keep your Def Leppard jokes to yourself
Some of you may know this already, but for those of you that don’t, let me explain what I have been up to during MCS’ recent time off-writing period. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog.
On New Years Eve I went to a party with some friends in Glendale. Good times were had. Jokes were made. Games were played. Adult beverages were drank. Drunken? Drinked? Dranken? We decided to cut out of the party fairly early, around 1am. Let’s just say I started my new year off with a bang. Or maybe I should say a break. Leaving the party, one hour into 2009, I slip and fall off of a curb. At first we’re doing the whole “ha ha, my dumbass fell” kind of thing. Then i tried to get up…it wasn’t happening. Then when i tried to move my arm, it wasn’t where I thought it was. Not good. Time to go to the emergency room!
Oddly, for New Years Eve the ER wasn’t all that busy. They get me inside and give me a shot for the pain. I have never broken anything in my life, except for an iPod or two and probably my Ikea dining room table soon. I don’t know what it feels like to break a bone, all I know is that my arm doesn’t feel right, and it HURTS. They eventually put me in a wheelchair and take me for some x-rays.
The x-rays show nothing is broken and they tell me I just sprained my arm and they give me some pain medicine prescriptions, a sling, and they send me home. I am not really convinced that is isn’t broken. But now it is a holiday and then the weekend, so there is no way to see a doctor for a few days.
I am able to get in with an orthopedic surgeon the following Tuesday. A friend took me to the emergency room to pick up the hospital x-rays, and it turns out, for some reason they only x-rayed my shoulder. Awesome. My shoulder doesn’t hurt, but my arm hurts like a you know what. Maybe you don’t know what. But it hurt. Bad. So, the doctor feels my arm, and for some reason decides to x-ray my elbow. Still nothing. He is then concerned that maybe I tore my bicep. Awesome. So, the next day I have to get an MRI. The second i get out of the machine, the doctor says, “You know that your arm is fractured, right?” (sidenote to people as confused as I was, a fracture is just the fancier doctor way of saying “break”) I said, that I had assumed it was, but I kept being told that it wasn’t. So they immediately send me BACK to the orthopedic surgeon. What happened was, the ER x-rayed my shoulder, the doctor x-rayed my elbow. The break was right in between the two. So, my arm is broken, and was completely untreated for a week. Try to control your jealousy. They put my upper arm is this brace thingy(more technical talk), a new sling, and more pain meds. He told me it would be about 2 months of recovery time.
Well, here we are nearly 2 1/2 months later. And not only am I not healed, I am seeing a new doctor who didn’t feel good about the brace my arm was in, so he put me in the world’s largest cast(check the 2009 Guinness Book). My arm looks like it’s wrapped with about 423 layers, and on top of that, i have a pillow that straps around my waist to keep my arm at a certain angle. I basically have a sidecar now. Words can’t explain how ginormous it is, and how much i despise it. It’s hard to do just about anything. It’s hard getting dressed, I have to put a garbage bag over my arm when I shower, I can’t drive, I can’t really do most physical activity. About all I can do is watch movies. Lots and lots of movies.
So, life is frustrating right now. Unfortunately, I will be missing the handful of college shows that we will be playing this month and next. If you come out, you’ll be in good hands, as my trusty drum tech Claudio will be taking my place for those shows. I can’t explain to you how excited I am to get back to the drums. I hope to see you soon, with two arms.
Tony
