...Loaded up and truckin'. We're gonna do what they say can't be done...

After running a few ideas by the wife and running the numbers we may be singing along to Jerry Reed in a few years. I've gone from despair to optimism.The monthly cost will go up a little bit but we'll pay it off two years sooner and with no interest which means we save $2000.

In a bizarre turn of events I've become enamored with the brown (Caribou) paint over my go to blue. I've seen both colors in the wild and the brown is just straight up prettier. It would also match the camper we're considering. These types of things are important to me. I've also figured a few extra options to spoil ourselves won't break the bank so we're going to try to get a loaded (at least for us) truck. This is a big deal for me.

I've taken delivery of a few new cars in my day and they're almost always the base model or very small step up. Hub caps, unpainted mirrors, and manual transmissions have adorned my featureless cars. My last two wagons have had quite a few creature comforts and my current Outback is a step above the base model. Craziness.

We're considering a few campers. The pricey one we really want appears to be hard to come by in the central states so unless we want to pay an arm and a leg and order one with everything we want we'd have to take a considerable road trip to buy off the lot and in both circumstances we wouldn't get to take a good look before making our decision. Ordering one sight unseen is out of the question for me and driving 1500 miles to simply take a look then mull it over for a day or two in a hotel then potentially leave with nothing is not my idea of a good time. Plus I'd much rather have my maiden voyage be a short trip. We've found some slightly less roomy but very viable options. They've even had some with attractive color combinations and features.

My notebook is getting filled with good stuff.

How A Crazy Person Buys A Caravan

My wife loves to plan while I'm more of a seat of your pants kind of person. My wife likes to pour over all of the details and keep a binder when putting together a family Disney trip. This may seem like work for some people but for her it's fun. It gets her excited for the trip. I don't plan much but when it comes to buying anything I like to know what I'm getting.

Here's where I become a crazy person. You might think two years in advance is too far ahead to start planning a vehicle purchase. Yeah, well, how about four years for a camper? I'm doing both. Yes, a large notepad is involved.

Is two years too soon to start planning that vehicle purchase? It's not if you like getting those white whale deals everybody talks about but few get. The MSRP of a vehicle is one thing but what a dealership pays is another thing. I like to see how long it takes for models to sit on the lot versus order and build dates. That way I have extra leverage with the dealer that wants to move inventory.

There are four of those in the area and each one orders different options and sells with different mark ups. I know the dealer that tends to order the options I prefer so now I need to figure out how long trucks sit on their lot. I want to pick one out in March or April and have it still be there in June or July when extra incentives are available for year end model clearance. The name of the game is eating up as much dealer profit as I can. Don't worry they'll make a couple hundred bucks off me so their kids will still have shoes when the school year starts.

I'm doing the same thing for travel trailers. Along with watching dozens of how-to videos and taking notes I'm also working on tracking down dealers that keep the types of travel trailers we want to see how far we'll have to travel for one and if there will be enough of them available to purchase when the time comes.

By the end of it all I will have cork boards with photos, push pins, and red thread all over my office.

Caravan Club 3

Now that I've got a battle plan for buying everything new and magically keeping costs under $1000 per month, I've decided to figure out how to slum it. That doesn't mean I'm going to find a cheap truck with a tow hitch and 100k miles. I still have my family to think about and I'm not about to leave us stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere because my ancient truck broke down. Same goes for the camper. There's a certain level of cleanliness that I require and most of the used travel trailers I've looked at appear to have been used by Walter White before being traded in.

As far as MSRP goes, $20k is substantial but I'm not paying MSRP for a new truck. We're looking at a savings of $8000 for a three year old truck. That gets us a three year old truck with around 30k miles on it. With a lot of TLC, these trucks are good for about 200k miles. It's a fully capable truck for the largest travel trailer we'd buy. The only things we give up are simply creature comforts. Sync 3 with Apple Carplay and the trailer backup assist are not essential but they'd make life a whole lot easier. Seat heaters would be missed on cold days but remote start and a giant gas tank can are not vital since we stop pretty often when traveling.

How much do I save with that used truck? $100 a month or $8400 over the life of the loan. Which seems like quite a bit until you figure in those miles. That's three years sooner that the truck would have to be replaced and three years sooner for a major service. Replacement could be at least ten years down the road and probably then some. The major service is what eats up a chunk of the savings. It's hard to stare down $8400 (plus a little bit more for insurance savings) but at the same time, this is a long term deal so things cancel each other out.

