Carpel Tunnel and Broken Elbows

I have been typing so much my right wrist is swelling. It’s in need of another carpel tunnel surgery and I have decided until the pain is significantly worse, I am not having it.


What am I doing then? I have begun to use my left hand for the mouse. I had trained myself to use my left hand until I broke my arm about 3 years ago. During the time I was healing, I went back to my right hand and never broke out of that habit again. The best way to train yourself to use your opposite hand is to play Solitaire. Oh, like you need a reason. It works.

How did I break my arm, you ask? Scott and I went out to dinner at a fine dining establishment. Best food ever! We ordered one glass of red wine each. Well, they brought out mini-splits. Oh, so cute. Because Scott was driving, I drank the second half of his bottle; just after finishing off my little bottle.

Now, I am known as ‘a cheap drunk.’ I don’t drink all that often and when I do, I limit myself to one half a hard liquor drink or a glass of wine. That night I was enjoying spinach ravioli in a cream sauce and a slice of the best cheesecake I had had in a long, long time. I overindulged all the way round.

On the way to the car, Scott had to guide me from crashing into doorways and parking meters. The sidewalk there was about 10 - 15 feet wide. We came to the car, and I was trying to figure out how to get into the passenger seat as the curb was as high as the floorboards of the car. During my deliberations, I slipped on the wet pavement and went head first into the driver’s seat. I remember I missed the gear shift by putting my elbow down on the armrest. The trip to get munchies at Wal-Mart had the employees giggling for days (Scott’s sister worked there as did Selene’s boyfriend, Nate).

Anyway, that was on Thursday night.

Friday, I was a little under the weather, can’t figure why. Saturday, I was cleaning house. My left elbow started to ache. The more I worked the worse my elbow got. I took some ibuprophen and took a nap. My elbow was still hurting. The whole night was pretty miserable. Finally, I drove myself to the ER. Scott was at work. By then, I was in true pain. There was only one x-ray taken because I couldn’t sit still or even move without pain. Yup, most common broken bone in people my age. Spiral fracture of the radius. I got a sling, pain killers, and six weeks of recuperation.

That’s right folks, no cast. This kind of break, along with broken ribs, doesn’t get any cast or tape. I sat in my chair, high on Percocet, enduring the bumps from a loving dog and being stomped on by cats only wanting me to feed them.

I had to go to a pharmacy to get the drugs. I didn’t tell you how I was dressed to go to the ER and pharmacy? I was wearing a nearly worn out sleep shirt with a giant stain, a pair of pants that were thread bare in the seat, Scott’s worn out Wal-Mart slippers, and my woolen dress coat that the buttons had fallen off. And I hadn’t brushed my hair since the day before. I shuffled through the Safeway, to the pharmacy counter, looking like a homeless person minus my shopping cart. The pharmacist said, “Wow, I’ve seen you on better days!” No shit Sherlock.