i had a hard time falling asleep. my shoulder hurt, but it was a dull ache that would only appear if i moved. i thought about taking an oxycodone tablet to help with the discomfort, but that would require me getting out of bed, and i was too afraid to move because of the pain so i just powered through it. eventually i did fall asleep, but i slept so stiffly my body began to ache in other places (like my back) and i lost circulation in my arm (because it was elevated on a pillow), so i woke up around 6:30 and didn't go back to sleep.
i meant to get up early anyway, since i needed extra time to get dressed. since i already had on a t-shirt, i just needed a shirt over that. i was going to go with a buttoned shirt, but found a large pullover with a wide collar. i decided to put on my jacket as well, which was an entirely different story. unable to lift my left arm, i opened my jacket on the bed and sort of backed up my left arm into the arm hole of the jacket. then i painfully pulled up the arm of the jacket so it was up on my shoulder. i then - with excruciating pain - hooked my other arm (my good arm) into the othe jacket arm hole, and slowly pushed my arm through, at the same time agonizingly tugging on my left shoulder, until i finally got both arms in. then i shimmied my body until the jacket was on completely. only then did i put on my sling. with all the extra padding from the jacket, the sling actually felt nice, albeit a bit warm.
after eating a banana for breakfast, i left the house by 10am. before i did however, i got a call from the MGH orthopedic department, asking me how i was and inquiring if i wanted to schedule an appointment for next week. "i was going to call you guys," i told the woman over the phone. "looks like we beat you to it," she replied. i'll be seeing them early monday morning to make sure the collarbone is healing properly and ask some questions.
walking around in my sling, i felt i connected with other disabled people. i saw a one legged woman striding in some crutches and wanted to yell out to her in solidarity. i ended up catching the 1 bus to copley square. the bus was pretty empty, which was perfect for me because i didn't want anyone to sit next to me and accidentally bump into my arm. i almost expected to get some sympathetic comments about my sling but nobody said anything. the only person who asked was a panhandler on boylston street who was fishing for change instead of being genuinely concerned. "what happened to your ahm?" he asked in his boston accent. "i broke my collarbone," i told him. "that sucks. how'd you do that?" "fell off my bike."
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i called brad when i arrived outside his office. i explained in a little more detail what happened yesterday. he said his husband broke his collarbone once before too, split it in a zigzag fracture from a skiing accident. i paid him the $30 and he gave me the apple magic trackpad, still in the box.
i got to mass ave-newbury street right when the 1 bus arrived so i hopped on. heading into harvard square the bus was more crowded, and i had no choice but to sit in an aisle seat with my sling arm sticking out. each time somebody got on or got off, i was got nervous, afraid they'd bump into me. sure enough, a young woman busily talking on her cellphone haphazardly swung her large leather back right into my arm. i pushed it away, she looked down and grimaced when she saw my arm but said nothing, and i even apologized for some reason even though she hit me.
walking home from harvard square, i stopped by a chinese food truck on oxford street to get some lunch. i wanted the crispy pepper chicken but they didn't have that, so i opted for the standard general tso's chicken with fried rice for $6.00. carrying it home was a choir with only one arm. the food turned out to be pretty awful, the chicken nuggets were soggy and had a faint fishy taste. the fried rice seemed like leftovers as well. the fact that it was edible was probably the kindest thing i could say about it. i was so hungry angry, i quickly ate however much i could and threw away the rest. if i want general tso's, it's better to get it from zoe's around the corner, which is far better.
a nurse from my doctor's office called me in the afternoon. they got a report about my accident and she was calling to make sure i was okay. she said if the pain got worse or if i had a fever, i should call them immediately. she also asked if i was taking any pain medication, and was surprised when i told her no, even though i did fill out the prescription for oxycodone. "oh, you're a tough guy, huh?" i don't think of myself as one, but i guess it's kind of weird that i broke my collarbone and i'm not taking any medication for it. spurred by her comment, i took a oxycodone tablet. since i already ate, what's the worst that could happen?
i think it's a little silly for apple to call their trackpad "magic." is it because it's wireless? because that technology isn't new. the gadget itself looks like a dough scraper. it's well-designed and works just like the macbook pro trackpad, except it's a lot bigger. it has to be used on a hard flat surface otherwise clicks won't register. brad didn't include the batteries but i had a bunch of NiMH rechargeable. it's kind of a splurge because i don't really need a wireless trackpad, but it's good to have if i ever go about building a desktop mac, because after using the MBP trackpad, i prefer it over a mouse. it's also the only way to do chinese writing input for machines that don't have a trackpad (although you need bluetooth for the wireless syncing).
a few other updates: farina roofing came back monday morning and put back my screen window with a brand new screen. the house is back to normal minus a few unpainted shingles. earlier this afternoon, cambridge trash pickup finally took away the 13" sony television i left on the sidewalk. i was afraid they changed their policy and wasn't accepting anymore small television sets. the weird thing yesterday i found the television faced-down with the power cord ripped out. was that for the copper inside the wiring? who knows. i just know i have a few more televisions in the basement that needs to be tossed out.
my parents came for a visit after their cafe shift ended. by father brought a few different sizes of boxes for frances' delivery, which i haven't shipped off yet because i can't carry anything for the time being. they also brought enough for to last me the next few days. my mother gave me money from my 2nd aunt and grandmother, some presents to aid in my recovery.
by that point i was beginning to feel the effects of the oxy. not so much the pain relief, which i didn't really notice, but i felt a little motion sick (slight nausea mixed with a headache) combined with a strong drowsiness. after they left, i fell asleep a little bit on the couch before moving to my bedroom. i slept from around 5pm to almost 9pm.
for dinner i heated up some mantou bun sandwich. nothing good was on television so i watched the first episode of downton abbey on comcast's on-demand watchathon. i tried watching it once before but just couldn't get into it. but now with my time on my hands, it wasn't bad, kind of has a slow simmer of a plotline. it interesting to see the actors though, some of which have gone on to do bigger and better things.
i was hoping i wouldn't have to take a shower today but i'm beginning to notice a stink, especially with my left arm pressed up against by body the whole day. the pain isn't as bad as it was yesterday, and i'm probably better at taking off my clothes with one hand now, so we'll see how that goes later tonight.
(i'm actually typing with 2 hands tonight, i have a bit more mobility in my left arm, but it's still a bit awkward because i need to have the laptop close to my body so my left hand can reach the keyboard through the sling).