Well, my New Year got off to a rough start. I was scheduled to go back to work on January 6th. On Sunday, January 5th, I woke up shivering and nauseated, with certain symptoms you don't even want to know. I was sick, sick, sick that whole week. My dear sister-in-law kept in touch with me by text and came by with soda crackers, ginger ale, and anything else I needed. Her daughter, my niece, drove me to the doctor's office, where I received antibiotics and ineffectual anti-nausea medicine. I called back for something stronger and my doctor phoned in a prescription for something that was both anti-nausea and sedating.
I went back to work the next week, but didn't last out the week. Slowly, very slowly, I started to recover. I saw my doctor at the end of January, and he said my illness had been a kidney infection, and my blood test results showed my kidneys were not functioning as well as they should. I have since had a scan that revealed a kidney stone in each kidney.
In the first week of February, I took a sick day, and went back to work the next day. At work, at various times in the day, I thought, I feel surprisingly well, given how lousy I felt yesterday. Then, in the last quarter hour of the day, I tripped over a box in my workstation and fell down on our hard floor. It's carpeted, but underneath I'm pretty sure is cement. Bruised my left knee, hurt my left arm, and even smacked my nose on the floor causing it to bleed. I was pretty shook up by the time I was able to get to my feet and then drive home.
Instead of going directly home, I went to the urgent care place in my town. X-rays revealed a fracture at the top of my humerus bone, which is the long bone in the arm between the elbow and the shoulder. They gave me a sling.
A large percentage of people who hear about my injury ask if I am left-handed. No. I am right-handed, so I am fortunate that my dominant hand is not impaired.
The next day at work, co-workers told me (what I hadn't thought of for myself) that, since this was a workplace injury, I needed to start an L&I (Labor and Industries) claim. So I did. I've never done that before, so I don't know whether it's going to be a big hassle or not.
Tomorrow I go back for more X-rays to see if the fracture is healing. It's been almost three weeks since I fell. I still have a certain amount of pain from the injury. I take a lot of ibuprofen. My kidney stones have been mostly quiescent. Once in a while they make their presence felt, but not to the extent that I have to seek immediate medical attention. I try to drink lots of water.
I have an appointment in early March with a urology clinic regarding my kidneys and their stones. I keep thinking if biology means the study of life, urology must mean the study of urine. It doesn't sound like a high calling, but it is. I've had kidney stones before, and when the urinary tract is blocked the body really suffers. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
There is a Jewish prayer specifically for after elimination of waste from the body. This is an English translation:
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces. It is obvious and known before Your Seat of Honor that if even one of them would be opened, or if even one of them would be sealed, it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You even for one hour. Blessed are You, Lord, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously
Amen.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved:
for thou art my praise.
Jeremiah 17:14
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