Thursday, February 17, 2011

I Thought I Was Defying Gravity . . .

Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.
~Albert Einstein

Really? So I'm no Einstein. We've established that.

Remember this post? How I accidentally ran over Petunia?  I got her back from the shop, just like new, and then she sat in the garage and waited for me to find time to ride her.  It was a long wait.

Tuesday morning, all the planets must have aligned, because the moment presented itself, and I hit the road.  Me.  My iPod set on "Wicked."  And Petunia.

I was in the ZONE.  Music playing, legs pumping.  At one point it was all I could do to control myself and not throw my arms in the air Rocky-style at the pure excitement of being on the road.

I was approaching a stop light about four miles from home, so I unclipped my right foot--the foot closest to the curb--and stopped the bike.  Unfortunately for me, the road was sloped towards the intersection instead of towards the sidewalk as I had expected.  In an instant, I was falling and I couldn't extricate my foot fast enough to prevent the fall.  Instinctively, my left hand shot out to catch myself.

The second I hit the ground, I knew something was really wrong.  But I had four excruciating miles to go with no alternative but to ride home.  I told Brad when I finally got back that I thought something was broken, it just hurt worse than any other injury I've ever had.  He dismissed it--a sprain--and I resumed my day.

I proceeded to take four small children, 2 three-year-olds and 2 babies, to the park and then to McDonald's for lunch.  I may be getting a medal for those heroics, I'm telling you.  Pushing on the swing.  In and out of car seats and high chairs.  FOUR KIDS.

When I got home, I headed to the computer to work on my lesson for Thursday.  At the end of an hour I could no longer support the weight of a book, and I knew.  At least I hoped.  I texted our doctor, and he called ahead to get me an x-ray. (What?  You don't text your doctor?  I know. Spoiled.  MD is a family friend.)

An exam and an x-ray later, Dr. P determined that yes,it was broken, and that yes, I needed a cast.  At this point, I was just thrilled I could tell Brad I wasn't a big baby.  Then Dr. P (and our family doc) informed me ofthe bad news--a scaphoid break is difficult to mend, and it will be at least six weeks in the cast. Then a CAT scan to see if it's knitting.  Then maybe a new cast, or the insertion of screw.  Maybe up to six MONTHS.  Seriously?  Six MONTHS?  Sigh.

Let's just say that the cast and I--we have a love/hate relationship. I so love that the cast is helping me heal.  Otherwise, I hate it.  I need a good name for it--a tortured, pained name.  I'm thinking.  You got a good one?

On another note, I received the stylish blogger award from my friend Susan at Five Great Kiddos.  One of the requests is that we share seven things about ourselves.  Here's my angle:

I haven't had a giveaway in a while, so I'm going to work all these events (broken scaphoid, blogger award, and giveaway) into one amazing post. 

I'm going to list ten things I've discovered that are really hard with a broken arm.

One of the ten is actually remarkably easy to do with a cast.
One of the ten is virtually impossible to do with a cast.
And one of the ten is surprisingly difficult to do with a cast.

Whoever guesses all three correct will win a $15 gift card to Target.  Not that big of a deal, but this challenge is more for bragging rights anyway.  If there is more than one correct answer, I'll have Hyrum draw a name.  Are you up for the challenge? 

Okay, here goes.  Having a cast on your arm makes--

1.  opening pill bottles
2.  changing diapers
3.  fixing a pony tail on the back of my own head
4.  doing up my bra (TMI?  Sorry)
5.  tying shoelaces
6.  turning door knobs
7.  steering the Suburban
8.  eating a sandwich
9.  any personal hygiene associated with the right armpit (again, maybe TMI)
10.  picking up Evie

--extremely difficult.

I'll determine the winner on Monday.  Good luck, and have a break-free, cast-free, x-ray-free weekend. 

Petunia is up for a ride if anyone wants to borrow her.

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24 comments:

  1. Again, so sorry! I hope it heals super fast without any complications.
    Just for fun, here are my answers -
    #10 for remarkably easy
    #3 for virtually impossible
    #5 for surprisingly difficult

    You are super-mom for taking 4 kiddos to the park with a broken wrist!

