Jim Stories: Broken Hand, Bad Timing, Lessons Learned

Let me start by saying that I don't think any time is a good time to break your hand, but to be more specific, breaking your hand before a major holiday is a particularly bad time.

When it comes to breaking bones I've been a very lucky man, but now, at 62 years of age, I finally did. That alone is crazy considering all the goofy stunts I pulled as a kid. But in this case, what's possibly worse than breaking my hand was the timing and location of the incident.

So there I was, late on a Friday afternoon on the weekend before the Christmas holiday working with a piece of farm equipment I was unfamiliar with, when it suddenly slapped me on the left hand… hard. It was hard enough to break my ring finger in one place and my pinky finger in two places.

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Timing and Location:

Unfortunately at the time of the break, it was about 4:30 on Friday afternoon, I was out of town, and the nearest hospital was a 20-minute drive.

We Did The Drive:

God bless the folks at the tiny hospital, they did as much as they could for me but the breaks were in a place that was going to take more than just a splint and a cast to fix. According to the doctor consulted, who was about an hour's drive away, surgery would be required. And while that doctor would be able to see me the following week, I had to return to Texarkana.

So, I thought to myself "How hard can it be to find a doctor in Texarkana that can fix this?" The answer, unfortunately, was extremely hard, on a major holiday.

To wrap this little story up it appears if all goes well, I may get my surgery within 3 weeks of the initial break. Hopefully.

Lessons Learned So Far:

1. Try not to break any bones when you're far from home.
2. Try not to break bones when no major hospital is nearby.
3. Try not to break bones and need a specialist on a major holiday.
4. Learn to laugh a lot. It may just help keep you from crying.

It all boils down to simple unlucky timing, although it's hard to plan a bone break. Just something to think about.

Special thanks to my daughter Stephanie who took great care of her silly, and apparently clumsy father.

Say a prayer for me that all goes smoothly and healing is quick, I know I've got my fingers crossed… on my right hand, that is.

Happy New Year!