Eventually, many hours later, a doc figured out the broken ribs.

Vicodin knocked me for a loop. My dentist had prescribed it and after taking one I had to take to my bed. Wow! It was some strong stuff, and made me feel terrible all over. It was during a root canal procedure that he prescribed it

Thanks, Keith. One question - what about just doing dead hangs from the chinup bar? I like to do those because they help stretch out my back - often do them between sets of deadlifts. My chinup bar at over stairs so I can pick my starting height and, having just now tried some and gradually picking my feet up, it didn't feel good. I think I may have to skip this one for a while - damn!

Thank you very much for that graphic image (NOT).

Yeah, that's what they told Maurice Gibb

Actually, not uncommon. Take your pain meds, do a dozen real deep breaths every hour while awake, and keep taking your antibiotics.

Glad it wasn't more serious. Lysis is sorry you're not dead.

An X-ray should have been obtained regardless. A person recovering from pneumonia and not being able to breathe deeply and cough properly is potentially in serious trouble, as I am sure you will agree, Sister.

On medical issues, I almost always agree with you.

Now, the jew, Jew, evil Israel, Nazi, nazi thing is another issue entirely.

I agree with this but reality is often more complicated than theory. I finished a 14-day course of 2 antibiotics this past Sunday. An follow-up x-ray, taken last Thursday, indicates only residual problems in my lungs, and my doctor today says my lungs sound yet again improved and, although not completely clear, nearly so. Thus, my need to cough is largely gone. I continue to use a nebulizer at least 2x/day, which makes coughing up stuff easier than it otherwise would be. All in all, things would have been much worse had I cracked my rib even a day earlier than I did.

And we did schedule an x-ray specifically for the rib, 3:30pm EST tomorrow, after which I will report in, provided they give me a copy of the radiologist's report, which I will ask for.

Glad I missed all that. I do not wish Lysis dead; that he/she/it is in my killfile is quite enough for me.