Skip to main content

A wee touch of the plague





It's been an interesting couple weeks. I've had a terrible cold. No, that seems a bit of an understatement. I've been hacking up a lung, struggling to breathe out of my one working nostril, barely able at times to keep my eyes open. I'm too tired and generally feeling like I've got a wee bit of the plague. And to add to my dragging ass lethargy and hacking, my wrist and arm hurt because of the broken elbow. And I really don't want to be stuck at home. I want to be driving my new red MINI. 
Like I said, it's been an interesting couple weeks. Even for me. So, as Marie would sing, "Let's start at da bery beginning."


Two weeks ago, I woke excited because I was going to test drive a couple potential new MINIs after my morning WW Workshop. I had been shopping online through  CarGurus and had narrowed my search to two gently used, new-to-me MINI Coopers in Grand Rapids.

So maybe in the excitement, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have when I went outside to get Wally whose leash was tangled on the deck stairs. As I bent down I lost my balance and extended my arm to help break my fall. I landed hard, really hard, on my right arm/elbow. I knew almost immediately that it wasn't just bruised, because the pain was intense. But, I couldn't let a little pain and a little thing like a broken arm, stand in the way of my day so I kept mum as John and I prepared to leave the house. I swallowed four ibuprofen, drove to Benton Harbor for the Workshop, ran the Workshop and had four new members, got back in the car and drove the 90 minutes to Grand Rapids, test drove the cars, found the one I wanted, made the deposit and drove home, popped four more ibuprofen, napped, made dinner, led a conference call all the while trying to move in my wheelchair with the left arm.


For the record, I am the least ambidextrous person on Planet Earth. My right hand is so dominant, my left is afraid to do anything.



I knew I needed to get it xrayed and planned to do it the next day after I led the Workshop at Hope College but before my evening Workshop. I have my priorities. I popped four more ibuprofen and went about my day. When I finally got to urgent care, the xray revealed a broken elbow and was given a sling, told to restrict use of my right arm and to call the orthopedist for an appointment. The sling, I soon discovered, was not going to work because I need both arms to 'walk' - to roll my wheelchair, to get it in and out of my car. The discharge instructions said to restrict use 'as much as possible' which is what I vowed to do.

My immune system must have been so busy protecting my arm that it didn't even see the plague coming. Because two days later, it arrived and took up residence in my head and lungs. I slept on the couch night (I didn't want to keep John awake with my coughs) and day. No appetite. No energy. No leaning on my right arm. No opening pill bottles because my right wrist would scream. No Fun.


And I have a fairly high pain tolerance, and with my MS am numb on my right arm. Which has had me wondering, and a couple health professionals query, how bad is the pain, really????

I'm happy to report that I'm on the mend, the ortho doc said it will be completely healed in another two weeks and to use common sense (no comments from the peanut gallery), limited weight on and lifted with the right arm. Still coughing, but less frequently. And I'm back sleeping normal hours in my bed.

And best of all, I have a new-to-me red MINI

Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Ch ... Ch ... Chemo

I was ready. I was prepared. The potential side-effect list was long and one I'd had some familiarity when John went through his treatment.  So I gathered my arsenal. I had my compazine, zofran and antivan. I had my ginger chewables and chicken noodle soup. I was armed and potentially dangerous. So, chemo day with the toxic chemo cocktail starting to do it's job, I envisioned it as either PacMan, eating away at the cancer cells or a Chia Pet, allowing my good cells to thrive. With these visions, (that aren't quite Christmas Eve sugar plums dancing) and tired from the chemo, I went to bed early. Friday, under the watchful eye of my caregiving hubby, I slept most of the day away. Not really hungry but not nauseous either. I spent the majority of the day horizontal on the couch listening to my book on Audible (despite the sleep timer, I probably missed 1/3 of what I 'read'), dozing, answering calls and texts, and snacking.  Perhaps the highlight of the ...

Values - pass it on.

If you have read my blog in the past or know me at all, you know that sports in general and football in particular are not one of my favorite things to watch. Unless of course, one of my sons is playing - then get out of my way as I cheer them on! It is with a lot of frustration that I have seen more televised football games in recent weeks than there are hairs on my head. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slight . So if you're like me, you have seen the plethora of commercials from the Foundation for a Better Life. They are wonderful, heartfelt little life snippets - and they all end with the tag line, "Values, pass it on." Some of the most memorable are: The girl with Downs syndrome that is crowned prom queen. The skater 'dude' that is seen running through the alleys and streets with a woman's purse in his hands until he gets to the city bus where he gives the purse to a woman that is disembarking. He says, "You left this on the b...

A Hole in My Heart Where Sandy Should Be

The past two days have passed with little joy and I find that I'm restless and cannot focus. I don't like being home because of the thousand reminders of my sweet Sandy and yet I can't be away because I don't feel like engaging in anything other than my own personal sorrow. Yes, she was 'just a dog' but oh what a dog she was. . . I learned a lot about loyalty and unconditional love from Sandy. And in that, I believe that God gives us these loving dogs so that we can learn a little about His love for us - that unconditional love. Even on my worst day when I might not have been paying much attention to Sandy, she was still there and still loving. Wow. There is no doubt in my mind that putting her down and out of her misery was the right thing for Sandy - she must have been so riddled with cancer and in such pain. Her last day she couldn't even keep water down; I imagine that her entire body must have been affected by the cancer. Then I think back to her last d...