The travel trailer is where I just can't seem to convince myself a slightly used trailer is worth it. RV loans are usually long term so a few thousand bucks over 120 months is about $25 a month in savings. Worth it? No.

In the end, We're looking at maybe $200/month, tops in savings by going used. Factoring in down the road costs like maintenance and fuel costs for the less efficient truck it's more like $150 to $175/month. The question that I'm left with would be how much is convenience worth? I could make up that difference with a few lifestyle changes I'm trying to implement at the moment. Stretching out my wardrobe and abandoning snacks helps. Or we could just abandon the idea altogether and I can get my wife a new car.

Decisions, decisions.

Caravan Club 2

I've been working on the numbers and trying to figure out not just what to buy but when to buy it. The latest and greatest hurdle is what I had feared at the beginning. Trucks are expensive. We're talking luxury car prices here. Yes, they come with incentives so your average Joe can afford one but apparently your average Joe has to settle for a used truck with 100k miles on the clock. My original goal was to do it all for under $500/month. That's truck, camper, insurance, and storage. Can't do it.

I have to buy from the lot to get the "deal." It snows here so every truck is going to be a 4X4 which makes trucks expensive. People in my podunk neighborhood have these expensive trucks so either they're leasing them or taking out a second mortgage to pay for it or they just buy a used one with a shit ton of miles.

I even tried to trim the fat. Originally, I thought, "I'm going to have this truck until the day I die so why not get a few options." I've always gone base model with the exception of my Outback and even that just has a few minor upgrades. Anyhoo, I stripped the truck down to bare essentials. I ditched the beefy engine which means I sacrifice about 2000lbs for towing but now that I know how much this all going to cost it looks like we'll be pulling a small trailer for the rest of our lives. I was expecting to see a calming drop in the monthly payment but alas, it was about $20. You're probably thinking, "That adds up over time." but it really doesn't. In fact, the cost savings is so minuscule it would be silly to not get the few extra features that would make owning and towing substantially easier.

Since sales tax is in the ballpark of $3200 we're going to need to bundle that into the financing which eats up about a fourth of the incentives so I'll be looking to see if I can combine additional incentives to the 25% discount. That would cover the bulk of the sales tax and give us a little breathing room.

Campers come with the same incentives but the camper we want is still going to ring in around $20K. We'll be getting an extra $1000 worth of accessories that we need like weight distributing hitch, leveling supplies, shit hoses and what not. Getting it in under $200 will be tough. In hindsight, getting the truck five years ago would have been a good idea but then the wife wouldn't have anything to drive our son around in.

The whole thing is pretty discouraging. I'm going to put together a backup plan with a used truck to see how affordable I can make this but that eats into the longevity of our plans. I really want to do this and be done for a good 15 to 20 years. That way when I hit my 60's and Henry moves out maybe we'll buy a new truck instead of having to replace a used truck at around the time it's paid off.

At this point it looks like this is going to cost a lot. Fuck.

Caravan Club

For some time, owning an RV and taking road trips and camping was a silly idea my wife and I had. We both thought it would be something we'd love to do... some day. It was always something we'd do eventually when we were older or later. Now that we're pretty much resigned to having just our one child, the few hundred bucks a month it would cost to feed, clothe, and medicate a second child could easily go towards the cost of owning a camper and the massive truck to haul it about.

The original plan was to find the lightest yet roomiest camper that we could pull behind my Ford Flex which we have long since traded in for a much smaller and weaker Subaru Outback because the massive Flex was too big for Jill to drive about and her Sentra was too small and unsafe to drive our child around.

The 175hp four pot in our Outback won't be able to pull anything we could comfortably live in for a week nor would the 256hp sixer in the pricier Outback. Plus the base price of the Outback 3.6r is just a few thousand dollars shy of a 365hp Ford F 150 which will pull about four times as much as the gutsy Outback. Still, that's a lot of money for a vehicle and way more than we've ever spent.

I understand that cars are more expensive now than they were just five years ago. The days of moderately equipped family vehicles around $20k are gone. The day of the $50k truck with massive discounts is the new hotness apparently.

