Illegible doctor instructions are the stuff of legends. Fortunately, the medical staff who read them are master translators. But sometimes even they cannot prevent the hazards of hastily-written notes. I found that out a few years ago when I suffered an injury that would later land me in the hospital.

It was one of those spectacularly painful events that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. While working as a telecommunications computer technician I needed to replace a power supply for a 300 MB disk drive. I went to our supply closet to retrieve one from the top shelf. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that its cord was tangled up with another supply. When I pulled it off the shelf, it crashed down, landing on the toes of my right foot. Much screaming took place and once I calmed down a fellow technician escorted me to the emergency ward of a nearby hospital.

I must have been quite a sight when, with my right foot swathed in a hastily wrapped covering, I limped into the ward on crutches. After the nurse on duty took my vitals, the doctor arrived and looked at my mangled toes. “You’ve got some broken toes there, lady! But other than straining your vocal cords, looks like everything else about you is intact.” I managed to eke out a weak smile and wondered what would come next.

He whipped out a pad of paper and scratched a few instructions on it. Handing it to me he said, “Take this to X-Ray and we will see what we have to work with.” I hobbled away on my crutches, heading for the Xray department.

When I arrived at the department, I promptly gave the technician his instructions. After reading them she looked me up and down very carefully. Then a quizzical look appeared on her face. After a few seconds she said: "You seem to be moving your arms just fine. Which arm did you break?”