The Cast Experience

Cesar Escalante, Staff Writer

Recently I had a new big change in my life, and it’s getting a cast. On February 3rd, I had gotten upset at something pretty stupid. I had gotten so upset I ended up punching a wall not once, but twice with my right hand. I had a lot of adrenaline pumping through my body and it didn’t hurt at all when I punched the wall and when I finally calmed down from being so upset I started to feel the pain. My hand had gotten swollen a bit and I wrapped it with somegauge. I was also getting ready to go out with some friends and so I continued to get ready. I spent a whole day out of my house and when I finally got home I unwrapped my hand. My sister had told me that it looked like a balloon glove.

I decided to sleep it off and on Sunday morning I went to the hospital and they put me in a splint. They said I broke two bones in my hand and I had to get a cast on. So on Monday morning, my mother and I drove to a special hospital in Downtown Los Angeles. We waited in a clinic for a little while and they took more X-rays of my hand. A nurse called me into another lobby with gurneys and she asked me to lay down. They then numbed my hand with multiple injections which was pretty painful and waited for about 30 minutes. After that a doctor walked into the lobby and asked to me to get ready. They gripped my arm and pushed my fingers into place. It took only a minute but it was the most painful experience I’ve ever felt. Once they aligned the bones they quickly wrapped my hand and molded plaster like paste to my arm. They put some colored tape and that’s when I officially had a cast.

I was really drained and in pain when we left and as the day went on I quickly learned how limited I was from doing certain things with the cast on. I figured it was going to take longer for me to get ready in the morning so I started waking up earlier so I can shower and get my clothes on taking my time. I usually wake up pretty early so it was a pain to wake up even earlier. I learned that using the bathroom was also hard along with brushing my teeth and showering. I have to cover my cast with a plastic bag whenever I shower and it’s pretty hard taking a shower with only one hand. Eating was hard, since I broke my right hand I had to start using my left hand and trying to eat left handed felt awkward and uncomfortable.

Since I also play video games on my computer it’s nearly impossible to use my mouse at all. The only thing I’ve been doing for entertainment is watching movies and tv shows on my phone. Sleeping is a hassle since I have to keep my arm elevated and its hard to find a good position to sleep in. The one thing I learned through this experience was don’t punch a wall because the wall will always win and to anyone who is reading this, please don’t ever break a bone.