I was initially discouraged because even with the fairly substantial discount I get through my work for new Fords, even the most stripped down truck I could build on Ford's web site still clocked in at $40k and that was for the base model with just essential options. I've been looking at local dealerships to see what they had because there are ways to get better pricing on Fords. I did it with my Flex so I should be able to do it with an F 150, right? Yes and no. Getting those killer deals involves buying off the lot and my stripped down, $40k rig doesn't and probably won't ever exist on the lot. What do they have you ask? A whole rainbow of $50k trucks with all the options I bunch I don't in every color except the one I want unless I opt for the $60k model. Yes. $60,000 for a damned pickup truck. Yes, it's decked out like your average luxury car but we're not luxury car people and I don't make enough money to afford that much truck. Also, they don't offer the crazy discounts on that fancy-ass truck.

So my eyes are fixed to the expensive but discounted XLT with all the bells and whistles that will make road tripping pretty fantastic. The price, with a "model year-end" discount of about %25 off MSRP puts us around $36,000 which is still very expensive and may prove to be too rich for our blood. On top of that, I like my cars blue. I've gotten other colors due to poor selection and I've hated them but the name of the game is getting a camper to and from wherever we go comfortably. I still draw the line at silver and grey. The brown is nice as is the red with the latter seeming to be in abundance on lots with the options I need. We may still go used because we can save upwards of $75/month if we wheel and deal on a used car. The only stinker is that used cars aren't as easy to wheel and deal with and I'm going to try to bundle the astronomical sales tax into my financing which, with $12,500 on the hood, I should have no trouble doing.

Now that I look at it, if I can't find a blue truck I'm going to hate it every day.

That's the truck side. It's going to cost a lot and will take us a solid seven years to pay it off. The camper is pretty much the same deal. Lots of money but hopefully not too much.

This little beauty is actually a bit larger than what we original wanted. Still it's just a tad under 25' and weighs about 5300lbs dry. Add in the family, water, and our provisions and we're probably around 7000lbs which is about 4000lbs shy of what the above truck can pull without breaking too much of a sweat. If we ever decide to go bigger we'll be able to without too much trouble.

It has a slide out section on each side that will give us a ton of living space. We'd option it out with a couch that a murphy bed flops down on when it's time to sleep. Our son would sleep on the dining table that turns into a bed. We'll be quite cozy.

The MSRP is around $27k and we're probably not going to see much of a discount since we'd likely have to order one. Still, the universe owes us a win so maybe it's out there and will be waiting for us in three years when we decide to pull the trigger.

So there it is. $64,000 for a lifetime of memories. I wonder how memorable it would be to stuff all our stuff in our Outback and sleep in a tent instead. I hear poo buckets are getting pretty nice.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - CONCLUSION

I'm going to close the book on this story. It's been 6 months since the second break which means I'm about 80% healed. The rest is just remodeling of the bone which will be another year. I've finished with physical therapy but may go back at some point if I can't get the range of motion I want.

Pain is nil these days. It's just a little sore while I do my daily stretches. I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't been working on strengthening as much as I would like. I will probably start getting up earlier in the morning so I can do them before work. The click in my elbow is gone now save for a small one when I'm working on bending.

As far as range of motion goes, I think I may have maxed out the bend and probably won't be able to gain any more without surgery. I can almost touch my shoulder and have been able to do so once or twice. I think once I can get a finger tip to my shoulder that will be it which is fine. I can tie a tie and scratch my head and all that so it's good enough. Straightening my arm is sooooo close but not quite. I still have a bit of pain when I stretch it out so I know things are still working and I'm not going to give up.

My triceps are slowly coming back. There is a little definition and you can feel something working in there. If I can stay diligent on my strength training I'll be in good shape. Spring is coming and I want to be able to plant some shrubs without injuring myself again. I want there to be lots of muscle there so I'm not depending on the bone as much.

Happy trails.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 16 and 17

Time flies when you're not an invalid.

At my follow up I pretty much told my doctor that I'd rather not have surgery and would instead go the long route of stretching my arm back to where it needs to be. I get a little more back every week and I think I'll eventually get to a point where I'm happy.

Last night I thought I'd give the bow tie a shot and I was able to do it. A lot of the difficulty was getting my arm, wrist, and hand to work like they should. The wrist is plenty flexible but at certain angles when my elbow is bent I feel a little more tightness than is comfortable so I subconsciously bend everything the wrong way.