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  2. What a bummer! I hope it heals quickly. A Mom out of commision is no fun for anyone!

    I'm guessing that doing your own pony tail is extremely difficult.

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  3. Oh jenny, that SUCKS! I'm so sorry. Six weeks, to six MONTHS? NO Bueno! Can't believe you went through that whole day in that much pain. You ARE awesomeness!

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  4. oh so sad! what a great post though. I think you should name your cast Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. He's definitely a tortured soul.

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  5. I can't believe you rode 4 miles back home and then went about your day with a broken arm...you are wonder woman!

    Here's my guess:
    #7 is easy
    #3 impossible
    #10 difficult

    I hope your arm heals quickly!

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  6. Jen,
    So sorry to hear this!! What a bummer! I will be praying for you! hugs, cathy

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  7. So sorry for you Jenny. I went through the cast thing and they were long weeks with scaly skin at the end. I hope you heal like the wind

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  8. I would call the cast Gargamel. Remember, he was the bad guy on the smurfs. I think driving the suburban is the easy one, changing a diaper is difficult, and hooking a bra impossible.

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  9. yikes

    I am sorry.
    I don't know, but I am guessing that #10 is easy
    #4 is impossible
    # 6 is difficult

    here's hoping it is 6 weeks instead of months

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  10. I'm so sorry - I've never had a broken bone (officially anyway) and I hope I never do. I think you should call you cast My Precious - you need it, but you hate that you need it.
    Remarkably easy: #7 Driving the Suburban
    Virtually impossible: #3 - doing the ponytail
    Surprisingly difficult: #10 - picking up Evie.
    Knit quickly!

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  11. So sorry Jen! YIKES! Take it all a day at a time...and let those kiddos help you around the house. You are my hero for sucking it up and getting on with the day! :)

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  12. I am somewhat cheating but not too proud to go to Target!

    #7 is easiest
    #4 surpirsingly difficult
    #5 is impossible

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  13. Wow, I already thought you were a pretty amazing woman, but now I know it for a fact!

    Here is my shot at the answers:

    #8 - remarkably easy
    #3 - virtually impossible
    #10 - surprisingly difficult

    I will keep you in my prayers.

    ~ Tracy

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  14. Oh my goodness! Poor you! I still can't believe that you went and did things with your kids and then some before texting your doctor! Dude! That's just insane!

    I do hope you are on the mend and that you'd heal a lot quicker than expected. It must be annoying having to type with a cast on one hand (unless you are a master at the one handed typing).

    As for your little riddle, I don't need the giftcard but I want to take a guess like everyone else. Here are my choices:

    #10 for the easy to do
    #1 for virtually impossible
    #3 for the difficult

    Get better soon!

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  15. I hope there are no pins to be put in and only 6 weeks of bondage. You could call your cast Igor the immobilizer or Mortimer the mutilator

    And never having had a cast before- but being one who applies them to others I'm going to guess #6 for easy, #7 for difficult and #3 for dang near impossible

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  16. I've never broken a bone. I have no idea what would be easy or not. But I'll give it a good O'l Canadian try.
    #2 easy
    #4 impossible
    #7 difficult
    Dana

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  17. I am sooooo sorry!
    That is not fun.
    You are a tough cookie.
    I see grown men cry with a little sprain in the ER.

    I hope your hubs feels a little bit guilty.

    I also hope that the healing is fast and perfect!

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  18. mephistopheles. asmodeus. iblis. beezlebub. lachesis. atropos.

    any of those work?

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  19. Oh! atreus. he was a mean, mean man. not as mean as the folks listed above, but he's definitely wicked.

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  20. #7 easy, #4 and #5 are difficult!
    Ill go with #4 as impossible.

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  21. by the way. i got you a present. it's at the bottom of this post: http://bit.ly/glhYTo.

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  22. so sorry to hear about your hand and I cannot even believe how long you went after breaking it before getting the cast - wowza! Now for the game ...

    #6 is impossible
    #2 is easy (though #10 is tempting for this category)
    #4 is difficult

    Well??

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  23. ohhh noooooooooooo! i'm sorry! yes hooking bra and changing dipe esp dirty one must be hard! :o(

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