Tough Break, Kid

One year to the day after shattering my right arm, I have finally looked at the initial x-ray. This is the one my friends passed around the morning after the accident, the one my father took the the office, the one my surgeon saw and told my mother I might not be able to turn a doorknob again. This is the one I told myself I would not look at until one year later.

Today, I finally did.

Ugggh. It's that bad. My initial comparison was the fault line of an earthquake.

If you've got the stomach for it, you can look at it here. Be warned, it's graphic!

And here's a look from last November, three months after the break, when my doctor in Tucson declared I was "healed" -- technically speaking.

Here's how my arm is doing one year later: I can wiggle all my fingers without any pain. My thumb took about four months to regain full motion, once the muscles and nerves learned to work around the two plates that are holding my bones together. I still have brief occasional nuisance pain in my arm above the elbow, but not enough to be concerned about. Changes in the weather and humidity tend to aggravate it.

I never had to use the prescription for Percoset I got upon discharge from Flagstaff Medical Center. Once the operation was complete, the most pain I had was from the pinch of nurses cleaning out and changing my IV over the next two days.

I've done some heavy lifting with this arm, likely against the wishes of my friends or doctors. I still have a couple of noticeable scars from where the surgeons sliced me open to insert the rods, which don't set off metal detectors. My arm can still get cranky and sore when shouldering a musket for a long time, but I'm dealing with it. Giving up reenacting is not an option. I will not, will not, drop out of going into battle.

The orthopedic surgeon who wired me back together told me he had never seen anything like this. I don't know how much he's seen, but I know he practices sports medicine, so I can imagine a bit. A friend told me this particular doctor is one of the best in Northern Arizona. If he didn't have that reputation before, he deserves it now more than ever.

But the ultimate praise belongs to GOD. We know that GOD brings good out of tragedy. Romans 8:28 (NIV) says: "And we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." When bones break, they heal together stronger at the point where they broke. So it is with my faith. All this did was make me stronger, in body and soul.

GOD IS GREAT!