My last entry here was early April. So April and May were mostly about work, though I did give notice at my place of work at the end of April. May 31 was my last day. The CFO was retiring and I decided it was a good opportunity for me to move on as well. The institution I worked for was having serious issues financially and I didn’t want to hang around and watch it dissolve any further. I also was experiencing high blood pressure which I hadn’t had in the past. Rather than go on medication, I thought rest would help. It has and I’m happy to say my BP is much better these days.
On June 1st, my daughter graduated 8th grade. The plan was to go on a vacation with my family and come back and work on my weight and BP. We got to Ithaca for my husband’s 35 year college reunion, and then headed to Boston. I had never been and wanted to see it. The plan was to spend a few days in Boston and then visit friends in Providence, RI, finally heading back to my in-laws in New York.
After a couple of days in Boston we got tickets to go to a Red Sox game at Fenway. My husband is a long time Yankees fan and it crushed him that his daughter (who was indoctrinated to also be a Yankees fan) was going to see her first baseball game on the East Coast at Fenway. But we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go to a game at the fabled ballpark. Alas we never made it inside. While looking for the gate to enter, I ended up catching my foot on an uneven sidewalk. I went down hard. I didn’t hit my head but something was very wrong with my right arm. I was in a bit of shock, and a lot of pain. People tried to get me on a chair but I couldn’t. An ambulance ended up being called and I was taken to the hospital. Lucky for me, it is one of the teaching hospitals for Harvard. That made me feel a bit better.
Being a major trauma center, the hospital was quite busy. I was conscious though, and not bleeding so I wasn’t at the top of the list to be seen. Thankfully though I was and had xrays taken. Long story short, I had dislocated my right elbow, fractured my ulna, “smooshed” my radius and also had a fractured ankle. I got pain meds after about 2 hours. Then they had to relocate my elbow. That required propofal which I only knew as the drug that killed Michael Jackson. As they were about to give it to me a small crowd appeared in front of my little draped off section in the ER. This was a teaching hospital. Next thing I knew my arm was being splinted. I’m told it took three tries to relocate my elbow, and I yelled a bit, but thankfully, I remember none of it. I ended up staying in the ER overnight. The initial plan was to admit me for surgery. Thankfully our friends drove up to get our daughter and she got an extra night in Providence with her bestie. Steve though had to pack all of our things and check out of our AirBNB. He got a hotel room nearer the hospital.
When I finally met with the surgeon, we agreed it would be better to have me head back to California and deal with it at home. Our insurance isn’t in Massachusetts was one of the main reasons, but I also didn’t want to get stuck in the hospital for longer than necessary. We moved up our flight and shifted it from Newark, to Logan in Boston. We got back late on a Thursday. The next day we went to our local ER and started the process to get my arm fixed. The following Monday I had surgery, and I am now 3 weeks post surgery.
My range of motion is terrible and I’m in this armature which mostly is to make sure I don’t do anything stupid. The full recovery takes 12 weeks so I’m 3 weeks in at this point. Of course getting my full range of motion back will probably take months, but believe me, I’m in a lot better shape now than I was just a few weeks ago. I’m off pain killers, though I still keep up a pretty regular use of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. I can’t lift anything with my right arm heavier than an iPhone. Of course I’m right handed so I’m doing my best to become ambidextrous.
I’m incredibly bored, as I can’t drive. I’ve only recently started walking as I had a boot on my right foot up until a week ago. Unfortunately it has also been in the 90s here lately and I’m not one to get up early these days to walk. I only recently started showering, as I had a splint on before which I couldn’t remove. This had me taking baths with some help from my dear husband who has taken on a LOT since all this started. I don’t know how to ever repay him. Just grateful wedding vows include sickness with health!
There are other details which I could share, but this is the most typing I’ve done since June 12th! Hopefully I’ll have an update in the next few weeks.