Sticks and stones…

… and pavement, apparently. Four weeks ago now, I fell in the street and broke my right arm (humerus) quite badly. Here’s how it looked when I went to the emergency room that night.

As you might be able to see, the shaft of the bone snapped right through, and also part of the joint head separated, too. It was extremely painful. I had to wait a week for an operation at the University of Washington Medical Centre. Here’s an X-ray they shot while I was on the operating table.

I’m not sure what that metal thing at the bottom is, but certainly nothing good. It turned out to be a more complicated fracture than they had thought, and the operation took around 4.5 hours. I’m now recovering slowly at home, trying to balance my pain with my pain medications, trying to get some sleep (I have to sit upright) and trying not to annoy Karen too much.

Last week, I went in for a post-operative X-ray and some advice.

So there’s the plate they put in, complete with nine (I think) screws. This will stay inside forever. The wound itself has healed up quite nicely already but I have around six months to one year of recovery and physical therapy ahead of me.

I will find out in about four to eight weeks from now whether the surgery was a complete success. If not, I may have to have another operation or something more serious. Until then, fingers crossed!