Okay, Another Broken Wing Update

I've had enough excitement for one day today. I went out to take care of some "cat clients" (gotta keep the pennies coming in, especially now!), stopped by my watering hole that is in the cats' neighborhood to say hello to my pals there (I drank only coffee, for the record), and then caught the train home after I tried again to photograph a special image for PZ's birthday gift (it is scheduled to appear at 8pm EST). I've been trying to capture this particular image for several weeks, but I didn't like any of them, and after I broke my wing, well, my photography skills, meager as they are, diminished further.

So I set out to go home and, as I was walking down the stairs to the AMNH subway platform where I was going to try for that special picture for PZ once more, the heel of my shoe caught on the edge of a step and I nearly fell head over heels AGAIN, GAH! Of course, this loss of balance made me jerk my broken arm (yeeOWOWOOWWCH!), but I did manage to stay upright and to hold on to my precious laptop with my one good hand, despite this renewed assault on my senses.

So that was my adventure, and I survived it without any medical intervention. Whew.

Even though the trains are all gummed up today (ho-hum), I finally made it back to my neighborhood and now I am at my coffee shop, safe and sound. My pain is much reduced today than it has been, although my thumb and index finger are tingly-numbish, the swelling in my arm is still pronounced, and the bruising is simply spectacular. I am tempted to take a picture to show off all the pretty colors since it resembles an impressionist painting with the large splotches of black, blue, purple, yellow and a strange sort of neon greenish-yellow. Besides, it seems this coloring will be the only thing I have to show for all my pain these past eight days.

I suspect I might have a second fracture, of my elbow, probably of the olecranon process, but maybe the medial epicondyle of the humerus (I can't tell for sure if there is a second fracture, but it sure would explain a lot of pain in my elbow). But at the time of the injury, the hospital couldn't have found a second fracture in my elbow, if indeed, there is one to be found, because I would have passed out if they had tried to move my arm into the proper x-ray position to see that.

And yes, because of the swelling, I am going to seek a another second opinion -- this time, at a different hospital. I will do that tomorrow. So tomorrow evening, I will have some news, hopefully.

Anyway, it's nice to know that all my teaching of college and university-level anatomy and physiology is finally worth something (since neither my esteemed colleagues nor my paychecks gave me that impression).