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Last Wednesday I managed to fracture my right ankle in three places. I had surgery on Thursday morning and remained in the hospital until Saturday afternoon.

Those interested in the gory details can find them, including three photos of me in fashionable hospital attire, on my FB page:

http://www.facebook.com/george.h.smith.7

Ghs

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Last Wednesday I managed to fracture my right ankle in three places.

Three different places? Contact a lawyer, hopefully at least one of those places has a good liability policy, and if all three do, hell, you could make out like a bandit!

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Last Wednesday I managed to fracture my right ankle in three places.

Three different places? Contact a lawyer, hopefully at least one of those places has a good liability policy, and if all three do, hell, you could make out like a bandit!

You are the second person to exploit the humorous potential in my ambiguous language. The first was a physician, so I suppose that puts you in good company. 8-)

The most interesting aspect of my hospital stay was the visit by two Lutheran pastors. I told them upfront that I was an atheist, but that didn't seem to dissuade them. I then told them that I would be happy to have a discussion with them, but it would have to be on the following day (Friday), since I had just gotten out of surgery a few hours earlier.

I also informed them that I had written quite a bit on the subject, so if they wanted to return on Friday, they should first google "George H. Smith atheism" to get an idea of my background.

The guy never showed up again, but the woman returned on Friday afternoon. She had actually checked out my first book (ATCAG) from the library and spent the night reading it. She showed no interest in converting me; instead, she asked me some (legitimate) question about atheism, after which we swapped stories about our early religious upbringings. We parted on friendly terms, and that was that.

I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

The female pastor also asked if I would be offended if she prayed for me after she left. This was interesting because I had recently watched a YouTube video in which Diana Hsieh addressed a similar question in way too much detail, as if it were some kind of deep and profound moral problem. I simply replied: "You know that I don't believe I prayer, but I do appreciate your concern; and if prayer is your way of expressing concern, then that's fine with me." I also asked why she felt it necessary to get my consent to begin with. She said she wanted to ask me out of respect for my views.

Ghs

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George,


I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

Brings back memories of a stay a few years ago...

Hope you're able to get out of there soon.

Robert Campbell

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Last Wednesday I managed to fracture my right ankle in three places. I had surgery on Thursday morning and remained in the hospital until Saturday afternoon.

Those interested in the gory details can find them, including three photos of me in fashionable hospital attire, on my FB page:

http://www.facebook.com/george.h.smith.7

Ghs

How can I avoid what happened to you--aside from not having Kathy Bates as a houseguest?

--Brant

did you?

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George,

I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

Brings back memories of a stay a few years ago...

Hope you're able to get out of there soon.

Robert Campbell

I got released from the hospital on Saturday. Now I face a new set of problems, namely, getting around my place on a very painful foot. A plaster cast won't even be applied for another ten days, since the swelling needs to go down first. My foot throbs so badly with pain that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep without the pain meds. Then, after taking the meds, my mind is so groggy that it can easily take 15 minutes or more to write a simple post like this one. It seems I need to go back and correct every other word.

What were you in the hospital for, and how long was your stay?

Ghs

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George,

I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

Brings back memories of a stay a few years ago...

Hope you're able to get out of there soon.

Robert Campbell

I got released from the hospital on Saturday. Now I face a new set of problems, namely, getting around my place on a very painful foot. A plaster cast won't even be applied for another ten days, since the swelling needs to go down first. My foot throbs so badly with pain that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep without the pain meds. Then, after taking the meds, my mind is so groggy that it can easily take 15 minutes or more to write a simple post like this one. It seems I need to go back and correct every other word.

I've already noticed a distinct improvement in the quality of your posts.

--Brant

cruel, to the bone

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Now I face a new set of problems, namely, getting around my place on a very painful foot.
Under the heading of 'things could be worse', when I was 16 I had an appendectomy, and one of the consequences was that it was painful to laugh for maybe a month afterward. People would come by to cheer me up, and any kind of joke was, naturally, unwelcome. Movies and TV shows were a problem too. I also couldn't carry anything heavy, and that at least had an upside. I was guitarist in a rock band, and always had to carry my bulky Marshall amp around. Until I'd fully recovered, and maybe for a bit afterward (hee hee), other band members had to serve me as roadies. It's nice to have roadies.
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George,

I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

Brings back memories of a stay a few years ago...

