Writing Prompt — Have You Ever Broken a Bone?

Summary

The author recounts their unexpected experience of breaking two ribs while standing on an old chair during a house renovation, leading to a collapsed lung and a week-long hospital stay.

Abstract

The narrative titled "Writing Prompt — Have You Ever Broken a Bone?" details the author's personal account of breaking two ribs in a domestic accident. Despite having the bone density of a 25-year-old and not engaging in extreme sports, the author found themselves in pain after an old wooden chair collapsed beneath them. Initially, the author dismissed the severity of the injury, attending a dinner party and even winning a game of Trivial Pursuit despite the discomfort. However, the situation escalated when it was discovered that the right lung had collapsed due to the rib injury. The author was rushed to the hospital, where they underwent surgery to insert a drainage tube. The recovery process was challenging, with the author experiencing difficulty sleeping and a heightened sense of paranoia about the health implications of the injury. The incident led to a change in behavior, with the author investing in a stepladder and avoiding standing on chairs, emphasizing the lesson learned from the ordeal.

Opinions

The author initially underestimated the seriousness of their injury, attributing the pain to wear and tear from renovation work.
The author shows a sense of humor about their situation, joking about their youthful bone density in contrast to the rest of their body.
The doctor's initial reaction to the injury was perceived as lacking empathy, as he did not find the author's joke about their body amusing.
The author expresses regret for not taking the injury more seriously from the onset, especially considering the severity of a collapsed lung.
The author reflects on the serendipity of having learned to sleep on their back just months before the accident, which proved beneficial for their recovery.
The experience has led to a permanent change in the author's behavior regarding home safety, particularly when it comes to using appropriate equipment for tasks involving height.

Breaking My Ribs Wasn’t Funny

I’ve only ever broken two bones — both ribs and both at the same time. And it wasn’t doing anything extreme like skateboarding. Read Evgeny Kim’s story if you’d like a fun read.

After a bone density test, my doctor says I have the bones of a 25-year-old to which I respond, “Pity about the rest of my body.” He doesn’t think it’s funny.

So I never expected to ever break a bone, but when I was renovating my third house, the unexpected happened. The old Post Office wooden chair I had been standing on collapsed underneath me. I did not fall off that chair!

It had been used for such jobs in the past and had stood the test of wear and tear. It was getting a little wobbly but I took no notice. And then just as I stretched out to remove the last piece of wallpaper, CRASH! Down I came.

It took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened and I think I went into shock and vomited. I showered and iced my back and took a couple of strong painkillers. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were invited to a friend’s place for roast lamb dinner with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings.

I had been looking forward to it all week so I wasn’t going to cancel. Also, I knew how much he had wanted to demonstrate his culinary skills. So we went. The car ride there was agony but once I was seated with a glass of red wine in front of me I could deal with the pain. The meal was to-die-for and worth the agony. I couldn’t laugh but I could breathe, so we played a game of trivial pursuit. I won — no surprises there.

Back home to more painkillers and sleep. I was fine until the Sunday night when I ran out of them. It wasn’t the best night of my life so at 8 am I was down at my doctor’s surgery to get a script for more drugs.

My doctor told me he suspected I had broken some ribs. I knew they could do nothing for broken ribs — my grandmother had broken five falling over in the bathtub — but he asked me to humour him and get x-rays — his words — so I did.

There must have been a lot of accidents that weekend because there was a long wait to be x-rayed. I watched Shrek while I waited. Finally, my turn. I had to wait some more until the x-ray doctor came out to see me — and abused me!

— You stupid woman! Don’t you know that you can’t breathe because your right lung is collapsed?

I stammered something in reply that my breathing was shallow because it hurt so much.

I was ordered to go straight to hospital, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Actually what he said was I couldn’t go home and get some clothes and toiletries — I had to go straight to the hospital. I can’t remember how I got there but I do remember my daughter’s classmate’s father (he was a surgeon) cutting me open and inserting a tube to drain my lung.

I was in hospital for a week with that tube hanging out of me and draining into a bottle. I was told I mustn’t let the yukky fluid run back up the tube into my lung or I could die so it wasn’t a pleasant time. I became quite paranoid.

One of the happiest moments of my life came when that tube was taken out. But that wasn’t the end of the pain. The broken ribs were still broken. Sleep was difficult. I was so lucky that I had learned to sleep flat on my back only months before by sleeping on a futon on the floor in Japan.

Prior to that trip, I could only ever sleep on my side which was impossible with my broken ribs. Who knew that sleeping on my back would ever be so necessary?

Shortly after this, I invested in a small stepladder. I’ve never climbed up on a chair since that day not even to change a light bulb. I’ve learned my lesson. And I did not fall off that chair! The chair collapsed and so did my lung.

Have you ever broken a bone? Has my story reminded you of the time you broke a bone — how many have you broken at once? Were you rock climbing or abseiling or were you simply going about your everyday life unaware of what was about to happen?