Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Busted Elbow

I was walking into work this morning. There was less than half an inch of snow on the ground, and I'd had very few issues driving in. Well, the dumbasses at Iowa State hadn't bothered to salt the parking lot ahead of the snow, because there was a sheet of solid ice covering part of the lot. And I stepped onto it and went flying...and I landed directly on my right elbow.
Wow, it really hurt. My first thought as I was laying on the ground looking at the sky was that I had broken something. The pain was awful and shooting up and down my arm. I managed to get up and get inside with the help of two very nice people who had heard me groaning in pain. Thanks, two people whose names I didn't get. Anyway, I made it into lab and my arm was in agony. Of course we have no painkillers there. I clearly need to bring some in my bag next time. I sat for about an hour just trying to calm myself down--my body immediately reacted to being hurt by freaking out and I was feeling lightheaded and nauseated, just like when I get a blood draw. Eventually that feeling went away and I managed to get some lab work done, although I had to do all my pipetting left-handed. Trying to use my right hand made pain shoot up my arm.
By noon, the pain hadn't subsided and I was getting worried, so I called and made an appointment at the doctor. I got in, spent a long time waiting because it was really busy, and eventually got an exam and x-rays. The good news is that I didn't break my elbow. The bad news is that it's bruised to hell and back and retaining fluid. Unfortunately all I can do about it is take NSAIDs, ice, and gently wrap it and try to be nice to it. It could be a couple of weeks before it's completely back to normal.
The only good thing that came out of this is that I went home after the doctor's appointment and it's lucky that I did. The snow was so bad that I wouldn't have been able to get into my parking lot if I had stayed at work until 5 like usual. I had to get out and shovel just so that I could pull all the way into my parking spot.
That's the story of my busted elbow. Apparently my bones are freakishly strong, since I have escaped breaking a bone yet again.

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