Saturday, February 28, 2009

It's not all bad

I've been thinking about this thread for quite a while. My experiences have not been all negative. Not only did I get time to catch up on some reading and movie watching, I could relax a bit and appreciate the small things, and to adjust expectations. My plan for this time of year was to get in great shape and complete my first triathlon. That won't happen, swimming half a mile will be impossible, but life goes on. 

But of course, my relaxation was my wife's extra work. 

The extra sleep I got after the first four weeks sleeping in a chair has been very beneficial in general. Whereas virtually all my friends and colleagues have been sick from viruses, I've made it thus far. I was also able to decline night-time events without any complaints from colleagues. This has been a time to appreciate the important parts of my life: family and health. To focus less on the trivial aspects of work has been mostly positive.

I've met quite interesting people at the hospital, both medical staffers and patients, some of whom in much worse condition than mine. I have connected with colleagues who also broke a bone at some point. It feels like a secret society, like the Free Masons of fractures.

At this point, when there is daily progress, along with spring approaching, I have an incredible sense of optimism.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cheers for the blog, i broke my right side humerus in january 2009 and im just beginning to exercise it, what a long time it takes to recover lol.

still the worst bit was when it happened i was home alone, slipped on ice in the back garden, got up and my arm was just hanging...now thats an image i wont forget in a long time!

Hope your recovery goes well!

Im so looking forward to the summer with a recovered arm!

Dan, London, UK
dan198203@gmail.com

Per said...

Thanks for your comment! I can just imagine how much worse it would had been, had I been alone. As I wrote, I had a nurse by my side within 10 seconds and an ambulance (with morphine) within 15 minutes, or so.

Now I'm exhausted: 60 minutes with the PT. He had new exercises ready.

rhiannon said...

Ican relate to being alone, and the arm just hanging. My break happened at 3am (sleep walking) when working in a summer camp in cambridge and not even the college porters were around, withmy family hundreds of miles away. The medical staff were amazing as were my boss and colleagues the next day, but will never forget thatfirst fear