As some of you may have heard through the grapevine, I fractured my arm Monday evening. I would like to say I have some amazingly cool tale of heroics, but it is really just a tale of being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. In all truthfulness, it was really five seconds where I went from feeling proud to feeling like an idiot.
Monday evening I got home from work around 5:15 PM. It was the Monday after a holiday weekend, so we all know that those Mondays are never the best. That Monday proved to be ultimately worse than other Mondays after a holiday. After dinner, I decided even though it was 30 degrees out, I would stick to my 2011 resolution to get back on the fitness bandwagon and try to at least get in a 30 minute walk. I headed out in the cold with my dog, Zoe and my iPod as company. We headed west through my neighborhood toward Haskin Park. It was a good walk until about 20 minutes into the walk when we headed back east to Beeman Park, which recently opened in our neighborhood.
Halfway through Beeman Park as I was walking, I suddenly found myself face first on the ground. I caught my leg on something and tripped so quickly, I wasn't even able to get my arms out in front of me. I crashed hard against the pavement, smashing my right knee, left arm, nose and left cheek. The ironic part was at the time I fell, I honestly was mentally commending myself for getting out and walking, even though it was cold and icy. My pride quickly moved to shock and then embarrassment. Thankfully, Zoe was quick enough to get out of my way, so she was not hurt.
The cause of my fall was an 18 inch PVC pipe sticking right up through the sidewalk. Since it was the same color as the sidewalk, it was near impossible to see in the evening, even with a bright moon and mostly clear skies. Dale went the next day and snapped a few photos of the pipe.
As you can see, even in the daylight it is tough to notice the pipe. At night, it was a disaster waiting to happen...and the disaster was named Tom.
After the fall, I headed straight home. I was most worried about my face, as I could tell there was a bit of road rash, but I think the cold temperatures against my face made it feel worse. I got home and my face and nose only had a few scrapes. My right knee was scraped pretty bad and my left arm was throbbing. I felt like my pride was hurt the most. As Dale tended to my wounds, it became obvious my arm pain was not subsiding. Actually it only got worse and worse as the evening progressed. We debated on going to Urgent Care but I hate going to Urgent Care or Emergency Rooms, especially at night. We both knew that if it was broken or fractured, Urgent Care would at best take x-rays and wrap my arm with a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. I decided to skip the middleman, ice it, live with the pain for the night and find an orthopedic center to go to in the morning. The night sucked. I got very little sleep, but made it to Tuesday morning.
Tuesday at 8:00 AM, Dale started calling local orthopedic centers. Apparently, broken bones are great business in Colorado, as every place close to me was booked for days (and some weeks). We ended up getting an appointment near lunch 45 minutes away North in Longmont, CO, thanks to a referral from our friend, Shannon Spencer. The x-rays showed the radius bone in my arm was fractured in two places at my elbow. It is fractured at the point that allows me to turn my arm/wrist to the left or right and extend my arm fully. My doctor had good and bad news. The good - I would most likely not need surgery (yeah!). The bad - this is one of the slowest healing fractures and would take 8-10 weeks to heal (boo!). I am in a sling to immobilize my arm. I will be in the sling for at least 2-3 weeks, so the fractures do not turn into breaks (a possibility). Eventually, I can start reducing the time each day in the sling as I regain motion in my arm. I am happy that I will probably be able to avoid surgery, but know the next two months will not be fun. Plus, I feel like a total idiot for tripping and fracturing my arm.
The fun did not end once diagnosed though. I ended up having an allergic reaction to the pain killers prescribed Tuesday, which included severe hot flashes, dizziness and nausea. I know understand menopause. It resulted in another sleepless night for me. Thank goodness for Dale, who made me as comfortable as possible, even fetching cold clothes for my forehead throughout the night. I am now on a different pain killer, which seems to do less for the pain, but at least I do not feel like I am 120 degrees with the room spinning.
Dale contacted the Parks and Recreation Department for City of Arvada, who manages the park, as well as the construction company, who just finished the park to let them know what happened and to see if they could fix the pipes before someone else was injured. Since the park is adjacent to an elementary school, we were fearful since school re-started today, more traffic may lead to another accident. The manager from Parks & Recreation and the owner of the construction company were very apologetic. The owner of the construction company agreed the pipes being left without cones or even safety tape was no smart. He said the pipes really should not have been left at all. We think the pipes are where they will be installing a pavilion this Spring and contained wires for electricity. We were pleased that by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, the pipes were removed. Thankfully nobody else will end up like me. Dale snapped a photo of the pipe removed.
So there you have it, that is my story - man tries to lose weight, walks dog, trips on pipe and fractures arm. I personally think I need a more exciting story, like I saw an old woman being mugged and my heroics to save her resulted in a fractured arm for me, but three thugs now behind bars. At the very least, I guess I could tell people that Dale beats me and pushed me down the stairs in a drunken rage. It is not true, but a lot more interesting than I tripped while walking my dog.
Thanks to everyone who sent Facebook messages with support. I appreciate the kindness.
