Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Weather Telling Bunion

Anyone remember the cartoon Bullwinkle?  Who was it that had a weather telling bunion?

Today is January 15th.  Exactly one year since, in a freak kitchen accident, I broke my arm at the shoulder.  I got several fractures, which gave the lie to my thinking I was indestructible - me big strong gal!  I had a horizontal fracture just under the shoulder joint and several pieces of the greater tuberocity (that sounds so technical! - actually it is the ball of the joint) popped off with the tendons when my shoulder dislocated, and a crack in the greater tuberocity as well.  One of my favorite moments of the experience is when I asked my orthopedist if I needed to have surgery.  He responded by saying "No! Oh no. No. Nobody would want to get in there and muck around. That's a mess."

Confidence inspiring.

But turns out he did just the right thing, which was to just make me hold still for many months.  Easier than I thought it would be.  Apart from a few squirrely moments on a couple nights where I felt like a caged animal, like I was going to chew through my sling if I wasn't allowed to move my arm!, it was not so hard and not very painful.  Pain killers work well if you have the right one for the job.  I was lucky in that the ones that were too powerful for the pain I was experiencing, i.e. the addictive ones, made me feel kinda sick so I had no incentive to misuse them.  And as soon as it was bearable I stopped taking them altogether.  

And then physical therapy, and oopsy where I reinjured the arm, popped off one of those pieces again in a fall (I have never fallen so much as when I had a reason NOT to!), minor setback, a plateau where for many weeks I was worried I'd never be able to hook a bra by myself again. Then viola! I can do nearly anything I want again... except for a few yoga poses with hands praying behind back et al which will take maybe a longer while of working on.

So, there you have it. Injured and recovered, just like that!  Except now I have that annoying weather telling pain in my shoulder.   Just like Bullwinkle.  I am told it will probably never go away... but then I was told I'd never be able to lift my children again or strap my bra so...