Three months after our first move to Brazil, in 1976, your mom slipped on the tile walk-way in front of our house. When I arrived home late in the evening from the office, Shannon and Shayne were waiting behind the security grate of our front window saying that “Mommy broke something.”
Thinking “Mommy” had broken our new stereo system (which was irreplaceable at the time in Brazil), I ran around to the back door and let myself in. I then rushed into the living room where your mom was laying on the couch with tears in her eyes. Without thinking, I asked (in a not very kind voice), “You broke what?”
My heart softened when learned what had happened. (To be honest, though, I was relieved that the stereo was okay).
Well, three months after arriving in São Paulo for our mission assignment, your mom decided it was again “Break Time!” This time it was her right pinky finger due to a “trip” (pun intended) to the ritzy Eldorado Mall with one of her senior missionary friends.
Your mom slipped on an uneven sidewalk walking down the hill in front of our apartment to the bus stop. To stop her fall, she instinctively grabbed onto a metal fence, which held onto her pinky as she fell. (Are you feeling any vicarious pain yet?)
What would a male do in a similar situation? Most of us would cancel our initial plans and seek pain-soothing medical attention.
What did your mom do? She improvised a splint and continued on to the Mall! (Obviously, shopping is the analgesic of choice for much of the female gender.)
When she finally got back to the office, and I finished up a work assignment, I took her to the Leforte Hospital just around the corner from our home. (Leforte is a well-respected, private French-Canadian hospital.)
The diagnosis: X-Ray clearly showed “full-displacement fracture,” just above the middle knuckle her right pinky finger. The “displacement” feature explains the weird angle the finger was pointing when I first saw it. (Any vicarious pain yet?)
I used my somewhat rusty natural childbirth skills to help your mom breathe through the pain of the doctor manipulating the finger back into position. (Pant, pant, blow guys, the story is almost done.)
Ryan, do you remember having your leg set after breaking the growth plate while skateboarding? Well, at least your mom was given a local anesthesia to numb the finger, and the doctor warned her of what was coming next. She didn’t jump nearly as high as you did when the bone was set!
The bottom line: In a splint and sling for six-weeks until the bone repairs itself. Goes to a hand-specialist in two weeks at Albert Einstein Hospital (where Bex was born and Shannon had her appendix removed).
Follow-up x-ray after the finger was set, showed perfect alignment. Surgery “shouldn’t be necessary.”
Lessons learned?
1) Keep the “trips” to the Mall to a minimum during a mission.
2) Two-left hands (mine and your mom’s) don’t make a “right.”
3) “On the other hand” (pun also intended), the injury could have been a lot worse.
4) Don’t move back to Brazil a third time. It could really be a “pain in the neck!”
Luv,
Papa
P.S. Photos to follow: (Now you’ll feel the pain!)
All’s “swell” that ends well!
CLARIFICATION FROM GRANDMA: Hey, Dad's letter needs correcting! I slipped on the stairs in front of our house... and broke my leg...I forgot one stair! And, my finger is broken at the base of my finger... right above the knuckle joint! More clarification for you!: I really wasn't smiling much!! I didn't try to grab the fence... my finger just caught it as I fell...I didn't hit the ground, my friend stopped the fall by grabbing me. I had to put my finger back in line... it was gross!
AND, I continued on to the mall because I promised a friend I would go with her to pick something up... because another friend was taking it to her kids in Provo that afternoon.
So, that is my 2 cents, just so you know!!!
