Bone
density is breaking news in our house. My middle son broke a finger, as did my
youngest. Both suffered their fractures from playing baseball. Not to be
outdone, of course, I got into the act by shattering my wrist bones in my right
hand – except it wasn't something as masculine as playing ball.
The
first time I ever broke a bone was around 4th grade when I fell off
a cliff at summer camp. It was my left arm then. And I had a concussion, which
prevented anesthesia when they set the bone. As the emergency room doctor
pulled to realign the ulna, I rolled toward him and took a swing. I have a
recollection of connecting the punch, too. But that could be the remnant of a
shock-induced fantasy.
An
adult punching his doctor would be bad form, though the thought crossed my mind
-- twice. The first was when he plunged the needle bearing an ineffective
anesthetic into my already aching arm. The second was when he pulled to
straighten everything out. What I don't recall from my childhood episode,
however, is the unrelenting inconvenience. No doubt this is in part due to the
fact that then it was my left arm and I was a 4th grader. This time
it's my right, which is my dominant hand – my writing hand. And, I'm not
ten or eleven.
Those
are hurdles just starting the day. Go to a meeting and take notes with your
opposite hand.
There
are, however, a few upsides to this. The first gives me cool points with my
kids, which are due to the fact I had to have a Titanium plate installed to my
wrist bones. It may not be Adamantium like the Marvel
Comics character Wolverine, but its close. Not to mention that shaving has been
more effort than it's worth. So now the boys think my beard makes me look like Obe Wan Kanobe. The question for
me is are they talking about the young Ewan McGregor version or the geriatric
Sir Alec Guinness one. They laugh when I ask.
The
boys have frankly been a big help. And my wife is doting on me as much as she
can. Compared to my experience as a kid, that's an improvement because my folks
didn't dote, nor did my brothers. And since my recovery then was during summer,
there wasn't so much as a signature on my cast.
The
only problem this time around is that I just couldn't convince my wife to let
me dictate this column. So, yes, I typed the whole thing -- one-handed.
Copyright 2009 by David Falloure
