Evelyn, you very much have my sympathy.  I broke my shoulder and collar bone
and foot in a fall a couple of years ago.  The doctors gave me Vicodin, and
it helped the pain but made me feel overheated, so I only took it at bedtime
to keep from waking up every time I turned.

Patience with the nuisance of a sling is a virtue.  I was with friends and a
group photo was called for -- I didn't want to be in the sling, so I slipped
it off for the pic, then quickly forgot why I had it in the first place, and
reached up to hug the friends on either side.  Somewhere there's a cheery
group photo with me standing in the middle, grimacing.

I used the sling for sleeping for a week or two after I stopped wearing it
during the day, and sometimes strapped the arm to my side with Ace bandages.
I found one of those oversized body pillows was a big comfort -- I could
sleep on my side with my arm resting over the pillow.

Ob Dementia post:  The night I broke my shoulder was the last time I let my
father drive at night. He didn't remember where the turn was to a hospital
that'd been there for nearly 20 years; on the drive home (both of us
exhausted, at three in the morning), he made a right-turn from a left lane,
tried to cross past the esplanade to drive in the oncoming lanes, and forgot
to get in the left-lane for a left turn at the only traffic light in our
town.  Even with a shot of morphine in me, it was more frightening than the
18-foot fall (and as I fell I thought I would be impaled on a steel
fencepost I missed by about two feet)).

you might try acupuncture... a friend said that it not only
stopped the pain, she's convinced that it speeded healing!

Evelyn,

So sorry to hear about your broken wing.  A couple of years ago Mom slid
off the bed and hit her elbow hard on the carpeted floor.  It resulted
in the ball socket of her shoulder shattering.  Because of the AD the
orthopedic doc didn't feel operating would make much sense because of
her inability to understand or cooperate in therapy so she wore a sling
when I could keep it on her, lol.  Anyway, she healed and except for not
being able to lift that arm straight up it's been fine.  I've been
amazed to tell you the truth.  So I guess some breaks can heal without
surgery.  

The other thing is that if you had that reaction to Percoset you might
be allergic to it.  Some years ago I was prescribed Percodan after a bad
fall on some ice that caused a disc to pop sideways.....I eventually had
back surgery.  Anyway, I had a horrible reaction to the drug with
vomiting and the runs and ended up so dehydrated that I was in the
hospital on IV for three days.  The doctor told me not to even take
Percoset because it would probably be pretty upsetting to my system.
I'd call your doctor and ask for another type of painkiller.

Take care.

SQ