Sunday Sundries--Slambook Question: Biggest Smack Up Side of the Head

I mentioned in previous posts about the slambooks I used to pass around with my pen pals as a young girl. I would make little stapled booklets out of pretty paper with different questions with spaces for certain numbers of people to answer. The last one on the list was to send it back to the originator. I got very few back.

I got some information late last week and this week that smacked me up side of the head. I need rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder. Here is the link for WebMD:

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/rotator-cuff-repair

Here's an image of what we're dealing with:

Yuck, I know, right?

After the MRI, which was another of the weirdest experiences I'd had in my life I do not wish to repeat, I was told I had "significant damage." I fell back in November and there is cumulative damage that aggravated the injury in April, when I carried all those bags on our trip to Las Vegas. Duh. We tried to fix it with physical therapy and a cortisone shot directly in the joint (Yuck, again, right?), but when I do things, I do them big. The surgeon will actually be doing four procedures.

So, surgery is scheduled in the middle of August. I had to apply for FMLA and short-term disability and I am so grateful I have good insurance through my work. I will be off work six to eight weeks, with my right arm and hand basically useless. My husband has asked for time off too, as I'll need help doing a lot of minor and major things.

Here's the first amazing coincidence: one of my heroes is a medically-retired Marine who was shot while serving in Afghanistan in the right shoulder. That was decided years ago. Now I'll know some of the physical therapy he needs to go through for the scenes in the second book in his series.

Did I mention I'm right-handed?

Did some research and I've practiced using my left hand. My husband is a lefty and he laughs at me. When he was in a motorcycle accident, he had the sense to smash up his right hand.

I had a little experience several years ago where I slipped and landed on my right elbow. I had a few weeks of trying to use my left hand and it wasn't easy, but I could get a lot of things done.

Second amazing coincidence: the son of my hero mentioned above is left-handed and I have most of his story written. He is a baseball player (many pro-athletes are left-handed) and becomes an architect after his pro career (another career for those south paws).

Third amazing coincidence: Left-handers' Day is August 13th, right before my surgery on the 15th.
http://www.lefthandersday.com/tour2.html (where the above graphic came from)

While I was hoping for some time off for me to get some writing and organizing done, this was not what I meant. God is indeed laughing at me. I promise I won't obsess about it too much over the next eight weeks, but I still need a lot more practice typing with just my right hand and copying and pasting.

After all:

So, what was your biggest smack up side of the head recently?

This next week, I'll be in training (like I'll remember any of this when I get back....), so I'll be working a day shift instead of my usual nights. Yeah, it's going to be weird. Take care and be sure to stop by for a visit to follow my adventure!