Hope you're able to get out of there soon.

Robert Campbell

I got released from the hospital on Saturday. Now I face a new set of problems, namely, getting around my place on a very painful foot. A plaster cast won't even be applied for another ten days, since the swelling needs to go down first. My foot throbs so badly with pain that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep without the pain meds. Then, after taking the meds, my mind is so groggy that it can easily take 15 minutes or more to write a simple post like this one. It seems I need to go back and correct every other word.

I've already noticed a distinct improvement in the quality of your posts.

--Brant

cruel, to the bone

The expression "To the bone" -- now, that was the truly cruel part. 8-)

While I was in the emergency room waiting for something or other, two doctors came by and looked at my badly distorted foot. Their less than confidence-inspiring conversation went like this:

"Weird. Ever seen anything like that before?

"Nope. Really weird."

Ghs

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Now I face a new set of problems, namely, getting around my place on a very painful foot.
Under the heading of 'things could be worse', when I was 16 I had an appendectomy, and one of the consequences was that it was painful to laugh for maybe a month afterward. People would come by to cheer me up, and any kind of joke was, naturally, unwelcome. Movies and TV shows were a problem too. I also couldn't carry anything heavy, and that at least had an upside. I was guitarist in a rock band, and always had to carry my bulky Marshall amp around. Until I'd fully recovered, and maybe for a bit afterward (hee hee), other band members had to serve me as roadies. It's nice to have roadies.

Somewhere among my many Lester Young albums I have a lengthy interview with him. (Young, who was nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday, was one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of all time.) Young had learned several instruments as a boy, but he started out on drums when traveling with a band.

When Young was asked why he switched to tenor sax, he explained that the only available women in the audience were usually taken by the time he finished packing up his drum set. So he switched to the tenor sax, which can quickly be packed-up, in order to become more competitive in that area. 8-)

This may be one of those urban legends that abound in jazz, but at least it comes from the principal involved.

Ghs

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.

Sorry you got this painful injury, George. That's number ten stuff. When they ask, say ten.

I would loan you my crutches, but you live too far away. I snapped a tibia in two walking on a sidewalk in Firenze many years ago. Actually, I was avoiding a cluster of people going the other way, and I somehow twisted it so badly that it snapped. You could hear it. Neither I nor my companion from the States could speak Italian. They got me to an emergency room, into traction, then to regular part of hospital a day or two. They set it and put on an old fashioned cast. They set it pretty straight. No pin. I did learn the word for pain in Italian, but I think it was to no avail. I kept trying to remember if the Pope had eventually come down in favor of anesthetics. The hospital room was a big open place with lots of beds. The patients' friends and family would bring them food and wine.

I go for all the blessings, prayers, and sympathy I can get when I'm in big trouble like that.

Get mended soon.

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George,

Glad to hear that you're out.

I was in for a bilateral wrist fracture. You don't want to know what my orthopedist said about it, showing my X-rays to the latest intern.

Physical therapy I usually felt positive about, because it meant things were getting better. May yours be shorter than mine was.

Robert Campbell

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ah, I see...

Very nice!

Last Wednesday I managed to fracture my right ankle in three places.

Three different places? Contact a lawyer, hopefully at least one of those places has a good liability policy, and if all three do, hell, you could make out like a bandit!

You are the second person to exploit the humorous potential in my ambiguous language. The first was a physician, so I suppose that puts you in good company. 8-)

The most interesting aspect of my hospital stay was the visit by two Lutheran pastors. I told them upfront that I was an atheist, but that didn't seem to dissuade them. I then told them that I would be happy to have a discussion with them, but it would have to be on the following day (Friday), since I had just gotten out of surgery a few hours earlier.

I also informed them that I had written quite a bit on the subject, so if they wanted to return on Friday, they should first google "George H. Smith atheism" to get an idea of my background.

The guy never showed up again, but the woman returned on Friday afternoon. She had actually checked out my first book (ATCAG) from the library and spent the night reading it. She showed no interest in converting me; instead, she asked me some (legitimate) question about atheism, after which we swapped stories about our early religious upbringings. We parted on friendly terms, and that was that.

I was so filled with pain-killers that I couldn't tell if I made much sense, but the conversation was a welcome relief from the boredom of my time in the hospital.