Bathing is getting very close to normal. I can wash my right armpit with very little effort though getting all of my back is still a mostly one handed ordeal but I'm working on that with some new stretches I've begun at therapy. Everything else is piece of cake. I can even dry off pretty quick without fear of breaking my arm.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still mowing the lawn with one hand. I'm just not mentally ready to put any real strain on it and probably won't until I hit that magical six month mark. Even then I'll probably go real easy on it.

I played guitar for a few minutes today. It felt completely normal. I never thought that would happen.

Picking up my son and getting him to my chest isn't at all difficult anymore nor is lowering him into his crib. I'm still missing muscle in a few important areas so I crawl around on the floor after him like a three legged dog. Perhaps some day I'll be able to straighten my arm out enough to do that.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 15

I finally got the green light to abandon the brace. This is especially good because my arm was getting too big for it. I slept incredibly well last night save for the sick baby that kept waking up.

I've been making steady progress with physical therapy but steady also means slow. The shoulder has done better than the elbow for the most part probably because there wasn't as much damage except lack of use.

I'm still stretching out scar tissue in the elbow. The fact that it's getting gradually better leads me to believe I can recover without surgery. The hardest part is that stretching one way makes it harder to go to the other so I spend a great deal of my time stretching it back and forth to keep it loose. There are some days when I can't do this but oddly enough I have an easier time after taking a day off. There may be something to that. Muscle pain is not like it was thanks to the beef I've been putting on by picking up my heavy son. My muscles aren't quite there yet so any real stretching is done with the other arm since I'm not quite strong enough to pull things all the way towards me.

I can manage with what I've got currently and may just do another month of physical therapy before continuing on my own. My goal is to still be able to tie a bow tie by the end of the year. I think I can do it.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 14

Little by little I'm getting muscle back. I was able to put my 1 year old in his crib last night which is probably a huge relief to my wife who has been doing it all on her own for the past four and a half months. We're going to have to work out a rotation so we can split duties.

I'm still wearing my brace when I sleep and when I do any strenuous activity which means I'm pretty much just wearing it when I sleep. It's getting smaller and smaller as I build up muscle in my arm.

On the recovery front, my pre-existing elbow pop that I was really hoping would be gone after my injury has returned which is either a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. It's a lot better than the elbow click I had a few weeks after the injury. Rather than feeling like the elbow is out of socket. Now it's back to the feeling like  knuckle pop which is somewhat soothing. It doesn't make a noise but I can feel it. I did it last night while I was rolling over. It didn't hurt at all but it scared me. It was easily one of the most annoying things in the world.

My shoulder is still being a bitch. I know it's getting loose because now instead of incredible tightness I've got my old shoulder pop back which was an old problem as well. Like the elbow it's just the way I've been since my mid twenties and doesn't hurt at all. I'll take it as a good sign.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 13

Little by little I'm returning to normalcy. As far as range of motion I'm still working on my three trouble areas which are extending and bending my arm at the elbow and getting my shoulder moving correctly again. I think the combination of physical therapy with a therapist and my own efforts at home are going well.

As far as straightening my arm it's been a slow battle but I do have some very good days. I have to keep these joints moving frequently to keep them from stiffening back up. Working in both directions at the same time makes is a little tougher as they seem to be against each other. Once I get one really stretched it's like the other has farther to go.

Bending my arm has gotten pretty good. My goal for the end of the month is to be able to tie a bow tie. I can get my hand into bow tie position but my dexterity is still a little off. I have to fight to urge to bend my wrist all funny. My hand is capable to doing most all of what it needs to do but I've gotten so used to bending my wrist in order to get my hand to my mouth and face. It really bugs my wife. I've made the most progress here which makes me really happy.

The shoulder is the rough spot. I can extend my arm almost straight up which is a vast improvement but going out to the side is still rough. I thought it was my elbow but it's apparently a muscle on my back that needs stretching.

So here we are, stretching constantly and taking ibuprofen from time to time.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 12

I'm going to change things up since my recovery is entering a new phase. My doctor has cleared me to start physical therapy and abandon my arm brace except for when I'm sleeping or doing any strenuous activity with that arm.

A month ago things weren't looking very well. I had very little elbow movement and the joint clicked like crazy. He was fairly certain that surgery would be needed to correct it. A month later and I've managed to get a lot of movement back on my own so the rest should be doable with physical therapy though I may never get back to 100% of my range of motion.

