Yep,
I broke my finger. I'm glad Sister Shumway called you and kept you
updated. She's the best! So is Sis. Evenson, who sent you the picture of
me. Rest be assured, I've been taken care of. And you're right Mom,
it's going to be hard to right my email today. Sorry if it's a small
email.
So
here's the story. Last Monday we were playing basketball as a district
at the church with a few YSAs. Nothing out of the norm, just having a
little bit of fun. It wasn't even that competitive. And y'all know how
much I love basketball. I was right in the thick of things playing my
heart out. We had only played for about 15 minutes when it happened.
Somebody passed the ball towards me. But right as I was about to catch
it, somebody just barely deflected the ball. Instead of catching it, the
ball slammed right into my pinkie. Instantly I grabbed my finger as the
pain set in. It hurt pretty bad, but I had jammed fingers before
playing the same sport. After a little bit of examination I thought that
it could possibly be broken, but more likely just a really bad jam. I
ran to the kitchen, grabbed some ice from the freezer, and was the ref
the rest of the game. Surprisingly enough, after icing it for a while,
it didn't really hurt that bad. I couldn't bend it, but I was certain
that is was a bad jam. The first picture included is of my finger that
night after coming home. Now that I look at it again, it was most
definitely broken.
 |
| This is of my pinkie the night of basketball. Broken? yes |
The
next morning I woke up to even less pain. I could slightly bend the
finger. It was New Years Day and I knew that a bunch of church members
would be playing football at MSSU. I didn't want to miss out. It was
right then that I decided to tape my pinkie to the ring finger, deal
with a bit of pain, and play some football. What could go wrong? Big
mistake. Although I was able to catch a couple of touchdowns, my
downfall happened when I dived to bat the ball away while on defense. I
landed on the ground, thus catching myself with both hands. Instantly I
felt intense pain come from my finger. I ripped off my glove and saw how
black and blue my hand was. It was then that I decided that it was
probably broken. The rest of the day I iced my finger and Bro. Wilstead
helped us pick out a splint at Walgreens to keep my finger straight. He
called Sis. Shumway and asked if he could take x-rays at his
Chiropractor clinic to make sure. She said no because she wanted me to
wait until the next day to go to the Urgent Care. We visited people the
rest of the day and taught a few lessons.
 |
| This is of my pinkie right after football. Worse. |
Day
3: Lots of pain, but splint definitely helps. I was basically waiting
for the word from Sis. Shumway to tell me what to do. Finally around
noon Bro. Wilstead called me into his office to just get it x-ray'd
anyway. As he was firing up the machine, he took a medical tuning fork
of sorts, hit it on his knee to get it vibrating, and ran it along my
finger. No pain. He said that if it was broken it would've hurt really
bad. But he decided to take x-rays just to be sure. Good thing he did,
because as he retrieved the x-ray from the printer he said, "Oh wow.
It's definitely broken." He held it to the light and I looked. My finger
was broken right through at an angle and it was displaced to the side.
"No wonder it hurts!" Once again we spent the rest of the day teaching
and went to district meeting in Pittsburg.
Day 4: Still in a splint, but after a bunch of phone
calls, Bro. Wilstead and Sis. Shumway were able to get me an
appointment at an orthopedic clinic out in Galena. The Lord continued to
bless me as I was able to get in with a really good doctor who knew his
stuff. Ever heard of Grant Wistrom? He was a famous NFL player for the
St. Louis Rams who had his knee fixed by this doctor. Yes, I was in good
hands :) And to make things better, Dad faxed our insurance info to the
office right as I was signing in. Thanks, Dad. After more x-rays, it
was decided that I would have to go into surgery to get a couple of
screws to keep things in place. They scheduled an appointment for the
next day at noon. We spent the rest of the day helping with food orders
at the church and visiting people. Also did our weekly planning.
Day
5: I couldn't eat anything for 8 hours before surgery, so I was super
hungry. I was also a little nervous because I'm not a huge fan of
needles or of surgery. We went in at noon and I got undressed and
dressed into a gown and a cap and slippers. Gosh, I looked like a goof!
As I sat in the bed, I told Elder Richards to not laugh at me. Soon
enough I had an IV in my hand and after a little longer they wheeled me
into the surgery room. The next 2-3 hours went by in the blink of an eye
and I woke up in the recovery room with a cast on my hand. A lady
helped me get dressed (awkward) and then they wheeled me out to the car.
We went home and the rest of the day I spent on the couch napping.
That's when Sis. Evenson took a picture of me.
So,
since then I've been drugged up on Hydro's and have been feeling great.
I've been well enough to visit people too. Despite all that happened
with my finger, we were still able to teach 9 lessons, pick up a new
investigator named Charlie, set a date with Cameron, and I even bore my
testimony in sacrament meeting. I have no idea what I said because of
how drugged up I was, but Elder Richards reassured me that I didn't say
anything too weird haha.
I hope y'all are
doing well and that you don't get too cold. It's pretty chilly here,
but bearable. Thanks for the great phone call on Christmas and for being
the best family ever! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I love you.
Wish me luck as I continue to work my hardest.
Love, Elder Atkin
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