I’m currently sporting a splint on an avulsion fracture. No, it’s not from sex, it’s from an errant soccer ball and not worth posting about. But a month with my mangled finger has reminded me of various other injuries where difficulties about sexual expectations arose…or didn’t. (Ha! Sex pun.)
When I am injured or feel like shit, sex is the last thing on my mind.
The first time I had multiple fingers in splints, I was miserable. If Byung-hun Lee had walked into my apartment shirtless, the only itch I’d have wanted him to scratch would have been the one in the middle of my back.
Then I’d have asked him to clean the cat box and vacuum.
Because no one on earth wants sex when in misery or pain, right?
Wrong.
Enter the husband.
After his first knee surgery, about a year into our marriage, Andy cast bedroom eyes at me by Day 3.
“You are outta your mind,” I told him. “You’re supposed to be resting, elevating, and icing.”
He was undaunted. “I could do all that in certain positions—”
“Forget it. Not without a doctor’s note.”
The orthopedist was one of Andy’s people. The doctor gave my husband a note stating that conjugal relations could resume AND a note for the DMV to give Andy a handicapped placard.
“How can you be well enough for sex but not well enough to walk an extra 10 feet into the grocery store?!” I asked.
“Doctor says it’s a quality of life issue,” Andy told me smugly. “I should save my knee for important things.”
Andy’s doctor is male, of course. I began to see a trend.
Andy’s retina is unfortunately prone to small tears. No one is sure why. (His optometrist officially termed the cause “shit happens.”) The first time Andy got his retinal tears soldered back together by laser, he came home with a list of things not to do: drinking, exercising, or any activity that might raise his blood pressure. He was also supposed to stay in a dark room.
“I know something fun we can do in a dark room,” he told me, with a nudge. (Bedroom eyes were impossible from behind his oversized, geriatric sunglasses.)
“There’s no way you’re allowed to have sex,” I told him.
“It doesn’t say anything about sex on the instructions.”
“Dude. You’re not supposed to raise your blood pressure!”
“Sex doesn’t count!”
“It SO counts. Seriously, this is the one time when masturbating might actually make you go blind!”
“I don’t believe you,” Andy told me truculently.
“I don’t care. No sex without a—”
“I know, I know, a doctor’s note,” Andy grumbled. “What if I call and ask?”
“Go right ahead.”
“Fine, I will!”
Our house is small. It was easy to overhear Andy’s side of the conversation:
“I had some retinal tears lasered today and I’m calling about the after care instructions…yeah, well, it mentions exercise, but it doesn’t say anything about…you know, sex.” There was a long pause, followed by, “What? Are you serious?! Well, for how many days? Really?”
So much for keeping that blood pressure down.
When I tore my quadriceps muscle, Andy took me to the orthopedist. Since I was on crutches, the doctor handed Andy my list of instructions on our way out. He read it as we waited for the elevator.
“No walking unaided, no exercise, ibuprofen, ice, elevation…hey, there’s nothing in here about when you can have sex again. Do you want to go back and ask?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because moving my leg hurts like a motherfucker, that’s why. I can’t see having sex until I can at least walk again. Not unless you want to do the whole Victorian, ‘lie back and think of England, dear’ routine.”
Andy didn’t answer for several too many seconds.
I waved a threatening crutch. “You’d better not even be considering that option.”
“Never, honey. Never.”
“Liar.”
It has to be a guy thing!
Pretty sure.
I’m also often surprised at how quickly man flu disappears after a few days of celibacy in our household.
ROTFLMAO
Haha, Andy and his doctor are something else!
I can actually not say anything regarding this matter because…well neither my wife or I got injured like that thus far.
Sure my wife gave birth twice already and that means at least six weeks no intercourse (plus how many weeks it might take her to feel well enough/comfortable with the whole thing) but that is about it, don’t see any issue with that.
Ah, but what about when you were sick? Thumbs up or thumbs down on sex?
When either of us are like sick sick (bad flue and stuff) there ain’t anything happening. One or both are sick/ the still healthy one has more than enough to do helping out and
handling the child/ren and pets :p
See, that makes so much sense to me.
Though I must admit that in case I am the one “down” and on the road of recovery I might be more inclined for sex again whilas my wife wouldn’t do anything till 100% healthy
So with your wife.
Haha oh man, this title totally dragged me into the post… good clickbait Autumn 😉
You’re so cute that Andy just can’t keep his hands off you… even with both knees completely iced, ha! But to be honest, I’m exactly the same. Even if I’m just dead tired (and not even injured) I’m just not in the mood. I’m a fuddy dud old lady.
Now that I’m free from grad school and other such horrible thing that take up all my free time I’m going to catch up on all your past blog posts, yay!
Well, I’ve been a fuddy duddy old lady since I was in my twenties so you are in such good company. Congrats on grad school! That is so cool.
Sex after injury hastens recovery. Just sayin…
Clearly you are Andy’s people.
A guy? Oh definitely. 🙂
I dunno. I do have some girlfriends who are equally undeterred by pain when it comes to sex. Well, one anyway.
Uuuh, spicy details!
C. has a famous sentence. “I am dying and the doctor says there is one thing that could save me…”. You know where this is going, no? But we don’t get sick often and there are been no broken muscles or bones since we are together so not sure how he would react in that situation. I think I would be more like you xD
Wow, C has some pretty slick moves to get you in bed! Does it ever work?
Sometimes. I’m an easy girl, haha
As the other commenters have said, it is probably a guy thing. I do not want to suggest that they have a higher tolerance of pain or the desire outweighs that, I really don’t and don’t believe that….Sex doesn’t solve everything in the world but for some, it can be a great distraction in many ways and make someone feel ‘wanted’ so to speak. Or fulfilling some kind of ego.
That’s true, I guess it would distract from the pain…until you moved an injured limb and there was MORE pain… Maybe it’s less about pain and more about being able to plan and avoid impulsive behavior! 🙂
Maybe pain turns some guys on in the weirdest possible ways, be it their pain or your pain. You just never know some people sometimes…
This is certainly possible. Just not in my case. Pain is generally followed by homicidal rage.
If you can wave a threatening crucch and stand on one foot, I imagine your homicidal rage to be destructive. Not even cake can calm you down then. Maybe, cake can be a distraction from sex momentarily, though…
Cake would never distract Andy, though!
Oh my Autumn, that is just…whoa!
I would be completely like you and not interested. But I can’t speak for my husband…;-)
If your husband is like everyone else’s husband so far, you don’t need to speak for him! 🙂
Surely the adrenaline and the endorphin will work their magic. I would have thought they are better than popping ibuprofen every few hours. Wink wink XD
No.
I just looked up avulsion fracture. It sounds like it may be tricky to heal. Good thing you’re good at standing up to your man. Nice legs, Andy.
But such hairy legs! You’d never know he was an Asian-American. Especially not if you had to clean our bathtub!
Oh, men. They truly do have only one thing on the brain all the time. 🙂
Hey, at least this means he still finds you irresistible!
True. On both counts.