Last weekend I've been able to pick my son up and over the last few days I've been able to hold him in the "bad" arm. I still can't get him in and out of the crib but I think with enough work over the coming weeks I should be able to. There's simply not enough muscle to pick that giant up and not being able to completely extend my arm makes it difficult as well. I'm also going to hold off on loading and unloading him from the car just to be safe.

My assessment with physical therapy is tomorrow morning so I'll have a recovery plan for the ROM and muscle restoration. I'm going to have them take it easy since I've already met my deductible for the year and would rather take it slow. I think we were too aggressive with it last time.

I will continue with passive stretching at home like I've been doing since over the past week I've gone from being able to point at my head to washing my hair.

I don't completely trust my arm yet but I hope that will improve with time. When I take my wife and son to Disneyland next year I should be in pretty good shape.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 11

I think it was a good idea to take it easy this time around. I'm changing diapers without too much trouble these days. I can lift the beast with my left arm just enough to get a fresh diaper underneath without feeling any pain. There is a little discomfort from not having any muscle. I've also started some very careful baby lifting. I stand him up using mostly my right arm while steadying him with the left. He does most of the work. Then I can lift him a short distance to my lap for reading.

I've worked out a lawn mowing method since I still can't hold the mower with my left hand while pulling the starter. I put a clamp on the throttle and then pull the starter. The mower moves since I can't hold it in place with my bad arm but I get it started after a couple tugs. Thankfully it's self propelled so I can maneuver it with one arm.


TREATMENT
This is hopefully my last week with the brace. With any luck I can start physical therapy next week. I've been moving my arm as much as the brace will allow. It keeps the bicep constricted so this isn't always easy. I've gone from being able to point at my nose and head to being able to hold a Kleenex to my nose and wash my hair. As always I'm still careful when I'm in the shower since I don't have the brace on. I can also touch my right shoulder and apply deodorant with my left hand. Exciting stuff.

Shoulder is also getting better. I can't point my arm straight up in the air but I can get my elbow up almost as far as my right arm when I bend the elbow.

My range of motion isn't great but it's usable. My brain knows what the arm is supposed to do but the fact that it won't makes certain tasks difficult. It's like my arm doesn't have any depth perception.

I've been lifting a little more than the 2lbs I've been restricting myself to. I can do about a half gallon of milk and I can carry my 32oz water bottle without any pain or discomfort. I'm not doing anything with actual weights though just to be safe.

SENSATIONS
At this point it's just the occasional pinch from the brace. I should have gotten a large instead of the medium which would have made things a little more comfortable but it's likely a bigger brace would have sucked as well. I don't get those warning pains when using my arm anymore so I can move about freely. Every now and then I bump my arm and the panic sets in but I'm getting better about that. I'm sure a few months from now I'm going to hit my funny bone and have a heart attack.

CHALLENGES
Range of motion and zero muscle are the current challenges. Both can be corrected with physical therapy though so really the name of the game is being as helpful around the house as I can without overexerting myself.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 10

I've got a busy week so I figured it would be best to do this a tad early. I'm getting better every day and have been working as aggressively as I can on my elbow without risking any damage to the upper arm. While I'm at work I work on bending the elbow since I don't really need both hands to do it. I've gone from being able to point at my face to being able to feed myself M&M's somewhat quickly. Straightening my arm hasn't progressed as well but I think that's due to the scar tissue. In the evenings I massage the muscles and tendons while straightening my arm. I've been keeping track via photos and I've definitely gotten it straighter. Two weeks from Monday I'll probably be done with the brace and will begin physical therapy. I really hope my progress with the elbow is enough for the doc to say I won't need another surgery. The shoulder is still weak and tight but it's getting better as well.

My hand is pretty much all better with the exception of the thumb and middle finger still being a little weak when I spread my fingers. I can type just fine. Flipping somebody off is a little tougher.

TREATMENT
Besides continued brace wearing, I've been working on movement. I can almost face my palm up completely which is where I was before the second break.

SENSATIONS
The only pain I feel is from stretching like before. My forearm will be numb for several more months as the nerves heal very slowly but I can feel enough to where it's not annoying like it was before.

CHALLENGES
The brace makes a lot of this really tough. It's probably prohibiting a lot of my exercise but I'm still paranoid about the break so I suffer through it. I don't wear it when I shower but that little bit of fear keeps me from using that arm in the shower. I can reach most of my hair but I'm not about to start scrubbing away and have the arm break while I'm nekkid. The hardest thing now is feeling okay but not having the strength to do anything.


