I looked up at her with what must have been a look of blind panic across my face. I had absolutely no idea where I was, what the hell was going on, or indeed who she was. Why is everything blurry?
Mr Hodgson? Are you OK?
Erm… wha?
I can see now. Oh, hang on. I know this place. You’re a nurse aren’t you?
Um, I think I must have passed out.
You see, about five minutes earlier, they’d taken that fetching blue plaster off of my hand (mmm, yellow and smelly) and handed me a leaflet explaining what might happen. The first thing in there?
You may find you feel faint or nauseous — don’t be alarmed — this is because your limb has been in a cast for some time.
I wandered out into the waiting room, then almost immediately got called into another room to wait for the doctor to get around to me. So I sat down to wait for a while. Next thing I know, I’m looking up at the nurse, wondering what the hell was happening. They moved me onto the adjacent bed and put an oxygen mask on my face.
I was feeling relatively normal after about ten minutes, so the doctor came back. He said it’d continue to hurt for a while (he’s right, it does) because I haven’t used it for weeks. No bat or raquet sports, pneumatic drills or power-tools for the time being. Jogging or swimming is fine though (boring!). Come back in a couple of weeks for a check-up.
I asked about mountain biking and he said I ought not to for a little while — but my commute on the road ought to be OK. That amused me, given the state of Cheltenham’s roads. I may also have neglected to mention I have a tendency to hoon off speed bumps and and down flights of stairs en-route to work. I might have a spin on the Cove tomorrow and see how it feels.
Oh, I still appear to be operating left-handed. What gives?
It’s that time of year again: Cheltenham Film Society are about to enter their 61st season. Every couple of weeks throughout the winter, they show non-mainstream films from all over the world. It’s great if you’re into that sort of thing — you should join in!
