Greetings, friends and other curiosity-seekers. Below you can see how I spent most of July, 2004.
The image on the left shows what I managed to do to my hand by swinging it into a door frame on my way to the bathroom the morning of 27 June. (I wish it were something more exciting/macho, but that's really what I did.) It didn't really hurt much unless I tried to move it, but I knew by the "crack" (heard across the room as well) that I had just experienced my first broken bone. Oddly enough, while a certain type of fracture of the fifth metacarpal (the bone I broke) is known as a "boxer's break," and mine was suffered in a punch-like manner, it does not technically fit the description.
The image on the right shows what was done by my orthopedic surgeon to secure the bone fragments (fortunately, only the two halves) together with 3 metal screws. The surgery was necessary because 1) the fracture was spiral in nature, meaning that misaligned healing of the bones was highly likely, and 2) I was scheduled to photograph a wedding 15 days after the injury occurred.
I woke from surgery (in the most pain I experienced during this adventure) with a plaster half-cast (splint) on my hand. This was replaced by a fiberglass cast one week after the surgery (three days before the wedding). This stayed on for three more weeks, including ten of the hottest days of the summer.
Two weeks after the cast has been removed, I have full use and range of motion of the hand (as well as a three-inch scar and a soft-tissue knot on the back of my hand). It is still somewhat sensitive to over-use and movement at the wrong angle, so I was fitted with a removable splint which will go with me to Athens and be worn in high-traffic situations
Many thanks to the friends and family who have supported me (emotionally and financially) and to the clients who have waited patiently for delayed photo delivery during this experience.