Your response made me cry. My heart goes out to you dear one. When I fractured my femur i was in the hospital for 3 days, kept as pain free as possible then taken to a rehab facility for 3 weeks following 2 weeks of rehab at home. My issue is a vertebrae is a bone too so why do they treat it like a pulled muscle? They don't send us home when we come in with a broken arm or leg and they certainly don't understand the pain is as excruciating as a broken leg or arm. I wish I knew how to advocate for our problem but don't know where to begin. I'm like you. I live alone and have no family to help. My neighbor will clean for me but I have no one to cook for me. I know you're going through all the same problems I am and I just wish I could be there for you in some way to help. I will certainly be praying for you to find help. Ask your doctor if he/she will have you admitted to a rehab center. It's absolutely not true that x-rays don't show spinal fractures for 24-48 hours. I get my results by the next day, sometimes the same day, depending on the time of day it was taken. And if the x-ray in the ER was negative, they must've made a mistake in reading it or taking it. Did you finally get it confirmed that it was broken? Do you have a rollator? If not, that's one thing you definitely need. Your doc can write a script for it so that it's not as expensive. They are only about $150.00 thru Amazon. I couldn't get out of bed without mine. I keep flushable wipes by the toilet and wipe myself each time I go to the bathroom since showering is out of the question right now. Since I can't stand & brush my teeth, I do rinse my mouth with mouth wash. How are you getting groceries or food in? If your doc doesn't seem to want to be your advocate, you might think of finding another doctor. Have you considered going to a pain clinic? I had never heard of them before but my doc told me about them since they can't prescribe pain medication anymore!!! How weird is that? Have you ever been told you have osteoporosis? Or has your doctor put you on any medication to strengthen your bones? That's usually the reason for all the bone breakages. I know I'm throwing a lot of things at you but I want to make sure you have as much info as possible to get help, especially for the pain. I take Prednisone and even though it's a wonderful drug for bone inflammation, it does so much damage to our bones by making them soft and weak. It's one of those drugs that you can't live with it and you can't life without it. Dear one, please write me back with any questions you have. I'm have a tele-visit with my spine doctor today at 3:30 and hoping she can change my pain medication until my vertebrae heals. I know it's a lost cause to ask, but you don't know unless you do. One more thing, your State may have programs where they send in people to help you. They charge very little here in Ohio. Most States have these programs. If you're interested, your doctor can give you the department you can find it under. Ours is called Home Care Aency. Please stay in touch. God bless you. The Lord will not give you more than you can endure and He is always with you as you go thru this.

Be at peace,
Shirley (aka Mamaw Nebel)