With any luck, my x-rays will come back good and I'll be able to start building up some muscle so I can hold my son and let the wife start relaxing again. I promised her a weekend getaway from me and my son as soon as I can get him in and out of his crib safely.

Here, have some money...

I'm a dreamer. I dream of not working. I think if I had a considerable amount of money I could pull that off. I know I've blogged about being crazy loaded before and this is no different. But on mornings like this where work sucks just a little more than normal, I take a breather and ponder a better life.

There's a knock at the door. My wife yells at me to answer it because she doesn't have any makeup on. Expecting a door to door sales monkey, I put on my best angry face and head to the door. Instead of a poorly dressed kid trying to sell me a newspaper subscription because it's 1985, I'm greeted by some people carrying balloons (because I'm five years old) and a gigantic check. "Congratulations. You're filthy stinking rich. What are you gonna do with the money?"

"I'm moving away from that asshole next door." I reply while gesturing towards my neighbor's house.

After the hoopla ends and my wife and I are left sitting there with our jaws in our laps I begin taking into account our good fortune. What next? Oh crap. I forgot I was working today. "Hello work. I'm rich now, so I won't be working anymore. I don't think I need to tell you where you can shove this job."

We're not sitting on a pile of cash just yet since we haven't deposited that giant check so really we'd probably just go about our business as if it was a Saturday. I'd play with my son while my wife takes a look at her Amazon wish list. My guess is that our boy has some new toys on the way and maybe a Keurig so we can stop drinking powdered coffee.

I think our next step would be to make good on my first declaration. My wife would show me houses she likes but that would take awhile. It would be hard not to go on a shopping spree but I think we're pretty grounded and really indecisive so it would take us awhile to make any spending decisions.

We might hire a nanny to help out until my arm is better.

I'd go get a haircut.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 9

It's now been two months since my second break and three months since my initial injury. I'm still reasonably paranoid about breaking my arm again as is my wife. The occasional nightmare brings it all back. That being said, I'm doing reasonably well. I've been working on stretching the elbow very carefully. I went from being able to point at my nose to actually touching it without too much issue. I'm hoping within the next week I'll be able to scratch my nose with my left hand without thinking about it. Extending my arm is another story. It seems to be stuck where it's at. Sometimes it feels pretty straight but when I look at it I get a little depressed. That being said, it doesn't hurt when I extend it anymore. If I ever want to get back into yoga though, I'm going to have to either get it straight on my own or have it surgically corrected. I can deal for the time being.

Changing diapers is fairly easy now. I still have to lift his legs with my right hand and slide the diaper underneath with my left but at least I can do it. I still don't have the muscle in my arm to lift him up.

TREATMENT
I still have a few more weeks in the brace before I can start physical therapy. In the meantime I'm working on curling my invisible weights and getting my elbow to bend a little more each day. I've been focusing on the elbow since that's the oldest injury that needs rehab. My shoulder is very stiff and has a tendency to pop when I try reaching for my right shoulder. This means putting on deodorant with my left hand will continue to be a bit of a struggle and washing will continue to be a one handed ordeal.

I'm not doing any strength training save for lifting incredibly light things. I can manage stuff under 2lbs so that's what I do.

SENSATIONS
Muscle discomfort under the brace is pretty rampant since I have to find a balance between supporting the bone with the brace and allowing room for the muscles to do their thing. I still have a little bit of pain in the elbow which comes from stretching. Every few days I take a break to let things calm down. I'd rather not take ibuprofen just because it makes the pain more pronounced when it wears off. I've been uncomfortable for three months now. A little soreness is easy to ignore. Straightening my arm is pain-free.

CHALLENGES
There aren't too many challenges. After three months I've gotten pretty good at doing everything with one hand. Keeping things moving is tough since I'm pretty stationary all day at work. I'd like to be able to pick up my son but the wife and I have adopted a better safe than sorry policy and I won't be picking him up until I can do it without discomfort.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 8

A few days late on my weekly updates but I'm sure you'll all survive.

This last week has been pretty solid. The arm pain from the break appears to have vanished and I'm using my arm a little more. Having a working hand has also been helpful. I can type once again which is probably the best thing. I'm still afraid of a pending break so I'm careful not to lift more than a couple of pounds just to be safe. It's been two months which is about in the middle of the recovery cycle for since I've been banking on 12 weeks for recovery. One month to go.

