My Right Shoulder

In 2003, we put our house at 69-43 Cloverdale Boulevard in the Oakland Gardens section of Queens, New York on the market.  It was important that the house be in 100% condition to make it desirable to potential buyers.  The towel rack in the second bathroom needed to be replaced.  I bought a replacement, but I chose a cheap one, a decision I would live to regret.

Later that year, I was taking a shower in the second bathroom, which was unusual as I normally used the other.  After I turned on the hot water, I looked for shampoo and discovered there was none there.  Opening the sliding shower door, I saw shampoo by the sink.  I attempted to reach it from within the shower instead of leaving the shower.  Bad move!

In order to reach the shampoo with my left hand, I had to balance myself with my right hand holding the towel rack for support.  Just as I was about to grab the shampoo, the towel rack snapped.  I lost my balance and my upper body fell toward the floor.  Instinctively, I put my hands forward to absorb the impact.  Almost immediately, I felt something happened to my right shoulder.  I think the shock passed from my palms all the way up.

I exited the shower, got dressed and drove to the Emergency Room at the North Shore Hospital, keeping my right arm as close to my body as possible.  After an x-ray of my right shoulder revealed nothing, I was advised to go to the office of a nearby orthopedic surgeon.

At the surgeon's office, I had another x-ray, this time with my right arm fully extended away from my side.  Doing that dislocated my damaged right shoulder.  I was in awful pain, the worst of my life.  Two doctors tried to manipulate my right arm and shoulder to relocate it and stop the pain, but couldn't.  

I was then taken by ambulance to Long Island Jewish Hospital and waited in its Emergency Room for about three hours (with my right arm extended) before a resident came to help me.  Finally, by giving me a strong sedative, my muscles relaxed enough for him to relocate my right shoulder.  It was one of the worst experiences of my life.  I asked for God's (if any) help.  He (or she) didn't answer right away.

Some days later, the surgeon put a couple of pins in my right shoulder and I have been pain free ever since.  However, my right arm's mobility is somewhat limited.

A couple of days before the surgery, I took a train to the University of Maryland in College Park to visit my son Bret who had just started his freshman year there.  It was risky going with my right arm in a sling, but I had previously promised him I would come and I don't like to break my promises.     

A few weeks after the surgery, I moved to Brazil and did my physical therapy there.  My Brazilian therapist was half Spanish and half Japanese.  She told me her father was a big Elvis Presley fan, but because he couldn't speak English, he didn't understand the lyrics of his many songs.  It didn't matter.  

Before leaving the USA, I remember an act of kindness by my surgeon.  He needed to repeat the same x-ray that had previously dislocated my right shoulder.  I was frightened it would happen again.  To calm me, my doctor went with me into the x-ray room and manipulated my right arm and shoulder himself.  I trusted him and nothing bad happened.  I'll never forget what he did. 
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As I will be on vacation the next three weeks, my next post will be Sunday, July 1.