It's been 9 weeks since I broke my wrist.... and got my first cast, a back slab on...
Two weeks later I got a real one put on:
This whole journey has been quite an experience! I discovered that a full cast helps with the pain a lot.... and gives a bit more support than the back slab did.
The latter was on only until the swelling went down, although the new cast, which was made from fiberglass, was cut down the side because I happened to be going on a plane trip the next day (more on that in a post of its own!).
I was given a great sling from the emergency department... and found it was very useful for putting things in:
... like letters and eggs... and holding my phone while I was taking Syvlie out for a walk:
(yeah, the chooks like to join us on our walks!)
After having the full cast on for 5 weeks I was back at the specialist... another x-ray to see if the breaks were healing (I broke it in two places):
And then the cast came off, leaving me with a very sore hand and arm, not to mention dropping skin everywhere I went:
I have never seen such dry skin! I've been putting loads of cream on it since then and it is looking much better...
After the cast came off, I had to see a hand therapist... she sent me home armed with a bunch of exercises to do for the next two weeks:
Tomorrow I go back to see how much my movement has improved.. and I think she is going to give me some strength training exercises. So far I am only allowed to lift a cup of tea...
I am not back at my main work yet.. but I am back to teaching quilting because that is just me basically bossing my students around 🙂 I have been doing some unpicking for them, however, which last week made my hand really sore.. so I realized I still need to be careful...
My breaks are healing nicely, but since my hand was immobile for 5 weeks, my muscles have a bit of atrophy so that is what is causing the most pain.
However, I can now use my right hand without too much pain to:
- drink my tea
- brush my hair
- spread butter and jam on my bread/toast
- type for a little while...
Brushing my teeth still hurts, as does things like using the rotary cutter (ahem) and iron (cough, cough) - don't tell the hand therapist that I used both of them last week, will you?!
Thank you all for the emails, comments, and well wishes since I broke my wrist! I haven't replied to all of them yet, but I will! Slowly!
I am hoping I can get back to blogging now - I do have a lot to tell you. I will try to write the posts in stages because right now my wrist is starting to ache again.... so I shall sign off! Talk again soon,
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