The female pastor also asked if I would be offended if she prayed for me after she left. This was interesting because I had recently watched a YouTube video in which Diana Hsieh addressed a similar question in way too much detail, as if it were some kind of deep and profound moral problem. I simply replied: "You know that I don't believe I prayer, but I do appreciate your concern; and if prayer is your way of expressing concern, then that's fine with me." I also asked why she felt it necessary to get my consent to begin with. She said she wanted to ask me out of respect for my views.


Ghs
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I also asked why she felt it necessary to get my consent to begin with. She said she wanted to ask me out of respect for my views.

Perhaps she's applying something St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. There's this business in there about whether it's ok for Christians to eat meat that was sacrificed to a pagan god. Back then they hadn't gotten around to implementing the principle of separation of Church and Slaughterhouse, so the meat in the market had mostly (exclusively?) gotten there by way of the altar. St. Paul writes about how it doesn't matter that the meat was sacrificed to a non-existent god, but in the end concludes you shouldn't eat that meat anyway, I believe because it gives pagans the wrong idea, like that you really do believe or at that you're somehow sanctioning their beliefs. More recently, there was a kerfuffle about Mormons retroactively baptizing holocaust victims, that's more or less in the same line. You'd think mystic incantations were like initiation of physical force is for Objectivists.

Here's a better one: Daniel Dennett had a brush with death a few years back, and when he was informed that people had been praying for him he quipped: did you also sacrifice a goat?

Fellow OLers, I propose we each go to YouTube, search for 'sacrifice a goat', and watch one of the many videos available, to 'support' George's speedy recovery.

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I also asked why she felt it necessary to get my consent to begin with. She said she wanted to ask me out of respect for my views.

Perhaps she's applying something St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. There's this business in there about whether it's ok for Christians to eat meat that was sacrificed to a pagan god. Back then they hadn't gotten around to implementing the principle of separation of Church and Slaughterhouse, so the meat in the market had mostly (exclusively?) gotten there by way of the altar. St. Paul writes about how it doesn't matter that the meat was sacrificed to a non-existent god, but in the end concludes you shouldn't eat that meat anyway, I believe because it gives pagans the wrong idea, like that you really do believe or at that you're somehow sanctioning their beliefs. More recently, there was a kerfuffle about Mormons retroactively baptizing holocaust victims, that's more or less in the same line. You'd think mystic incantations were like initiation of physical force is for Objectivists.

Here's a better one: Daniel Dennett had a brush with death a few years back, and when he was informed that people had been praying for him he quipped: did you also sacrifice a goat?

Fellow OLers, I propose we each go to YouTube, search for 'sacrifice a goat', and watch one of the many videos available, to 'support' George's speedy recovery.

The female pastor, who was present at both meetings, was the more interesting of the two. After she introduced herself and her male counterpart, she dominated their side of the conversation and even got a little obnoxious at one point. From things she said during part 2 (while we were alone), I learned that she had nearly completed her seminary training as a Lutheran counselor and desperately wanted to get a full time job so she could support herself and her little boy. A few years earlier she had taken her boy, left her abusive, alcoholic, and extremely pietistic (Lutheran) husband, and went in search of a new life. She set out to become a religious counselor with true compassion and understanding, instead of a religious zealot who was primarily concerned with running up the score for her church.

I mentioned some hostility in the first meeting. This happened because after they introduced themselves, I said: "I'm willing to talk to you, but you should know that I'm atheist, and that I've been an atheist for fifty years."

After the two pastors sat down, the woman asked why I felt the need to tell them, upfront, that I'm an atheist. I replied that I didn't feel any such "need" at all. I did so as a matter of courtesy. I knew why they were there, and since they announced their religious affiliations off the top, I thought it reasonable for me to do the same. After all, on the basis of my information, they might decide that it would not be worth their time to talk to me.

The woman continued to be a bit offensive, if unintentionally so, by asking if I understood what "atheism" really means. This is when I got annoyed and told her to drop the condescending attitude. I told her that I had written three books on the subject, including Atheism: The Case Against God, so it was unlikely that I would learn anything from her about the subject. At this point, the male pastor piped in, "You wrote that book?" I said, "Yes, I wrote it. My name is George H. Smith. Look it up on the Internet."

