I can’t buckle my bra

You know when a little kid falls of a swingset and starts wailing, half from pain and half from the surprise of suddenly being in the dirt? That was my Monday.

I’m running along with my favorite Colombian running partners (Jaime and his Great Dane, Teo), on our favorite run, near the end (which is my favorite part.) (The pictures are of Jaime and Teo with an Ossobuco bone I saved for them, and the video is Jaime inexplicably testing a taser. You can see he’s a lot of fun.)

The concrete in Bogota is regularly irregular. I didn’t lift my feet over a particularly bumpy part and I went down hard on my shoulder and head. Contusions, abrasions, pulled muscles, and – surprise – abounded. I wailed like a lost kitten.

We walked back home (Jaime and Teo live next door) and I got in a taxi with my boss to go for xrays. I made very odd noises at unexpected moments when asked to move this way and that. I imagined the worst – concussion, dislocation, having problems with my neck and shoulder for the rest of my life… thank God my boss was sitting next to me, distracting me from these morbid thoughts. Just when I got a good paranoid delusion going, he would interrupt me to tell me something about work, his kids, travel, the news, whatever. I guess he knows me pretty well.

The doc was great – really looked me in the eye, was careful and patient in explaining things. He noticed what no one else at the hospital had seen: my hands were bleeding and my tshirt was stuck in the abrasions on my shoulder. He carefully cleaned everything and kept talking – also distracting me. Even though I felt intimidated and a million miles from home, I have to admit I was treated super professionally and kindly. People have said that health care in Colombia is very good – I guess I’m glad I found that to be true, since I needed it!

I sat home the last two days and today came back to work. I’m much better, most of my paranoid daydreams have subsided, and I can almost feed myself with my right hand again. When I can buckle my bra again, I will be all the way back to normal. Well, my normal, anyway. Special shout-out to my dear sister Kyna for taking multiple calls per day with questions like, “Can I take an Advil?” and “Where exactly is the clavicle?” She has been so sweet and lovely to me!