The human body has 206 bones, 4,000 tendons, 640 skeletal muscles and 360 joints, and they all amazingly work together to allow us to eat with a fork and knife, blow dry and curl our hair, put on earrings, vacuum stairs, walk dogs, wash windows, play golf and tennis, water ski, bicycle, hike, jog, and lift a variety of objects including those precious little things called, "babies." A little over one month ago in the fraction of a second, I broke one of those bones and joints and displaced a couple of tendons. It is called an olecranon fracture of my right elbow. The part of the elbow that is the olecranon is what we call our "funny bone," or the pointed tip of the elbow. I had to have surgery to reattach that triangular piece back to my elbow, or more specifically the end of my ulna. No crazy glue would work, instead my surgeon reattached it with a screw and a washer. He also had to drill a couple of holes and reattach some tendons because they are needed to help my elbow bend. (see drawing)
Now I am in the throes of physical therapy, with daily exercises to try to get my right elbow to bend like it used to. When I said the pledge of allegiance this week at school and tried to place my right hand over my heart, I had to really push it and there was pain. I am still unable to cup my right hand with my left hand in order to rinse my face with water. I also look "gimpy" when I put face cream or make-up on. My therapists tell me that I have made good progress, but there is still a while to go before I regain my elbow's full range of motion. In fact, total healing time for an olecranon fracture is about 12 weeks. At some point in time, I may also have to have the screw and washer removed from the elbow if it sticks out too much.
With all that said, this experience has taught me just how complex and precise are the movements of the human body. Every bone, tendon, muscle, etc. is interdependent on each other. Nothing is able to work alone. And at the cellular level it is even more complex. The simplest living cell has over one trillion molecules. That is more than 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 or 1,000 times one billion. Those numbers are mind staggering.
This all leads me, more than ever, to proclaim the power, magnitude and awesome intelligence of our Creator God. Though I broke my elbow accidentally, the complexity of the human body is no accident of evolution. It was created by a supreme being in order to glorify Him and commune with Him. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26)The current complexities of our body chemistry and construction are only a remnant of what they were at creation. Because of sin we are subject to imperfections, accidents, disease and death. However, no matter what their current state, we can, one day, count on full restoration if we know Jesus. He substituted his blood for ours, not surgically, but sacrificially. Once again let me say with the psalmist, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." (Psalm 139:14)
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