Back on My Feet Again

I'm happy to report that the surgery went well and I am well on my way to recovery!

The surgery was, for the most part, uneventful. Evidently, my surgeon discovered while in surgery that I had actually broke my humerus (upper arm bone) in two places. To repair it, he needed to attach a plate. Since they didn't have the right plate at the facility, my surgery was delayed an hour while someone ran to fetch one from another surgery center. In the end, the procedure took 4 hours. I was on my way home just 8 hours after I arrived.

My surgeon's medical assistant observed the surgery. When I saw her at my follow-up appointment a week later, she said it was by far the "best" one she observed. "Very bloody and all in the joint." So glad I could contribute to her education!

Attached are flouroscope pictures of my elbow and wrist. The top and middle are views of my elbow. There are five screws in the plate and two more were needed to attach the second broken piece. The bottom is my wrist with one screw. I now have a grand total of 14 screws in my body--these 8 plus the 6 I already had in my clavicle. At this rate, I'll have about 40 screws holding me together by the time I'm 80! My classmates think I should start wearing a helmet on a daily basis.

The recovery from surgery was very smooth. Friends have all pulled through in a big way. My good friend Monica was able to stay with me for the week following the surgery to help me through the pain, track my meds, huttle me to follow-up visits, and generally cater to my every need. (THANK YOU Monica!) And my classmates organized to bring me meals for several days following the surgery. (Thank you everyone!)

I am now back in the swing of things at school, although I have less time for school work than before. I've promised myself to get 8 hours of sleep per night. And I have about an hour of physical therapy exercises to do each day. But I keep reminding myself that my long-term recovery is more important. Thankfully, my professors are all supportive and working with me to keep things manageable.

Thanks to all who have sent cards, emails, and Facebook messages wishing me well. I am truly blessed to have such a great support network!

Bump in the Road / Headed into Surgery

I was very excited to report that I bought a spiffy new 24-speed Marin Navato hybrid bike. I say "was" because, Friday morning, the bike and I got in our first accident. The bike will not be seeing much action for several months.

What happened? Nothing exciting--just accident-prone me and the asphalt. I was on my way to school, had just come down a pretty steep hill, and was turning into a parking lot that I usually cut through. I braked and swerved to avoid some chunks of loose asphalt in the road... and skidded out. Fortunately, a contractor working on a house nearby cleaned me up and took me to the hospital.

Most of the force of the fall went into my left arm. The result is a break in my elbow and a fracture in my wrist (for those who want the wonky terms: a displaced medial epicondylar fracture of the elbow and a non-displaced scaphoid fracture). Both require surgery, which has been scheduled for this Thursday. An orthopedic surgeon specializing in "upper extremities" will perform the procedure.

As for the bike, it will not need a trip to the shop although sadly it is no longer shiny and new.

I'll post again when I've emerged from surgery and slept off the anesthesia. In the meantime, I leave you with one request: wear a helmet and slooow down when you're riding your bike. They're really more dangerous than we let ourselves believe, and it doesn't have to be a collision to cause injury!