Inklings: A twist of wrists | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

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Inklings: A twist of wrists

Published Thursday, January 14, 2010 12:46 PM

By Barbara Lynch Hill
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Act I – Setting the Stage: Three months ago my husband had wrist surgery in an effort to restart golf and continue his successful pursuit of the elusive fresh water bass. Our nine-year-old grandson Riley was thrilled to hear that his Pop Pop was getting a cast. He wanted to be first to write his name on it.

Act II – A Double Header: In December we learned that Jim would need further surgical repair on his wrist. This procedure would be more invasive and his small cast would be replaced with one that went above the elbow, making movement more restrictive. Not good news for one so active. He had a couple of Bah Humbug moments, but was anxious to set the date because of an upcoming bass tournament. He didn’t care if it had to be done on December 24. But we couldn’t get a date set until a week before Christmas: January 8. Ah well, at least we’d get the holiday behind us without trauma. Not so much.

Just a couple of days before Christmas the doorbell rang. When I answered it, there stood Riley, face glowing and arms raised above his head in traditional touchdown formation. It was then that I realized that both of Riley’s wrists were thickly wrapped in bandages. He had tripped on the sidewalk, put both hands out to break his fall, and fractured both wrists.

“Oh no!” I sympathized, hugging him. “Now you’ll have to be in bandages over the holidays!”

“Better than that,” he enthused, “I’m going to get hard casts and I’ll get to wear them for seven whole weeks!”

“He’s going to change his tune about those casts,” my husband predicted. “The novelty will soon go out of it.”

Act III – Pollyannaism Reigns: Riley continues to accept help cheerfully if he needs it, but remains determined to do as much as possible all by himself (something that definitely came directly down the DNA chain from Pop Pop). Riley discovered he could rip wrapping paper off Christmas presents just as efficiently using his elbows. As he had partial use of his fingers, he was able to down turkey, dressing and pie with little trouble, only a little slower. There was no dearth of volunteer cousins to cut his meat or find straws for his drinks.

He couldn’t wait to get back to school and show his classmates his casts as his accident happened during vacation. He told me that first day back, “was one of his funnest times ever in school,” as he arrived with one navy blue and one bright green cast. His friends enjoyed picking out different color crayons for their signatures, and like Riley’s cousins, were happy to help out with his work.

“As long as I have my fingers I can use the computer and our Smart Board,” he told us, “so I can pretty much keep up!”

Epilogue – The Real Wrist Twist: Jim has had his follow-up surgery, sports his unwieldy (and really heavy) cast with good grace and is patently practicing patience during the healing process. When tempted to moan and groan over some of his restrictions, we think of that bright-eyed, smiling face and the touchdown icon. You can learn a lot from a nine-year-old.

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