Dom: “Hello”

Rakkity: “Hi Dominic, I’m calling from the emergency room.”

Dom: “What?!” Rakkity: “I just wanted to tell you I won’t be able to
play racquetball tomorrow morning.”

Dom: “What happened?”

Rakkity: “Well, I was playing racquetball with Patrick and Katie this afternoon, and when I returned the ball I ran into the wall with my left shoulder. I got a shoulder separation.”

Dom: “You’ve got to stop doing these things to yourself! How bad is it?”

Rakkity: “The doc tells me it’s between grade 2 and grade 3. It’ll be a few weeks before I can play again. But we’re going to Budapest and Prague this Monday, so we wouldn’t be able to play anyway for a couple of weeks.”

Dom: “How am I going to stay in shape if you keep mangling yourself, and I can’t play racquetball? I’m just going to get fatter.”

Rakkity: “Sorry! See you later.”

Sometimes an ill wind blows somebody good. Just as the paramedics were heading towards me in the gym, they looked over my head toward the pool. Signs of alarm appeared on their faces. A 4 or 5 year old kid had just run into the side of the pool, and was being dragged out of the water by some adults. I stood up. The head paramedic said to me, “I see you can walk. That’s good. It looks like there is something more serious over there that needs our attention. Patrick said, “I can drive him to the hospital.” The paramedics ran down to their new emergency while Patrick escorted me out to his car.

Half an hour later we were sitting in the ER at Adventist Hospital waiting for a doctor when we saw a gurney roll by with the same 4 or 5 year old kid on it. After another hour or so, my X-rays had been done, and Dr. Ravi had introduced me to a new word, Acromioclavicular. Two ligaments in my shoulder had split, and the one of the (acromio? clavicular?) bones had sprung upward, making a huge bump under the skin. I was told it would heal by itself without surgery, and they gave me an immobilizing sling that I have to wear 24 hours a day for the next few weeks.

Just about then, the 4 or 5 year old kid came walking down the hall, his head showing some stitches. His father looked in at me, and I said, “Your son used my ambulance! How is he?” He said, “He’s fine. What’s wrong with you?” “Separated shoulder.” “Aha! I had one of those when I was hiking a a long time ago. It healed up by itself without surgery. Good luck!”

After a percocet or two I started to feel better. And now I’m re-learning to do things one handed again.