Memoir+NVCD

Fracture  The radio blared and the familiar sound of the Preston & Steve show on 93.3 WMMR could be heard. The room was almost pitch black, only small streams of light shown through the cracks between the door and the doorframe. A small fan radiated a cool breeze throughout the room.  I heard the radio and knew what time it was: 6:00AM. I reached over to turn it off when pain shot through my left arm. I jolted back, but that caused even more pain. I positioned my arm back to the 90-degree angle and with my shoulder throbbing in pain, and stared into the darkness, wishing for the pain to go away. I would not be going to school today.  An hour passed when I awoke to my mother knocking on my door. She set up a snack tray in my room, and then placed a container of medicine on it. The plastic container had 2 pills in it, one multivitamin and two Tylenol extra strength capsules. I took one big gulp of water and swallowed the pills. The Tylenol did little to mask the pain, but I still took it for the thought that it would work. All I wanted was for something to take try and the pain away. Next, I ate one of my favorite quick breakfasts – an Everything Bagel with cream cheese.  Before I could get dressed I had to get out of bed. That was when I made my second mistake of the day. I pushed myself up with my right hand and sat up. Then I got out of bed normally, but forgot to hold my left arm. I let my forearm extend causing tremendous pain to shoot up and down my arm. I had forgotten to put my sling on. I steadily made my way to my dresser, which had the sling lying on top. I carefully slid my injured arm in just like the doctor showed me the previous afternoon in the Emergency Room.  I spent the afternoon before in the Emergency Room after I tripped during a game of soccer. I was running up to another player and just when I was behind I got caught up and tripped myself. I landed shoulder-first into the dirt. I knew what I had done immediately as I have broken my arm before. What I was not expecting was the 3 day wait to get outpatient surgery as the hospital only treats life-threatening injuries immediately. I was sent off with a card for a surgeon and all in all, I waited three hours for an x-ray and a sling.  After fastening the sling, I then contemplated how I was going to get dressed. It would be difficult getting dressed with one hand. Getting my boxers and pants on was easy, but my shirt would be a whole different challenge. The only way I could get my shirt on was to take my sling back off. After unfastening the straps I carefully slid the sling off. I could see the bulge protruding out of my arm, just about a half inch. Curiously I touched it, only a small quiver of pain went up my arm, as the pain was already intense. I was then able to execute my plan; I slid my hurt arm through the left sleeve and pulled the shirt over my head. Then I had to squeeze my right arm through the right sleeve, which was tough, but with a little maneuvering I had my shirt on. I was able to slide my socks and shoes on, but I then realized I had no way to tie my shoes, so I asked my mom to tie them for me.  For the next few hours I sat watching TV and even playing video games, as both my hands worked fine, I was only limited to not being able to move my arm. All I had to do now was wait to go to my doctor appointment.  Upon arriving at the doctor’s office with my mother, I had to wait for an hour to be seen. It was a Monday after all, and I guess a lot of people got hurt over the weekend. I sat there in pain listening to my iPod waiting for my name to be called.  When my turn finally came, my mother and I were ushered into the examination room. Then after more waiting, the doctor finally walked in. He clamped the x-ray to the light so we could all see it. The injury looked minor; a little piece of bone right below my shoulder had cracked and appeared to have come loose.  “How did you do this?” The doctor asked.  “I fell playing soccer.” I said.  “Yep, Looks like you fell on it”  “Duh…” I said to myself.  The doctor then asked my mom for some information and began writing it down on a note pad. He told us that because of the location of the injury, I would have to undergo surgery in which he would place a temporary pin through my shoulder to pull the bone back together. This wasn’t new to me; this was the exact same treatment I had received when I broke my other arm years prior. The doctor set the surgery date two days later. In that time I would have to wait, with the broken shoulder. The doctor proceeded to write the directions to the outpatient surgery facility on the x-ray folder. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> “Do you have anything to ease the pain?” I said as the doctor was writing the information down. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> “I can prescribe higher strength pain killers, but the only thing to truly take the pain away is for it to heal.” the doctor replied. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> “Great.” I said frustrated, “The pain won’t go away.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> When the doctor was finished, my mother and I walked back to the car and then she drove home. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> When I got home, I really had nothing to do but watch TV. Pretty much everything else I tried to do would cause tremendous pain. Before this incident, I had never known how much my shoulder moved throughout the day. Even simple things like walking would hurt. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Although I only had two more days to surgery, I still had a long road to recovery. After the surgery, I would have to endure the pain of my shoulder during the healing process. Then, in the long run, I would have to endure weeks of physical therapy. This was only just healing problems; I would be welcomed back to school the following week with a load of work I had missed that week.