A passer by called an ambulance (10 min wait) and they took me to casualty (or 'cazh' as they all call it). X-rays showed a bone fragment out of place in my right elbow so i was told to go home and come back in the morning when orthopaedics opened.
Didn't get a lot of sleep that night, what with bits of bone floating around in my elbow. Pain killers helped, but it was still agony. The next morning I wandered down to orthopaedics and the consultant had a look at my x-rays and decided to admit me, because he couldn't examine my elbow without me bursting his eardrums.
So, ward 35 on thursday morning, and down to theatre at 1:30pm. Anaesthetic was fun, especially the machine that goes 'ping'. Woke about 4 back in the ward. Arm plastered up and held vertical in a big sling. Had some visitors that afternoon, but I was still wobbly from the drugs. Richard Ashcroft please note, these particular ones *do* work. I was kept in overnight.
The surgeons had discovered that I'd fractured the head of the radius bone and also broke the capitulum of the humerus. There was some comminution of the radial head and damage to the articular cartilage. What do you mean you don't know where these bits are? Go and look at some pictures (warning, surgical images!).
They screwed the bits back on with a couple of differential pitch screws (cost 300 quid each, making me the one-thousand dollar man...) and stapled the incision with what look like ordinary office staples.
I was in plaster for 2 weeks, and then they removed the plaster and the staples and plastered me up again for another 2 weeks. After that plaster came off I couldn't bend my arm much, so I started physiotherapy sessions once a week with Anna Monk. Torturer.
Now, 12 weeks after the event, I've just been back to Orthopaedics and been told they don't need to see me any more unless I have any problems. Physio will continue for a few more months. I should be back on my bike soon, I hope! Cost me 55 quid for a new fork and bits, but I'm going to splash out on a new machine when I can get on one for a test-ride!
Baz