An unlucky break

I left Weatherford at the end of February. a mutual friend had told me about someone who needed help on her goat farm, a Saanen goat farm. It had been raining for several days and we weren't able to do much at the farm in Weatherford, so I left early and headed for Northeast Texas.

I loved every minute of it. there were so many kids running around and if there's anything cuter than a Saanen kid, it's several Saanen kids.

One little buckling was very weak. when he was born, his clueless mother let everyone else nurse on her and he got little to no colostrum. they been separated from the herd, of course, but he still wasn't doing very well. it's called failure to thrive and clearly he was not thriving. 

Because he wouldn't nurse when I held him to his mother, just barely able to stand, I decided to bottle feed him. I did that for four feedings, then I put him to the teat and to great pleasure, he started to nurse. I was thrilled! he wasn't out of the woods yet but he was definitely improved. I checked on him 3 or 4 times a day and if his belly felt really round I left him alone but if he seemed listless, I took him to his mother again. he was still pretty weak. in fact, if he laid down on a slight incline he couldn't get up, and I would come running when I heard him crying.

By the time I left, I still wasn't sure he was going to make it because he was still not active. I was wrong. A few days later I got word that he was jumping around, and nursing vigorously.

 I left sooner than I had intended, not because I wanted to, but because of something that happened: I broke my wrist, and not just my wrist, but my right wrist, my dominant hand.

 Now how did I do that? you might ask. Here's what happened. I decided to clean out some of the water buckets. As I was scrubbing one of them out, I lifted it to empty the water that was in there. It was rather muddy out there just around the buckets, and I slipped and started to fall backwards. Of course, I put out my arms to stop the fall. Whoops! As soon as I landed, I knew it had broken. It looked terribly deformed, so with my other hand I grabbed my fingers and pulled hard, twice, to get it back in place. Then I went to the house to get a ride for x-rays. Since it was Saturday, I went to an urgent care, where they confirmed what I already knew: it was broken. They splinted it and advised me to see a specialist on Monday.

 When Monday rolled around, I called the orthopedist they recommended, Charles Wittenberg, D.O. and was able to get in quickly. The visit didn’t go quite as I anticipated.

Dr. Wittenberg unwrapped my arm, looked at the x-rays, and stated that I didn't need surgery. He told me that the wrist needed to be bent so that it would heal properly, that there was too much swelling to put a cast on, but he could do that at my next appointment. He commented that he would like to also put mr on a drug for osteoporosis. On hearing that, I said to him “Oh, I'm sure there's something we can do to treat this naturally.“ “Like what?“ he asked. “Well,“ I replied, “like diet and exercise.“ He replied but if that were the case, I wouldn't have had the problem to begin with. “Not necessarily“, I answered. “I might not be getting the right minerals.“ “Good luck with that!“ he exclaimed, “but I allow people their illusions. You can certainly have yours.“

I advised him that I wouldn't be in Texas for more than a day or two. He stated that he wasn’t going to do anything since I wouldn't be there for a follow-up.  He then told me that as soon as I got someplace where I was going to stay for a couple of weeks, I should I should get an orthopedist to take care of the wrist. Surprised, I asked, “Why don't you change the splint then; you can put my wrist in the right position. He answered that he would do that if he were going to cast it. I reminded him that I wouldn't be there and if it needed to be set why not do it now? He again stated that he would do that if he wasn’t going to cast it. I again said to him, “Why not just put a new splint on it with a different shape?” He replied, “You already have a splint.” I reiterated, “But it's not the right shape, my wrist isn't where it's supposed to be.” He again stated that I already had a splint,  and  told me that no doctor was going to take me on as a patient if I wasn't going to follow up with them. Well, I knew that wasn't true since I'd already had dealings with doctors with broken bones in Pennsylvania when I broke my ankle. 

A more arrogant, overbearing, self-righteous doctor I have never encountered. He rewrapped my arm and sent me on my way.

There's more to this story but I'll save that for another day.  By the time I reached the Tucson area, it had been a week.  I wasn't overly concerned because Dr. Wittenberg  had said the swelling had to go down.  Much to my surprise and dismay, when I saw the orthopedists in Tucson, they asked if the wrist had been set.  "Uh, no, though I did give it a couple of good tugs to pull it into place after I fell."  "Good thing," was the reply.  The doctor in Tucson then proceeded to completely remove the bandage, and apply a cast.  Then he set it, in the cast, x-raying before and after.  "Well," he said, "let's cross our fingers and hope that it stays in place.  This should have been set in Texas."  "But what about the swelling?" I asked.  "Change the cast," he replied, "when it gets too loose."

Alas, it didn't hold, and I needed surgery--which wouldn't have been necessary had the good doctor (tongue-in-cheek here) done his job.  C'est la vie.   I now have a lovely piece of metal in my wrist, but you know, it doesn't set off the metal detectors!  I'm thankful that I have the use of my wrist, and happy that I could proceed on my way.