I am venting here, but I just watched my husband throw up because he accidentaly rolled over in his sleep and it caused such excrutiating pain it made him ill...again. I also sometimes really really hate his job.

So today my hubby was chasing after a shoplifter and tripped over the kid and took a spill landing directly on his shoulder on the sidewalk outside of the store.

The other LP guy found the kid across the street curled up in a doorway of the college in a fetal position crying

This kid stole a 10 dollar t-shirt.

So after he fell Chad was in so much pain he was vomiting and his arm wasn't functioning properly so his co-workers called an ambulance to take him to get it checked. The Emt actually just got back from Iraq where she served with the other LP guy chad works with..which was kind of cool. She was also convinced he had broken his clavicle or separated his shoulder because the bone on top was sticking up in an odd fashion.

Long story short the ER was no help at all, told him he had bruising and some muscle strain and gave him a few shots of morphine during his 7 hour stay and sent him home with IBU 800s

We stopped and bought a sling on the way home and he got woozy and broke out in a cold sweat while I was cutting his shirt the rest of the way off and trying to get his arm in a sling.

His shoulder was and is visibly out of whack with the top of it sticking up so I did some research and it looks exactly like all the pics of AC joint separation I found.

There would not be deformity with a simple strain and bruise, much less enough pain to cause naseau and vomiting.

How on earth did the ER miss something so seemingly obvious??

And all of this over some stupid kid and his need to steal a 10 dollar shirt!!!!

Jennifer,
I know it's hard to be thankful at a time like this when your husband is hurting but, my brother-in-law chased a guy at the store for shop lifting several years ago and ended up having a heart attack and dying. Get him to get himself in shape if you can.

That is awful about your brother in law. You are right it could be so much worse.
I am actually thankful the injury was what it was, just mad at the whole situation around it.

This afternoon I got a text from him saying he was at the hospital and no more info and was in a near panic....until I got in touch with his office and they told me it was his shoulder.

I am so thankful it wasn't a stabbing or a shooting, he has had close calls with both and one of the guys he works with was shot in the stomach area a couple of years ago while on the job.

He is in fairly good shape, we both take a long walk everyday, me to get in shape and him to unwind. We also try to eat well as much as possible and he does Tai Chi.

He really does love his job though, and for that I am thankful, it is important to enjoy what you do!

He should have an xray at the very least. I can't believe they didn't do that the first time in the ER! Hopefully he has a speedy recovery, whatever the problem is.

Jennifer, just wanted to say that's horrible! You guys are in my thoughts for your husband to have a speedy recovery (and hopefully xrays to get it properly diagnosed).

Is the bit sticking up right by the shoulder joint? When I broke my clavicle the physio at the field tried to tell me it was a shoulder separation (except the bit of bone sticking up was in the middle of my clavicle, no where near a joint).

It is on top of his shoulder, along the ridge from your neck to the round part of the shoulder.
this is what it looks like only more swollen and with road rash
shoulder picture
His arm, side, and hip are all black and blue as well.

He went into work this morning and his boss asked him why he was there and sent him home to rest....which was nice because I didn't see how he was going to make it.

he is going to go to the work med place Friday morning because they have a othorpedist on staff

We just got back from the minor emergency place because he was in so much pain...and I was right it is separated, nearly completely.

They gave him a shot of lidocaine and cortisone in the joint area to ease the pain and some prescription anti-inflammatory and told him to wear the sling nearly all the time except for some minor range of motion exercises for the next two weeks.

poor guy, right now the shot is making it more painful but if it works like it did for me he should get some relief from it by tomorrow.

How severe of a separation is it? Have they mentioned surgery?

I do brazilian jiu jitsu, a couple years ago I got slammed in a tournament and I suffered a shoulder separation. Boy was that fun...

They said at this point he probably won't need surgery, just rest, ice and naproxen along with some actual pain meds through this weekend.

I feel bad for him too because it is his right arm, and he feels pretty useless at this point. I had to spread the butter on his waffles for him and fill out the paperwork because he couldn't do either...much less tie his shoes or button his pants LOL. I feel like I have two kids right now, only the actual kid is more self reliant.