The male pastor got busy with his I-Phone, quickly verified my story, and handed his I-Phone to his friend. She seemed confused, and he didn't say a word after that. Then she said, "Maybe we caught you at a bad time. Would you mind if we returned tomorrow?"

I said that tomorrow would be fine. I didn't expect him to return, but I suspected she would. I was right. And her attitude was completely different the second time. She seemed to want to discuss religion on a serious level, without being moitered by a guy who was (I suppose) her supervisor.

Ghs

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I said that tomorrow would be fine. I didn't expect him to return, but I suspected she would. I was right. And her attitude was completely different the second time. She seemed to want to discuss religion on a serious level, without being moitered by a guy who was (I suppose) her supervisor.

Ghs

Ghs has coined a great new word courtesy of a typo and misspelling in one: "moitered."

--Brant

now, the definition needs a contest

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George, I feel your pain. Well, something similar anyway. One of the posters in this thread asked you how you broke your ankle in three places. I don't think that you answered that question [Oops! I was wrong!You discussed it on your Facebook page! But your discussion of how it happened - or why - fits even better with what I recount here], but since others seem to have questions about compound fractures, and what that can lead to, I have a little inside information. Briefly, I will recount how one mishap can lead to another.

About a year ago, I had a fall on a concrete sidewalk causing "unrepairable" fracture to my right shoulder and upper arm, requiring hospitalization and surgical replacement with a steel/titanium joint. After a week's hospitalization, I was discharged, but was admiited again to a different hospital the same day, due to severe pain in my abdomen. Another CT scan revealed bleeding adrenal glands/adrenal failure, probably caused by an autoimmune reaction to the shoulder surgery. Adrenal failure is synonymous with Addison's Disease and requires lifelong cortisone treatment. (Prior to the introduction and wide usage of CT scans, adrenal failure was, "diagnosed at autopsy.") .

This gets me back to the original question: the causes of compound fractures. For me, the fracture was caused by weakening bone structure, an undiagnosed osteoporosis. No, I am not postmenopausal (impossible, due to a biological condition called "male") So, what caused osteoporosist? Several years treatment with the popular drugs, Prilosec, Nexium, or other drugs in the "proton pump inhibitor" class - widely used for treating acid reflux (Recently, TV ads for this class of drugs have added a warning about possibly causing osteoporosis. Take these warnings seriously!).

Additionally, I had been on Coumadin (warfarin), a blood thinner, after two incidents of DVTs led to a diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, "Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome." As it turns out, Coumadin also causes weakening of bone structure (due to its inhibition of Vitamin K, essential for proper calcium absorption).

By the way, once it occurs, osteoporosis is not easily treated. Calcium and vitamin D tablets may halt or slow the bone degeneration, but actual rebuilding requires another class of very expensive - and very dangerous - drugs that carry a substantial risk of acquiring a type of cancer of the jaw, which is extremely difficult to treat.

"Your mileage may be different," but watch out for hidden side-effects of popular drugs.

And don't fall.

And drink your milk!


.
But, I'm O.K. now.. No, really!

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Addendum-clarification to above post (#19 of 07 January 13, 20013)

"Another CT scan revealed bleeding adrenal glands/adrenal failure, probably caused by an autoimmune reaction to the shoulder surgery. Adrenal failure is synonymous with Addison's Disease and requires lifelong cortisone treatment. (Prior to the introduction and wide usage of CT scans, adrenal failure was, "diagnosed at autopsy.") ".

I should make it clear here that adrenal failure, usually attributed to an autoimmune reaction, is not an uncommon occurance. You may never have had any type of autoimmune reaction before, no matter. Anyone can have this reaction after a surgical operation. So, if you are hospitalized and receive surgery, make sure your doctors are on the look-out for signs of this occuring. You may not realize what is happening - you just feel awful - probably with pain in the chest/abdomen and/or back), but it requires immediate ER diagnostics (CT scan and an "ACTH challenge test") and treatment,. If undiagnosed, you can go into shock without warning and quite possibly die.

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Ghs has coined a great new word courtesy of a typo and misspelling in one: "moitered."

--Brant

now, the definition needs a contest

Looks like how you'd spell a regional pronunciation of murdered or martyred. Kind of like how Bugs Bunny would say it.

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