April 25, 2015
April 23, 2015
How to survive several weeks one hand in a cast part III
In part 3 the cast has been long gone. Not for long, just for three days, but it feels like a lifetime. The hand felt much like an alien at the beginning. Lighter, paler, less functional, a lot like something that did not belong to me or my body. I could not straighten my fingers. The skin was itchy and flaky
(think fish or lizard skin). Tiny red spots on the skin that was trapped under the case, but they are almost gone now after applying a lot of moisturizer. After three days I am getting used to regaining the function and occupational/physical therapy are very much recommended.
I still wear a splint at nights, because I am sometimes a restless sleeper and worry that my hand will be squashed between me and the mattress if I have nothing on. I can see how protective the cast was..
The cast stayed on for 6 weeks and 2 days. That's quite a short period of time for scaphoid fracture and few colleagues have had to have the cast on for up to 6 months. OMG. Seeing what condition my skin was in, I am just so relieved the cast is off and I hope it stays off.
The price I had to pay is no horseback riding for several months now, but I get to start a new job without the cast.
The skin under the cast, when it is exposed, will need a lot of TLC, moisturizer, some sunlight and more moisturizer. The bone, that is still healing needs no sudden movements or a heavy workload. Fingers require exercise and swelling, which I still have (just in the hand and wrist area now), benefits from exercise and a lot of water. I love my showers now and the gratitude that I have is enormous. I have two hands and it does not matter if they both get wet. The feeling of warm water on the skin is exquisite. Hand and wrist exercises are easier in water so i think swimming would be great too. I am an Aquarius, but don't like water and swimming, so that's out of question for me. Of course I'd love to take the risk and get on the horse, but so far I have managed to resist. That short ride of 5 minutes, while my arm was still in cast, does not count. Mounting the horse was ok, dismounting was much harder. So much can go wrong, especially on my lively speedy horse and falling off could be disastrous. No riding.. once again I talked myself out of it. Instead I go for walks and no longer have that issue of arm and hand swelling up and becoming so tight that I am forced to walk the hand upright all the way. As if I am at school and waiting and asking for my turn to speak.
It will get better.
(think fish or lizard skin). Tiny red spots on the skin that was trapped under the case, but they are almost gone now after applying a lot of moisturizer. After three days I am getting used to regaining the function and occupational/physical therapy are very much recommended.
I still wear a splint at nights, because I am sometimes a restless sleeper and worry that my hand will be squashed between me and the mattress if I have nothing on. I can see how protective the cast was..
The cast stayed on for 6 weeks and 2 days. That's quite a short period of time for scaphoid fracture and few colleagues have had to have the cast on for up to 6 months. OMG. Seeing what condition my skin was in, I am just so relieved the cast is off and I hope it stays off.
The price I had to pay is no horseback riding for several months now, but I get to start a new job without the cast.
The skin under the cast, when it is exposed, will need a lot of TLC, moisturizer, some sunlight and more moisturizer. The bone, that is still healing needs no sudden movements or a heavy workload. Fingers require exercise and swelling, which I still have (just in the hand and wrist area now), benefits from exercise and a lot of water. I love my showers now and the gratitude that I have is enormous. I have two hands and it does not matter if they both get wet. The feeling of warm water on the skin is exquisite. Hand and wrist exercises are easier in water so i think swimming would be great too. I am an Aquarius, but don't like water and swimming, so that's out of question for me. Of course I'd love to take the risk and get on the horse, but so far I have managed to resist. That short ride of 5 minutes, while my arm was still in cast, does not count. Mounting the horse was ok, dismounting was much harder. So much can go wrong, especially on my lively speedy horse and falling off could be disastrous. No riding.. once again I talked myself out of it. Instead I go for walks and no longer have that issue of arm and hand swelling up and becoming so tight that I am forced to walk the hand upright all the way. As if I am at school and waiting and asking for my turn to speak.
It will get better.
April 13, 2015
Animal cruelty
"Pony killed in vicious attack" says a headline in a well-known magazine. Apparently the Shetland pony had been repeatedly attached with a heavy object and it resulted in serious injuries. The pony had to be put down. I will never ever understand what makes people kill defenseless animals, be they dogs, cats, horses or anything else. I just hope and pray that justice will be served and may these people, who so cruelly murdered this pony, experience something even worse in their lives. Wishing something bad for them does not make me a better person, but who would stand up for the pony's rights? So yes, may those insane criminals find themselves in a situation where no one comes to their rescue. Violent painful death. I hope they sleep well, because the pony's bloody face will haunt them in their dreams for many more years. I hope they can tell their kids, who ask them for a pony, that they are actually pony killers themselves and "no, we can't get a pony for you, because it would be a constant reminder of what I achieved when I was young and stupid". I hope the perps are caught and given not just a fine, but several months in jail and 1000 lashes.
April 02, 2015
April 01, 2015
How to survive several weeks one hand in a cast part II
27 days. That is how long the cast has been on now and it may stay for much much longer. Scaphoid fractures take a long time to heal, but when the cast is yours, attached to your body part, it does not sound good at all. I have no pain in the hand, the fracture site caused minimum amount of pain anyway. The cast has been the root cause of miserable existence. First it got wet in the shower. Soaking wet so that water was dripping all over the place and continued to do so until I arrived at work. The new cast was comfortable for a couple of days, after that it started to get awfully tight and my fingers used to swell up all the time. There was a feeling of constant heaviness and that something wasn't right. I visited the ER, only to find out that I would have had to wait for quite a long time to be seen and I thought damn, I'll go home and sleep and hope for the best. Will I still have any blood circulating in my hand in the morning?
Yes, blood was circulating all right, but I had a severe splitting headache, and could not go to work. I slept until late and felt quite a lot better when I woke up. The hand... well, it was all still intact, the cast was on, even though I had had a dream that the cast was no longer there.
I suffer from muscle twitching and weird involuntary movements under the cast.
My arm itches and protests its lack of exercise and the usual work I do: typing, horseback riding, cooking etc. I have almost forgotten what it feels like to have a pair of hands.
Things I can still do: talk on the phone, drive a car (carefully), watch movies, walk, run (kind of bouncy, hurts my hand and makes it swell up), have a chat with my horse, go to work (but not really do much there), sleep (and dream about days when I had no cast) and eat with my left hand. Write in legible capital letters, slowly.
Things I can't do: cut my nails, apply body lotion, have a decent shower. Have a proper relaxing sleep.
Things I can also do: ask for a second opinion- which is what I will do in the next few weeks. I'm totally ready to get rid of this cast. Soon. I may just about to reach 6 weeks in a cast, but probably not much longer than that.
Yes, blood was circulating all right, but I had a severe splitting headache, and could not go to work. I slept until late and felt quite a lot better when I woke up. The hand... well, it was all still intact, the cast was on, even though I had had a dream that the cast was no longer there.
I suffer from muscle twitching and weird involuntary movements under the cast.
My arm itches and protests its lack of exercise and the usual work I do: typing, horseback riding, cooking etc. I have almost forgotten what it feels like to have a pair of hands.
Things I can still do: talk on the phone, drive a car (carefully), watch movies, walk, run (kind of bouncy, hurts my hand and makes it swell up), have a chat with my horse, go to work (but not really do much there), sleep (and dream about days when I had no cast) and eat with my left hand. Write in legible capital letters, slowly.
Things I can't do: cut my nails, apply body lotion, have a decent shower. Have a proper relaxing sleep.
Things I can also do: ask for a second opinion- which is what I will do in the next few weeks. I'm totally ready to get rid of this cast. Soon. I may just about to reach 6 weeks in a cast, but probably not much longer than that.
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