JIM “PAPPY” MOORE: A Bird With a Busted Wing

For twenty-plus years my weekly column has been one man’s walk through life, making observations. This next one is very personal and relevant to others.

Have you ever seen a wounded bird standing on the ground, unable to fly because he has an injured wing that’s hanging down on one side? For the past couple months I’ve been that bird with the busted wing.

To make matters worse, that “busted wing” is my right arm, my throwing hand, my writing hand, my pitching hand, my lead hand on everything I do.

I am a fast walker. Always have been. Got that from my Dad. Staying up with him when he was a man and I was a boy. Picking them up and putting them down was how we walked. I have carried that walk throughout life.

When you get to be up in years one thing you hear is “don’t take a bad fall!” That’s because a bad fall in senior years is likely to have immediate effects and lingering effects which can hobble a man or a woman.

I was in a big city, traversing territory with which I was unfamiliar, cutting across a concrete parking lot as I looked in the distance with a glaring sun over head. I didn’t see a piece of concrete that was in my way. I hit it at full 3.5 mph speed and took the hardest tumble of my life. I stuck that good, strong, reliable right hand and arm out and it saved me. It saved my face, my head, my eyes, my nose, my teeth. But the jolt from my wrist up through my shoulder left that right arm black and blue all the way up. The pain was excruciating.

Hobbled, I made my way to my car and made it back home. By the next morning I knew it was the most serious injury of my life. I got an Urgent Doc and confirmed my worst fear. I had a fractured shoulder. The humerus in the right bicep had crashed into the ball in my shoulder. Both were damaged.

Soon thereafter I saw my joint doctor and he confirmed my status. The advice was to care for the arm and let it mend for a month, then take a look at more x-rays. We did that, and healing was happening, but that joint was a mess. I had to begin physical therapy. He mentioned the possibly of an operation to repair the area, but that is not to my liking.

I have been doing the therapy. It is very painful. Every day I work on it. The joint is working at about 50% now. I can lift things again, but I cannot raise my right elbow up even with my shoulder. I can get my hand as high as my head, but no higher.

It may be close to a year before I regain full use of the right arm and shoulder. If you saw me standing there, you wouldn’t know the difference. As long as my arm is hanging down there is no obvious tell. The photo which accompanies this column was taken this week.

I always land on my feet when situations get tough, and this is my way. I’m thankful it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Lesson learned. Look down more. Walk a little slower.  Don’t take a bad fall!