Breaking News – Literally – Tromso

As with everything in life, not all goes according to plan. The next day, we headed out to the town to do some shopping. The night before was snowy and rainy, and some areas of the sidewalk were icy. Mitch was ahead of me, and he heard a thud. The thud turned out to be me as I face planted into the ice. As I lay there in disbelief, I looked over to see my right hand, and it hit me that I had broken something. The arm was not following any instructions I was giving it to move. As I was being helped off the ground, my arm dangled and looked like something out of a cartoon clip. The tears flowed, and the pain was rearing its ugly head. I had never broken any part of my body, and I was scared.

The ambulance came, and pain medication was given. Off to the hospital we went. Everyone from the EMTs of the ambulance to nurses and doctors at the hospital were fantastic. X-rays were taken, and a spiral fracture of the right arm was the diagnosis. An open cast was put on my arm, and my cut-off sweater was ruined, and its final destination would be the trash. After thinking I could continue our scheduled trip, the doctor looked at Mitch and said, “You need to go back to the states and make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.” Our sixteen-day trip was cut short on day five. We had to wait two days before we could get decent flights back to the states. Each night, we saw the Northern Lights from the window of our Airbnb, officially checking it off our bucket list. Our visit to the cities of Bergen and Ålesund to tour the fjords will have to wait for another time. It took three plane flights back to Tampa, and, needless to say, the experience was not one I would want to repeat.

Our visit to the doctor and a second opinion revealed that surgery was not needed, and that it would take three months to heal. Not the best news, but better than having to endure surgery. Mitch has been my godsend, as I am right-handed and couldn’t do very much. Our stay in Florida has been prolonged until I receive approval to leave and head to Texas.

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