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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
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