It is a wonderful thing to walk outside first thing in the morning, find a fig drooping from the weight of the sugar and juiciness it attained to bird-free and to bring it inside to share. There was one yesterday, too, and there will be another tomorrow.
Also yesterday: my new doctor said he didn’t think anything was broken because I didn’t react strongly enough to his prodding around for the sore spot. I told him that one thing he needed to know about me was that my ability to feel pain is diminished (which…can be nice…) and that’s why having this hurt like it does when I move the wrong way was a surprise.
Thus the x-ray.
The report came today: “Slightly displaced fracture of the right anterior ninth rib…”
He gave me a prescription for a few nights’ worth of Lidocaine patches, not enough to get me through till I see him again next week but I figured I’d gone three nights with this already on my own, so no big deal. He assured me they did not cross-react with the categories of painkillers I’m allergic to.
I’d never used them before. I put the first one on right before bed.
Blink. “How fast are these supposed to kick in?” I asked Richard. “Because, wow.”
I woke up amazed at how much of a difference a good night’s sleep makes.
I’m looking forward to that next fig in the morning.