Conditions + Treatments
Broken Wrist
Wrist Injury
I'm Lauri Newton and I've been an account executive for nearly 30 years with Alabama Graphics, a local sign and graphics company.
For most of my adult life, I've stayed relatively healthy; however, that changed one night in 2022. On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 my husband and I were on our way home from the grocery store, sitting at a red-light when our car was suddenly blindsided by another vehicle.
The impact of the crash completely surprised us both and was a very traumatic experience. After the impact of the crash, I looked up and saw that my right wrist, which was on the steering wheel, was severely injured due to the impact caused by my drivers-side airbag deploying. I felt instant pain, and my right wrist was completely deformed.
I was soon transported by ambulance to a local emergency, where the ER doctor informed me that the fracture to my wrist was a worst-case scenario for a break and diagnosed me with a distal radius fracture. He also stated that I would need to be seen by an orthopaedic surgeon as soon as possible.
Late that very evening from my ER hospital bed, I called the cell phone of a good friend who works at Andrews Sports Medicine. I explained the details of the accident, my injury and recommendation of the ER doctor. My friend said that because this was an acute injury that needed immediate attention, that he felt confident he could get me on a surgeon's schedule the next day.
Approximately 15 minutes later, my friend called me back to confirm I was on the schedule to be seen by Dr. Christopher Beaumont early the next morning. He went onto to explain that Dr. Beaumont, a hand & wrist specialist, had recently completed his fellow-training in Florida and had joined the Andrews Sports Medicine a few weeks earlier.
I showed up the next morning at Andrews Sports Medicine's Birmingham office in immense pain. After an x-ray, my husband and were escorted to one of Dr. Beaumont's exam rooms and he entered the room soon after. I have no doubt Dr. Beaumont got the sense of how scared I was and the fear that I would not be able to use my dominant, right hand again.
Dr. Beaumont examined my wrist and saw that the range of motion of my elbow, wrist, and forearm were all limited due to the pain I was experiencing. He diagnosed my injury as a significantly displaced intraarticular distal radius fracture with comminution.
Dr. Beaumont discussed a couple of options for treatment with me, but he recommended surgery for the best treatment option. He was very confident he could fix my wrist and that he could operate the next day.
At this point, the pain had subsided tremendously. I agreed to move forward with the surgery; however, I threw Dr. Beaumont a bit of a curve ball. The next day, my husband and I were scheduled to travel to Florida with some long-time friends for a vacation we'd been planning for months. I explained that this vacation was very important to me and I didn't want to spoil everyone else's plans.
Dr. Beaumont said that now that my wrist was stabilized that my surgery wasn't emergent, that he was okay with me delaying the surgery one week as long as I was comfortable doing so. We made the trip to Florida for some rest and relaxation. I showed up at the Birmingham Surgery Center the following Monday, September 12 and Dr. Beaumont successfully performed my surgery - an open reduction and internal fixation of my right distal radius.
My first post-operative visit was on September 23. While everything from the surgery had gone perfectly, I was nervous to take on any sort of movement with my hand, wrist, or even fingers. During my post-op visit, Dr. Beaumont listened to me as I complained about the pain. He was there for me telling me it would get better. He told me the importance of therapy and how he would make sure that I was on a correct recovery plan. While he comforted me, he was also very honest and didn't sugar coat anything. He told me that this would be a painful process and that I would have to work hard in therapy in order to get back to normal.
Dr. Beaumont highly recommended I do my therapy with Kramer Hodges, a local occupational hand therapist. The next day I had my initial therapy session with Kramer, and it was brutal. Kramer reiterated what Dr. Beaumont said - lots of painful and hard work. For nearly 6 months, I diligently went to therapy sessions with Kramer 3 days per week.
After the surgery, I had been unable to use my hand for 2-3 months, and had found it difficult to complete simple everyday tasks. Unfortunately, throughout my entire recovery process I was scared and feared that I wouldn't 100% regain use of my hand, and my quality of life would never be the same.
Along the way, I would periodically have post-op appointments with Dr. Beaumont and I was amazed how much he and Kramer continued to communicate about my progression and road to recovery.
At a post-op appointment on July 20, 2023 (10+ months after my surgery), I was close to having full range of motion back. I was still experiencing some pain with my thumb. Dr. Beaumont discussed that they would need to plan to remove some of the hardware in my hand. After this was done in November, I was able to continue my recovery and strengthen my hand even closer back to normal.
When I reflect back at my time with Andrews Sports Medicine, I just remember how much of an amazing experience it was. Every time I went into the clinic, I felt like the staff really cared about me. I just had the best experience I could possibly have while going through such a difficult process.
Dr. Beaumont was amazing. He completely took care of me and told me exactly what needed to be done. I also enjoyed my experience with Kramer Hodges. I would not have been able to get my range of motion back without him.
All the hard work paid off, now, my hand is back to 100% and feels just like it did before the accident. I am even able to get back to playing pickleball with my family, who have been thrilled with the success of my surgery and therapy.
Thanks to Dr. Beaumont and Kramer Hodges, OT, CHT, I am a living testament to Victory over Injury!
