Curiosity Killed the Cat

422

Curiosity Killed the Cat

                I’ve heard many people say, “I’ve never broken a bone before.  Sometimes, I just want to so I can see what it feels like.”  I can tell you right now.  It feels terrible, and it is one of the most annoying things that could ever happen to you.  About six weeks ago, I flipped off my bike and broke my radius near the wrist, and the end broke off and dislocated to the bottom of my wrist.  I will have my cast taken off in three days, and it’s going to be comparable to getting braces off, if you’ve ever experienced that. 

                In my opinion, the worst part of having a broken bone is taking showers.  You basically have two options.  The first is to wrap a garbage bag around the casted area and use duct tape to make sure no water will leak in.  The second is to buy one of these bags with a plastic ring and rubber that squeezes around your arm and practically cuts off your circulation.  I used the second option.  The biggest problem is that it is hard to reach the shoulder and arm opposite of your broken arm, so it is very difficult to wash it and to dry it off.  I’m sure that taking a shower with a broken leg couldn’t be very exciting either.

                Before I broke my arm, I didn’t know that bone fractures very often cause permanent distortion to the bone.  The doctor told me that he had a hard time deciding whether to put a metal plate in my arm, or to just move the bone back into place and hope that I had enough growth left for it to heal back together.  We ended up not putting in the metal plate, and I am very fortunate that my bone has grown back extremely well.  One of my classmates told me the other day that he broke his arm, and it never really grew back right, so now his arm swells up when he uses it too much.  I’ve also sat next to a guy in Municipal Band that broke his arm in a similar way that I did when he was twenty-seven, and he has a metal plate in his arm, and has some restricted motion.

                Anyway, breaking bones is not nearly as fun as it looks, and I will do everything in my power to never break a bone again.  If you wonder what it’s like, just keep wondering.  If you ever find out, you will regret it.