That Was Fun

So, I got up and was going into the kitchen when the little black dog and my cat both decided they wanted to run under my feet. Which meant I tripped. Which meant I reached out to catch myself going down.

And I popped my shoulder clean out of the socket for the first time in about 3 years.

At the hospital they took one X-ray, looked at it, and told me they couldn't set it. There's too much hardware in the joint and it looked like it was hung up on two pins. Which meant going to the city.

Which was an hour drive. On country roads. With a dislocated shoulder.

Once I got there, at least they were ready. By that time two of my fingers were purple and I was getting bruising. They did X-rays and, yup, it was hung up and they were worried about damaging the hardware and implants.

It took two hours of manipulation to set it back into the socket. I'd refused painkillers, because they make me sick to my stomach and the last thing I wanted was to vomit while getting my shoulder set. The whole time I'm trying not to scream as they twist, shift, and pull on my arm. They ended up giving me a local shot of muscle relaxer and having a nurse stand on my back, literally stand on my back, pressing down on my scapula, to get it to shift in.

Despite the fact I didn't want any painkillers, my wife put her foot down, told them to jack me up, and they dumped me in the truck and drove me home.

Where I slept for almost 30 hours.

Now the bruising isn't bad. My fingers just tingle and ache, and my shoulder feels like there's gravel embedded in there.

But at least the pins and clips are still intact and still embedded properly. The last thing I want is to go BACK to the VA and have them try again.

So, I'm finally up, moving around, and feel like five miles of bad road.