Ouch! Elbow Rescued from a Handrail with a Screwdriver
If you asked me to do it again, I don’t think I could in 1 million years. It was just the way that I put my elbow on the railing for a moment that it slipped in between the wall and the metal railing. When I went to pull it out, my elbow had twisted in such a way that the head of my humerus bone, not so funny actually, I don’t know why they call it a funny bone. Was stuck in between and I could not get it out. I probably could’ve gotten it out but it would’ve been very painful, because the same skin in between the railing and my bone was already hurting when I would move it. I knew I was safe because when I didn’t move, it wasn’t hurting me.
I try to think outside of my mind, which would usually bring me to a state of anxiety at this point, but I was taking a view of it from overhead, and looking at myself, stuck in this situation that wasn’t life-threatening, but was certainly not the most comfortable position I could think of. At first, I asked for butter and my mom brought me some Olivio spray. When I looked at how my elbow was stuck, I didn’t think that olive oil butter spray was going to do the trick. I asked for some soap. She brought me back a bottle of dish detergent. When I thought of the streams of soap and water that could be on the wall when we could just remove the railing seemed like a better situation.
I decided to ask my husband to get up, which is not an easy task, for him to get up, and for me to ask for help. But this time I figured it was pretty important since my son had to get to school, and I was his ride. When my husband came down the stairs in his pajamas, he took one look and just made a funny face like he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He had a smile on his face, and I knew that I did the right thing. I just asked him to get a screwdriver and of course, when there’s a tool involved, Amanda is usually pretty happy. Knowing that he can come to save the day was a nice way to start it off.
He took a couple of turns on the second screw, pulled back, and I was able to wriggle free. Looking back, it was kind of funny. I will never look at that railing, the same way. And probably never with a straight face. We actually had that railing put on a couple of years ago, when I really needed something to hold onto to climb the stairs. Having one railing didn’t do the trick.
What did I learn from this whole, is there a moral to the story? Don’t stick your elbow and sticky situations that you might have trouble getting out of by yourself. If I was alone, I would’ve been there a while. Luckily for me I was not, and somebody was in reach of a screwdriver. A screwdriver is not gonna be the tool that will save you from all situations, so just be careful, especially if you have mobility issues, like me, to keep it safe. In retrospect, I probably wouldn’t put my limb next to a wall and a railing where it could get stuck. A rock and a hard place, if you will. What a way to start my day. My son got a big kick out of it, and he even took this picture. When I was done, I had to ham it up for him. Believe me, I was not as thrilled as I look in this picture!
