Leave of Absence

Wow -- I can't believe my last post is dated November! What in the world have I been doing?! Holiday madness accounts for December, but I have no excuse for January ... except for, perhaps, my broken arm! That's it! My excuse is that typing takes about 7.5 times as long (10 WPM ... thanks Mom!) ever since my fall on January 10.

A and I joined some friends for snowboarding in Tahoe. After three hours of fun on the slopes at Sierra, I ate it on the flat part of a green run and fractured my distal radius (my wrist bones are intact). First Aid hauled me to the clinic at the base of the mountain in a toboggan. They pulled me, covered head-to-toe in yellow tarp, behind a snowmobile. It was an over-dramatic exit, but I couldn't walk without feeling light-headed ... probably a touch of shock.

After being x-ray'd and splinted (sugar tongue) by the clinic, we filled my pain med Rx and enjoyed the rest of our evening at the hotel with friends.

The worst part of it all (aside from trying to figure out how to be independent with a physical limitation -- I can't even put my hair in a ponytail and that drives me crazy ... on the positive side, A is getting really good at it) was waking at 3 A.M., sick-sick-sick to my stomach because of the pain medicine! I was prescribed Darvocet, took 400mg every 4 hours and was throwing up every 30 minutes from 3:00 to 7:00. Motrin has since been sufficient.

The Tuesday after we returned home, the orthopedic doc molded my arm (ouch!) and applied my hot pink, plaster cast. YES, I picked the color! I am three weeks in to my six week stay with the cast. I must admit, I did not handle my new limitations gracefully the first week, but I am doing much better now. I even hosted a Superbowl party weekend, complete with meals, games, etc!

You may know I had just started working solo as a nurse in the trauma-surgical ICU. Fresh off of orientation is not the best time to take a leave of absence!!! I dread the learning curve to which I will return in about three weeks. Until then, I am working to embrace my time off and trying to let the Lord teach me patience. (This bit of text took at least 40 minutes to type.)