Posted on March 10, 2023

A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones

Proverbs 17:22

This post is about finding laughter in unusual situations and how we take our day to day abilities for granted. When people go to the Emergency Room, it’s usually a pretty distressing experience. I could have made it an unpleasant one for me on Saturday, but instead I launched into an evening of amusement. We had finished dinner and were getting ready to watch a movie; while I was rinsing the ceramic slow cooker the pot started slipping out of my hands. Despite my efforts to save it, the pot hit the sink and broke as I was holding onto it. Next thing I know my hand was bleeding profusely. It all happened so quickly that I didn’t even know I had injured myself until I saw the blood. I grabbed the dishcloth and put it over my wound while yelling to my husband Kevin that I cut myself and needed a cloth quickly for the bleeding. He moved, what I considered rather slowly, to grab me an old dish towel, so I anxiously encouraged him to move faster, while he urged me to calm down. He usually keeps a cool head in any situation.

Upon looking at my hand, it appeared to be a potentially long, deep cut. Kevin was concerned about possible tendon damage, so he said he was going to take me to the Emergency Room. Well, I don’t like hospitals, and I think if he hadn’t been home, I may not have gone in. For anyone who knows me, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that I’m uncomfortable in hospitals and conventional medicine in general. However, I do believe situations like mine are what they're for, so I reluctantly agreed to go. I admit to doing a little bit of whining about not wanting to go during the drive. We ended up joking about the whole situation during the 30 minutes journey there. Due to the adrenaline rush, I didn’t feel much pain other than some occasional stinging, so we just inadvertently decided to make the trip fun.

Once we arrived at the Emergency Room, we joked about my blood loss and the thought of me falling on my face getting out of the truck because of lightheadedness (which I didn’t really have). What’s funny about it is that we both had the same thought. As we walked through the hospital doors with my primitive bandage, a doctor came out of the ER Registration office and said “It looks like a hand injury!" Kevin playfully replied, “I know her hand looks bad, but it’s her foot that hurts!” That gave the nurse a chuckle. She took us into a room right away while I joked that now my hand modeling days are over. Kevin and I just kept making witty comments the entire time we were there (which, by the way, was the quickest ER visit I think anyone in my family has experienced.)

After asking if we wanted to keep the bloody dish towel my hand was wrapped in, as if I might have had some kind of attachment to it, the nurse finished cleaning my cut up and determined that I’d need stitches (8 to be exact). She left the sewing to the Virginia doctor who I knew right away wasn’t a native of Wisconsin by virtue of his accent. Hilariously, as he sat on his stool to stitch my hand, the seat slipped out from under him, almost sending him to the floor. Honestly, I would have struggled to hold back a laugh had he actually landed on the ground. Kevin said he would have cleverly responded with, “Can someone get a doctor?”

Doc attempted to numb all areas of my hand that might be affected by the stitching, but I definitely felt some stinging. Kevin took photos and recorded my blood oozing out in rhythm with my heartbeat. My family was quite entertained by the posted updates. In a rather indifferent tone, the doctor questioned if we were recording it for the medical review board. It was hard to determine if he was playing along with our silliness or not because his mask covered his facial expressions. Anyway, we continued with our wisecracking the entire visit. The doctor dryly said he’d have the nurse bandage me up because it would be a whole lot prettier than if he did it. I found that funny. Whether the ER team enjoyed our visit or not will remain in question. Regardless, we definitely did, and we laughed about my hand all the way home.

One might think that’s the end of the story, but we just couldn’t stop there. When we got home, while enjoying our smoothie bowls, we amused ourselves with one-liners and hand puns for about two hours. My adult kids chimed in with seriously funny GIFS and comments. One time I was “in stitches” laughing so hard that I could barely stand up or breathe. My youngest daughter recorded about 47 seconds of me laughing. Once she posted it in our family group chat, I watched it and started laughing at myself laughing. My oldest daughter was in bed at the time, and she said her husband was getting annoyed because she was cracking up so hard it was shaking the bed and keeping him awake. He made a comment about us being at this for so long. For some reason, it just flowed and made for a great night of entertainment and very unusual family time. It was definitely an experience for the books.

This little life episode comes with limitations. Today as I am typing this blog, it’s taking me quite a bit longer than it normally would because I have to two-finger type with my right hand. It’s also been challenging to work my kennel as the big, strong dogs like to pull. I imagine I’ll improve the muscle strength in my left arm over the next two weeks. Yes, it’ll be about 10-14 days before I can go back to performing my usual activities in my typical manner. No weights, piano, giving the horses their hay or dish washing. Wait…no dish washing! That’s a definite plus, especially since we have to hand wash everything until our new septic system is put in. My two youngest have to temporarily take on some of my duties, including simple tasks like opening jars. You should see me comb my hair and brush my teeth! Not being a lefty, it’s like learning to do things for the first time. I’ve noticed that I take my hands for granted. Each of our body parts has a purpose, and when one part isn’t working, other parts have to make up for it. For the body, that can have negative effects. For my kids, however, who are compensating for my inability to carry out some easy, daily tasks, might it make them more understanding of the things I do and the time I spend to make their lives better? I’m hoping there’s a lesson for them in all of this.

This isn’t the first time others have had to take on my daily activities. Several years ago, my contact lenses scratched both of my eyes so badly that I had to visit the Emergency Room. Although, that time I was definitely not amused. It was one of the most physically painful experiences I’ve ever had, and before we got to the hospital, I feared that I might not be able to see again. For a few days it felt like I had glass in my eyes. I couldn’t open them at all, and I walked around the house as if I were blind. I basically had to be led from room to room because the one time I tried to get along on my own, I got frighteningly close to the stairs. I didn’t realize how hard it would be. I thought I would navigate my house better, but without my sight, I developed a keen understanding of what it might be like to be permanently blind. It was another time that I really grasped how I had taken such a simple thing for granted.

I set out to write this blog to share two things. The first lesson is that we all can choose how to respond to adversity. I could have easily been upset, angry and whiney about how challenging one-handedness will make daily activities, but that would have only made things worse. It’s highly likely that, with a negative attitude, the short ER visit could have felt like several hours. I chose to have fun with the whole event, and that joy spread to the rest of my family. It was priceless.

The second lesson is that we often tend to take many things for granted until we lose something like the use of a hand, for example. There’s a saying by an unknown author that reads, “When you take things for granted, the things you are granted get taken." Lack of appreciation for the little things like the birds chirping at dawn or the coyotes howling at night can cause us to miss out on meaningful life experiences because it’s often the everyday occurrences that nurture and sustain us. We seldom stop to think about what we're fortunate enough to have, especially the minor things that help us move through each day. Our five senses are gifts to be appreciated as much as the people and things in our lives. We can definitely overcome and live without these blessings, but when they’re gone, we sometimes realize that they’re actually bigger than we thought they were. Therefore, while we hold them, I recommend giving thanks and acknowledging the joy they bring. From breathing to sunshine, life is full of gifts. Thankfully, we can also find blessings in adversity as well. Because of this recent incident, I imagine that I will become more ambidextrous which is a pretty nice benefit, and I do get out of washing dishes for a while. With my previous temporary loss of vision, beyond the pain, fear and limitations, I learned that asking for help shows not weakness but strength and determination to keep on going.

Life is all about perspective, and I am constantly reminded that our thoughts about any given situation will reflect our outcome, good or bad. Many of us have cried enough. It’s time to laugh heartily more often, even in troubled times. Let’s keep our focus on gratitude and always choose joy!