When it rains, it pours

It’s Foodie Friday! This week’s theme = Heirloom Recipes!

…Sadly, I have nothing new for you this week (you can look at past Chinese recipes?) because life threw a wrench into my plans. Make sure you check out my cohosts’ blogs (Annmarie @ Fit Foodie Mama, Esther @ Chocolate Runner Girl + Jess @ Hello To Fit) though!

If you follow me on instagram, you probably already know that the wrench of which we speak = …my fractured hand.

A photo posted by Farrah @ fairyburger (@fairyburger) on Mar 9, 2016 at 3:45pm PST

I went to Brazilian jiu-jitsu over the weekend and things were going rather swimmingly until soon after we started drilling mount escapes. I was following my usual escape plan when suddenly, all of us heard an exceedingly loud cracking sound.

I didn’t actually feel any pain at that point, so I told my drill partner I was fine and we resumed. My claim to fame in BJJ is hanging on like a barnacle by death grip and I barely have any offensive tactics to speak of, but every here and again, I’ll surprise us all. (I actually got her to tap out with a rear naked choke despite my apparently-broken hand! :O )

Hello, splint

Shortly thereafter, I found that it was really swollen and excruciatingly painful to make a fist. Rhalan sprayed some biofreeze on it and I kept it iced and elevated til evening, when I realized that it was turning a blackish purple. I’d originally planned on just getting it seen when I started my new rotation on Monday, but clearly, that wasn’t a good idea.

I found an urgent care that took my insurance and the doctor palpated each of my bones and tested my grip strength, which was fairly nonexistent in my 4th + 5th fingers–off to radiology I went. :[

Imaging confirmed my suspicions of a boxer’s fracture.

A photo posted by Farrah @ fairyburger (@fairyburger) on Mar 6, 2016 at 2:17pm PST

I started a new rotation on Monday, so I drove the 3 hours over, picked up my housing packet from the hospital, headed to the apartment complex…and couldn’t find my housing papers anywhere. I figured trying every door in the complex at night was a great way to get shot, so I instead opted to sleep in my car for the night.

Monday went pretty smoothly until evening, where I had an hour-long conversation with my mom composed entirely of lies. (She kept asking about my housing and my roommate and I was not about to tell her that I’d spent the night sleeping in the back seat of my car under a street light, and thus, had yet to set foot in my apartment or meet my roommate.) I also discovered that my new housing packet didn’t have the carport number. The lady said she’d get it to me in the morning.

When I got up the next morning to go to clinic, my car was gone.

…Towed, as a matter of fact.

Oh, life.

I went to ortho on Wednesday and was told that I had a benign bone tumor (enchondroma) in the area of the fracture that caused cartilage to grow instead of bone, which explains why I managed to snap the bone all the way through. If it doesn’t decide to fill in with bone during the healing process, my chances of re-fracturing it are pretty high, so let’s hope bone decides to grow.

Projected recovery time is 10-12 weeks and I’ll be in a cast for the next 4 weeks.

Black & blue – the color of a bruise!

My mantra this week has been, “It can only go up from here.”

Not gonna lie, I’m pretty bummed because I actually have access to a gym again and was going to go back to lifting weights. And let’s not forget about the would-be clinic procedures! (Pretty sure I won’t be able to do a one-handed pap smear on anyone, but I wonder if there are any other procedures I can still do?) BJJ? Pole? Piano?

I’m trying to keep a positive outlook though:

• At least the bone tumor’s benign!
• I’m spending this weekend with some of my favorite people in the world in one of my favorite places ever! <3
• I can better relate to my patients if I come across any who’ve broken their bones.
• Maybe I’ll be ambidextrous by the end of this!
• At least I won? (I’d like to think that few[er] people can say that they still managed to choke someone out despite breaking their hand moments before?)

Plus, if next week brings me good news (Match Day is in a week!!), I will be a-okay with this week. My patients have been asking what the hecks happened to me and/or asking if I got into a fight. :p

End-of-Week-ish Recap!

• Wondering what my neurosurgery rotation was like? Check out part 1 (on the adult service)!
• Ever heard of prAna? They have such comfortable clothes! <3

• I’m sorry I’ve been behind on replying to everyone.  Since I broke my dominant hand, it’s been taking some getting used to. :/
• Have you ever noticed that bad times seem to come in threes? My preceptor said she’d burn some sage and douse me in holy water to counteract all the bad luck I’ve been having!
• If you have any tips on how to function more efficiently with one hand, please let me know! I’ve gotten as far as figuring out alternative methods for flossing, putting on boobs (bra), eating, and writing illegibly/with a 5-year-old’s scrawl).

Join us next week for Regional Foods! (I’m hoping to be back in the game by then–next week = Match Day!)