Broken Arms, Shoulder Dislocations & Surgery Recovery

Michelle's childhood injuries begin with a fake fall that became a real broken arm and a jump from a backyard slide that broke the other one. Because she cried often, adults initially underestimated both injuries. Henrique remembers similar disbelief during a painful haircut, then tells two bloodier stories: striking his head on a rock after slipping from playground equipment and scraping both wrists across a rough driveway in a bicycle crash.As a teenager, Michelle fell down a large sand dune in North Carolina's Outer Banks and fully dislocated a shoulder that had already been prone to partial slips. An ambulance crew had to reach her away from the road, and her attempt to put the joint back herself failed. The shoulder later dislocated while she slept, leading to an emergency call, an embarrassing rescue while unclothed and a painful hospital visit she remembers as dismissive.A second sleep-related dislocation in 2017 finally pushed Michelle toward surgery. She describes severe pain, fear of another recurrence, medication-related concerns and the challenge of choosing treatment while already overwhelmed. After the operation, pain medicine and an anti-nausea prescription helped but left her tired, and even walking transferred enough movement to hurt. These are personal recollections of injury and care, not medical instructions; do not attempt to reduce a dislocation based on this conversation.Henrique traveled from Ohio to help during the second week of recovery, cooking, washing dishes and staging a complete Nightmare on Elm Street marathon. They even visited Centralia, Pennsylvania, while Michelle was still healing. Her shoulder now feels mostly normal, though she believes some range of motion remains limited and still avoids her former sleeping position. Contains broken bones, dislocations, bleeding, severe pain, surgery, emergency care, prescription medication, brief nonsexual nudity, profanity and repeated inserted social-casino advertisements.LinksEmail the hosts: [email protected]