Broken Bones

I have decided that all I can do is laugh. If not, I'd cry. This has been a week for freak accidents.

Monday night, I was hit by a falling object (too confusing to describe, so just roll with it here) and my right forearm swelled up the diameter of a baseball and the height of a golf ball. The bump felt awful, until the numbness set in. My hand was swollen and my wrist hurt every time I moved.

I thought it might be broken, but as it was 11 at night and ERs are hours of waiting, I crawled into bed and slept in a sitting position after 600 mg of ibuprofen and 20 minutes of ice.

The next morning (Tuesday) I drove 40 miles to the urgent care clinic where my best friend's husband is the doctor. Dr. Jon was a top ER doctor before moving to urgent care, and said I did the right thing. Since nothing was sticking out, his advice is just go to the urgent care. I did, and I was in and out in 25 minutes compared to what could have been 4 hours in the ER. As it was, I was lucky. My bone wasn't broken and I just had deep internal bruising--basically a soft tissue injury. So I'm staying on the ibuprofen and staying away from bumping or using my arm to lift things. Even better, my friend Cynthia (Jon's wife) met me there and afterwards took me to breakfast. I continue my streak (knock wood) of never breaking a bone and never needing a cast.

However, my mom wasn't so lucky. A week ago someone started banging on her door at 1 AM. She didn't answer, and later learned that someone must have driven off the road as her flower bed was torn up. Around 1 AM on Sunday the 15th, a 17 year old went off the road and into the horse pasture, tearing up the fence. This is the 4th accident in this area in 7 years--people simply crest the hill to fast. So she's submitting the bill to the insurance company. I was typing up that fax for her when she came down and honked her horn.

Turns out that her sprained ankle was really a break. Wednesday afternoon my 71 year old mother was tap dancing, and she had an accident. She put herself in the car, drove home, and basically endured 24 hours worth of pain before Thursday afternoon, when I told her to go to urgent care. When she drove down to my house afterwards, she told me the x-ray revealed she'd broken the leg bone above her ankle. She's in a cast and off to the orthopedist for further assessment and treatment.

My poor mom. All week she'd been telling me how lucky I was--since my life would have been unbearable to have my dominant right arm in a cast. However, it was as if fate was determined that one of us needed a limb in plaster. However the doctor promised her she'd be back to tap dancing soon. The neighbor will keep watch over her while I'm at work (my mom and I live 1000 feet apart, each of us on acreage) and the insurance company will send her a nice check. But I think I'm ready for Monday.

Michele