How I Spent My Summer Vacation - The End

Actually, it wasn't my end at all....just my left side. After a lifetime of right sided maladies (appendix, broken elbow, broken arm, smashed humerus ball, stitches in ankle, brachial cleft cyst) I finally damaged the left, most likely in an attempt to even things up a little. Late in the summer, immediately before returning to work, I fell off my bike. Each day, I rode around the park and every time I went down this very steep hill I thought, "Damn this would this hurt if I crashed." I survived the hill but lost control of my bike while riding up the next hill. My right foot slipped off the peddle and the bike wobbled out of control. Coming down the hill towards me was a family and some kids on bikes and I could only think about how stupid I looked crashing into the road. I landed on my left side with the bike on top of me. This lovely young woman pushing a stroller stopped to help me. She kept repeating, "can I help you up?" or "can I call someone?" I finally asked her to take the bike off of me. And then I let her know her baby was heading down the hill in the carriage. With baby finally parked, she removed the bike and I tried to stand up.

I felt the impact keenly in my face of all places and my nose was sore and bleeding. My left arm and knee had that classic look of imbedded gravel...something I have not experienced in about 40 years. I struggled to stand and called Rob to pick me up in the park. Swollen nose, immovable arm and with difficulty breathing I showered and went in to work for a few hours.

The next morning was bad and Rob drove me to Urgent Care for x-rays of my nose, ribs and shoulder. I left with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory but no broken bones. The black eye was attractive (my 1st) and the scabs were quite gross but my ribs hurt like hell. It was weeks before I could laugh or sneeze without screaming. If this was pain for bruised ribs, I can't imagine how painful a broken rib would be. As the ribs became less tender I noticed my left shoulder was still painful and I was certainly babying it. Any sudden movements induced a sharp pain and it was just getting worse. Around Thanksgiving, I called an Orthopedic Doctor and made an appointment.

I had an appointment for early December and I had to get my x-rays from Urgent Care before the appointment. Of course, I had to open the envelope and read the reports and try to view the x-rays. Guess what? My nose was broken! "There is a small fleck of bone off the very distal tip of the nasal bone and I question a small nondisplaced fracture. There is also some fragmentation of the in the maxillary spine anteriorly. Soft tissues are unremarkable." Unremarkable? Obviously, Wilfred Carey III, MD does not have experience with the Hollister nose. I couldn't find my nose x-rays among the thousands of files on this disc but I found my chest and shoulder.

You will notice the extra white stuff in my right shoulder just above ball. That must be calcium or something from the smashed "ball in the socket accident" from 1997 and explains why my right shoulder hurts too.

After a trip to Dr. Newman and an MRI and another trip to Dr. Newman, I find out I have a complete tear of the rotator cuff. Luckily, his surgery scheduler was on vacation so I get to wait until next week for the date. The surgery didn't sound too bad but the 1st round of 8 weeks of physical therapy (3 x per week for 90 minutes) will be a nightmare. If I had that much time in my life I would go to the gym and work out or something.

Happy New Year Everyone.