TREATMENT
I'm still facing a month with this thing on my arm. I like the peace of mind I get from it since it protects my weak arm but I also makes bending my arm difficult. I'm still working on straightening my arm. I know they'd like to just me open and fix it that way but I'd like to get it straightened out on my own. I'd rather have six months of painful physical therapy than to face the prospect of having to start all over again with a gimpy arm.

I've only just started lifting my arm at the shoulder because I didn't have quite enough muscle to do it without a lot of discomfort. It's definitely tight but it should loosen up with use since I didn't damage anything up there.

SENSATIONS
Most of the pain I feel is muscle and joint pain from stretching my arm and occasionally in the bicep. The shoulder doesn't hurt per se but it is very tight. I've got most of the feeling back in my arm but I can tell the nerves are still working their way back up towards the wrist.

The lingering pain my left thumb is finally gone.

CHALLENGES
Sleeping has gotten a lot easier and I've even moved back into my own bed. I can sleep on both sides now but I don't stay on the bad arm for very long. I'm still very cautious while showering because I don't trust my arm without the brace. I'll continue doing all my washing with just my left hand. I'm actually pretty good at it.

Bending and straightening my elbow is a chore but the more I do it the less it hurts. Same goes for the shoulder.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 7

What a difference a week makes. Well... not really. I've mustered up the courage to move my arm and have done away with the sling. I sleep most of the night on my good side and don't wake up nearly as much as I used to. I may be moving back to bed with the wife. I'm also typing this with two hands although I have to put my keyboard in my lap.

I had my follow up this morning and it wasn't what I was hoping but there are silver linings on those storm clouds. I'm healing and the bone hasn't moved at all since the day I broke it. I can start getting on with my life since I have a lot of hard bone now but I still have to take it easy on account of my stiff elbow. I changed a diaper the other day and can do more of that. I will have to avoid picking up my son though since I'm not supposed to be torquing my arm. Pain won't let me do that anyway.

TREATMENT
I've got to wear the Sarmiento brace for another month to protect the bone and prevent stress on the bone. During this time I can lift whatever my arm will allow. The trick will be avoiding pain. As long as it doesn't hurt when I do it I should be fine. Lack of muscle and elbow movement will keep me limited in that department. No physical therapy until after my next follow up. At the end of September I will go in for more X-Rays and possibly a CT scan though the latter will be a bit later since that's more in prep for surgery. Yes surgery. My doc wants me back on the table the first of November to release the elbow.

I was hoping for arthroscopic surgery like they do for tennis elbow and other minor set backs but I have a lot of scar tissue that needs to be removed if I'm going to be able to straighten my arm. It's not going to do it on its own. It would have been nice to be able to do this a month ago but break number 2 really screwed it up for me. They'll have to open me up again like they did the first time and will be cutting away all of the scar tissue in order to allow the arm to hang straight. He will likely remove the two screws as well just to get me as close to normal as possible. There are risks, of course, releasing the elbow. The bone can break again while taking them out I'm sure. Fortunately the risks are small and any breaks would be easily corrected with smaller screws and plates which wouldn't hinder my recovery in the slightest. Sarcasm.

I should be able to get right back to PT after that and should be right as rain before the new year. That means I'll be good to go for Disneyland but not so much for the rest of the year. I should be about 75% though so Jill won't have to struggle with everything.

SENSATIONS
I only get twinges of pain at the break site when torquing my arm which I don't do too often. I get some elbow pain when bending it and twisting my wrist. I'm supposed to keep doing my exercises to get rid of that. As the arm heals the torque pain should subside. Swelling has been almost non existent since I abandoned the sling.

CHALLENGES
I still can't do things with my arm like prepare elaborate dinners and such but I've gotten so used to doing everything with one arm I hardly notice. Really, it's all about the emotional challenges. I'm trying not to focus on the rest of the year and instead just take things day by day. I'm going to get better.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 6

Six to twelve weeks is what I was told. No, I'm not better but I do feel better. I just hope I'm not at the halfway mark as far as healing goes. I'd much rather be at the halfway mark on the recovery front. I've got one more week before I go back to see if my arm has done any healing since I had the hard cast removed.

