The Saga of the Icy Porch Continues

       All is not so well.  Sunday night I went to bed and sneezed -- and was attacked by this horrible pain in my ribs.  I won't go into all the details -- I'll just say I went to the doctor Monday morning, had my ribs x-rayed, came home, had lunch, took some of the midlevel pain medication the doctor had prescribed -- and it only felt worse.  So I ended up spending 5 hours in the emergency room.  Had cat scan, blood work, and all the usual things they do in the ER.  The doctor was one my mother had had in the same ER way back in the 90s -- really nice doc.  He even remembered me from my frequent nagging presence in the ER at that time.  I thought it might not be ribs at all but maybe a kidney stone because of the location of the pain (Fel, if you're reading this -- I can see you shuddering) . 

       But it's not.  I do have a fractured rib -- 11th rib -- plus some cartilage damage.    The doc (or maybe it was the nurse) said that wasn't one of the floating ribs, but it really is. according to the following Wikipedia excerpt.  Count downward on the image. They sent me home with stronger pain medication.  The problem is turning over in bed and getting in and out of bed.  I holler whenever I have to twist.  Plus coughing and even just clearing your throat and blowing your nose is almost impossible.  (Remember the old line "Does it hurt?"  "Only when I laugh"?  Actually. laughing does hurt, but that's not the only thing!)  And I have no idea why it didn't hurt more the first day and a half.  I suppose sneezing pulled the rib apart.

       The upshot is, I will be very unproductive for awhile because it's an understatement to say thatI don't feel at my best.  No intellectual posts that require a lot of focused thought, and I'll have to delay the publication of The Storm-Wing.  I'll probably barely feel like keeping up with my email.  Income tax has to take precedence, too.  I'm really disgusted.

From Gray's Anatomy (NOT the TV series)

From Wikipedia (article Human Rib Cage):

The upper seven true ribs(costae verae, vertebrosternal ribs, I-VII). are attached in the head to the sternum by means of costal cartilage. Due to their elasticity they allow movement when inhaling and exhaling.

The 8th, 9th, and 10th ribs are called false ribs (costae spuriae, vertebrochondral ribs, VIII-X), and join with the costal cartilages of the ribs above.^[3]The 11th and 12th are also sometimes referred to as false ribs.

The 11th and 12th ribs are known as floating ribs (costae fluitantes, vertebral ribs, XI-XII), as they do not have any anterior connection to the sternum.

The spaces between the ribs are known as intercostal spaces; they contain the intercostal muscles, nerves, and arteries.