Last Sunday was a big day... my new nephew Brodie got to meet his super strong mama and proud daddy, one of my heros, George Carlin, died, and I broke my wrist.
So everyone has seen pictures or has met baby Brodie, and we can all enjoy Carlin in books and DVDs, so I'll just update on the large lump of plaster and steel I have lug around.... I think my arm is in there somewhere...
OK... I broke my left radius just above the wrist. In order to make sure the bones heal as straight as possible and to make sure I don't lose any mobility or strength, the doc did a procedure known as trans-ulnar percutaneous pinning... thin steel pins were drilled through my ulna and into the radius in order to fix the bones in place. The pins will stick out of my arm about a half inch, but I can't see them right now because of the HUGE HEAVY dressing. It is in pieces (so it can be opened and the pins checked and cleaned) but the panels are thick plaster wrapped and wrapped from elbow to knuckle. I'll keep this hard cast on for three weeks and they will x-ray again next week... and then 10 days after that. After three weeks, the cast will go away and I'll get a lighter "pin guard" type brace to wear for another 6-7 weeks, but I'll be able to take that one off on my own.
Is it painful? Ummmm yeah. Once the nerve block anesthesia wore off last night, I considered pounding my head against the wall in order to lose consciousness... but the oxycodone finally kicked in and i slept like the dead. Now I'm trying not to go crazy.... I don't like being inactive. In addition to the arm pain, my shoulder aches from whatever they did to me in surgery, and I've got a huge bruise in my armpit from where they had to dig for the nerve. fun fun fun.
I've got movies, a book, and good drugs.
Hey, it could have been worse... it could have been an ankle or my right hand!
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