Most people, at some time in their lives, end up with a cast on an appendage. A majority get that little "rite of passage" over and done with early, often before hitting high school. Most of the children I've seen with casts don't even pay attention to having a limb restrained. A day or two to acclimate and off they go, slamming it into doors and using it as a weapon against their friends or to garner sympathy from their elders.
I've already had one cast, on my leg to stabilize a crush injury which was a story in it self. I was about 27...later then most for their first cast. I was in a job that, while physically demanding, offered sick time and I was able to weather the incapacitation with a pair of crutches and good humor since my living wasn't compromised. It was an inconvenient vacation with no real harm done.
Skipping to 2008 is a different story. I'm self employed as a horse trainer, in itself physically demanding (at least the horses I train) and a job where you really need to be on your game all the time. Perhaps not always the "A" game, but certainly a decent "B" contest. Reasoning with a horse is not always an option and they just don't understand the concept of "could you take it easy on me for awhile, I have this broken bone". If they were capable of reasonable discourse, I'm sure it would go something like :
Horse: "Hey, what's that thing on your arm"?
Me: "It's a cast."
Horse: " What's that for"?
Me: "It's used to stabilize a broken bone"
Horse: " OH MY GOODNESS!!! YOU BETTER RUN AWAY!!!!!"
Me: "Why?????"
Horse: "Well, they'll SHOOT you!!!!!"
Me: "Um, they don't shoot humans for broken bones...."
Horse: " Whatayamean they don't shoot humans, they shoot horses!!!"
Me: "Well, um, they just don't...."
And I would walk away mumbling about how unfair life is for our furry and hooved brethren and the horse would walk away thinking, "easy on her? EASY on her??? They'd shoot me and SHE wants me to be EASY on her? Fat chance!"
Which puts me in the predicament of having to be VERY careful of which horses I ride while in a cast and to be careful even on the "easy" horses. Because it's usually the easy horses that get me. Not the fire-breathing, high jumping, eyes bugging out,quaking basket case of a 3 year old just off the farm for the first time. No, it's the been there, done that, seen that, got the t-shirt (OK, horse blanket) been around the block a zillion times older horse that will do it. You see, when I'm on the young, unstable (sorry, punny!) horse I have my "A-game" right there with me the whole time or I don't get on. I'm ready....I'm thinking......I'm reading every move that horse makes and it can't take a breath without me noticing. But put me on that older experienced horse on a nice sunny day with a good half hour training session behind and we're walking along enjoying the breeze, cooling off and KAPOW!!!!!! Just wasn't expecting that wasp to get stuck under the edge of that saddle pad and the rodeo begins and ends just as quick as it started. And I'm on the ground, spitting out sand and cleaning the dirt out of my ears waiting for the bells to stop and the world to come back into focus. With the horse standing there looking at me saying "Wow, did you feel that?"
Sadly, that's not how I came to have a cast on my wrist. I hate to admit it, but I don't know how it happened. Honest! When you work around horses and on a farm, bruises and pain are just a part of daily life. You shake it off, "cowboy up" and move on. The pain seemed to originate in my lower thumb joint. I thought it was arthritis....the Orthopedic Doctor thought it was arthritis for 3 months. Then, when it didn't get any better, the MRI was prescribed. Wasn't I surprised when I went in for my follow-up with the Orthopod who says "You have a fracture of your navicular bone as confirmed by the MRI and throws a cast on my arm. The only compromise he would agree to was to let me use my 4 fingers if I let him take my thumb. The whole thumb. And so it was done, in vivid purple. If I have to have it cast, why hide it? As I walked out of the office, I felt myself sinking a little lower on the evolutionary ladder. After all, thumbs are what separate us from the "lower" animals. Some people say it's brains, but there are alot of people out there who are significantly dumber then animals, but they still have a better job and benefits because of those thumbs.