TREATMENT
I have a love/hate relationship my with my brace. I love that I can take it off and that my arm can breathe for the most part. I hate that it takes me a good day to get it comfortable. Too tight and my arm and hand swell like crazy and the bicep hurts when I move my arm. Too loose and it feels like bone will break again at any moment. Like usual my doctor didn't say one way or another which was better. As always it's "whatever's comfortable." Either way, I want this thing on my arm until the bone is no longer at risk to break. With any luck I'll be able to start PT after my next appointment. I'm still concerned about the prospect of another surgery to release my elbow. I don't want to delay my progress but I don't want to be going to Disneyland with a stuck elbow. I'm going to have the X-Ray the elbow so he can see where the lock is. I'm hoping the surgery recovery would line up with my current recovery so I don't have to take any more time away from taking care of my son.

SENSATIONS
Fear is a powerful motivator. After the first break I felt fairly invincible and was very aggressive with trying to regain the strength in my arm. I've been told time and time again by my doctor that it had nothing to do with the second break but I'm very paranoid now about using my arm. I know it works because I've certainly jerked my arm plenty of times now avoiding various hazards. There was no pain or very little pain during these maneuvers but they're still plenty scary.

Since I know the muscles that are left work, I've been doing very minute movements. Typically an inch or two here and there. The hard part is convincing my brain that the arm works. I will do this until I feel discomfort in my upper arm.

Lower arm is still a little sore from time to time and elbow is stuck at the same spot but getting a little looser.

CHALLENGES
Sleeping isn't as bad now. I still have to start sitting up but I  gradually remove pillows until I'm in a more normal position. I can lay on my side but not on the bad arm. I wake up a few time and switch to my back for a little bit but no more sitting up all night.

I remove the sling when I'm sitting. I still need to support my arm when I move about but I can stand and let my arm hang for a bit. This will be tough as long as my elbow is stuck. It will probably be awhile still until I can abandon the sling.

Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 5

A little from column A and a little from column B. I'm definitely not progressing like I did on my original injury but I knew that was probably going to be the case. Carrying this mostly dead limb around is getting fairly annoying. I start my day in decent comfort but by the end of the day my arm is pretty sore at the elbow and where the break is. After my son goes to bed I can hop in my recliner and relax. This is a big help.

I've got two more weeks until my next milestone. I try to raise my arm under its own power occasionally. I know I can do it because a few bumps have caused me to react by moving it. That hurts of course but not very much. I think more than anything I'm just afraid to move it. I don't feel as invincible as I did before the second break. I'm going to have to get it through my head that the arm can move safely once I get the go ahead from my doctor.

This last week was a slow one. I hope things pick up.

TREATMENT
This begins my second week with my Sarmiento brace. I was fitted for a medium but they probably should have gotten me a large. There is still quite a bit of swelling around the elbow so I keep the brace a tad looser so my arm doesn't swell too much. The straighter I can put my arm the less it swells.

I was told I could sleep in whatever position was most comfortable. That of course means sitting up still. For the last couple of days I've been able to lay on my good side with a pillow supporting my bad arm for a few hours. My elbow is still very stiff since I wasn't able to complete my physical therapy. I can gradually straighten it out to about 120 degrees which is a little less than the 125 degrees I could do before my break. I've got a ways to go before I can do 180 degrees again.

SENSATIONS
The elbow is very stiff and clicks quite a bit when I try to straighten it. I've been told that will improve with use which of course I can't yet.

CHALLENGES
Showering is easier now that I don't need to bag my arm up. I still need to be careful because I have to go in with my arm unprotected. I keep it in my shower sling very close to my body.

Sleeping is the biggie. I'm hoping to be sleeping regularly in the next couple of weeks. It all depends on my X-Rays in two weeks.

Not All Doom And Gloom

I realize that all of my blog posts have centered around my injury as of late and it's probably made for pretty boring reading. As crappy as my predicament is I've gained a bit of perspective.

As bad as I have it it could certainly be worse. I can't hold my son but I can still hold his hands and kiss his face even when he doesn't want me to. Soldiers deployed overseas don't get any of that. People missing limbs don't get to hug their kids like I'll be able to do soon. I know my situation isn't permanent.

My wife has been the real trooper through all this. She's emerged as a very strong mother and I'm proud of her. I'm sure she'd throw me out if I ever did this again so I'll be very, very careful from here on out.

Graham's gonna be okay. He'll come out like his wife, stronger and wiser.