My mother has breast cancer with severe bone metastasis. She broke her
right forearm in a fall with a clean fracture. She's right handed. Her
heart is badly damaged from the either the chemo or the Herceptin and
is only functioning at 25%. Her oncologist said that there is no
further oncology treatment she can tolerate. I think she's going off
Arimidex too, although she may still get Celebrex. She has opted not
to have surgery to repair the arm because the cardiologist said that
it was extremely risky for her to go under anesthesia, and her
oncologist said that the bones were so brittle from metastasis that
she doubted a bone graft would do any good. Without the use of her
arm, she can't hold herself up on her walker. The hospital offered no
alternative. We're trying to get her into Calvary Hospital in the
Bronx for palliative care.

Is there anything else that can be done to restore the function of her
arm. The oncologist said that they can't use a local anesthesia for
bone surgery. Is that correct? Is there no equivalent to an epidural
like the one my wife had during childbirth? Are there any external
devices that can be used to immobolize the fracture by still allow her
to use her arm? Even using 2x4's seems better than just leaving it
dangle in a sling. She can still write if the pen is in the correct
position.

Is there any other group that would be appropriate to post this to. I
don't think it meets the posting guidlines for sci.med.orthopedics?

Thanks for all replies