Lessons from a broken arm

“On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you situate the intensity of the pain?”

Pain is not exactly an easy thing to measure. Unable to think I said 4, but should have said 6, 7 or 8… 

“Have you taken any painkillers? You probably should. Your arm doesn’t look broken because you can still move it.”

Several X-rays and scans later: triple fracture of the elbow of the “complex” kind according to the final written record.

It’s the first time I break a limb and in my imagination this type of experience seemed much worse and excruciating. Not that it did not hurt (the discomfort still lingers without the occasional paracetamol). The fall was quite violent and I could not move for a while as my body was trying to absorb the physical pain. At the emergency room, I was immobile for several hours until a doctor came to see me and calmly said: “It looks pretty bad, I need to check with the surgeon to see if we need to operate.” 

Verdict: no surgery, a cast for at least 15 days before doing more X-rays.

Now I am re-framing my life within the imposed limitations and the natural healing process while trying to achieve something with less, steadily typing the narrative for my forthcoming publication with one hand, taking easy walks in the forest and building some perspective for the months ahead. 

I like to think that most things do happen for a reason. My broken arm tells me that I should attempt to achieve something worthwhile during this time.