Arm Update

It hurts.  A lot.  I can’t use my right arm, wrist or hand until I get the wrist operated on and fixed.

Doc Jones, my surgeon, who is a cutie by the way, says that he’ll stick some screws in my arm and maybe a plate.

I figure that I’m going to get to know the TSA agents at the airport better than I ever wanted.

I know from having had wrist surgery before that I’m looking at 6 weeks minimum in a cast but that once everything is imbolized by the cast that I’ll be able to drive my truck wearing the cast and that I’ll be able to type with both hands except for 1 finger.

The doc says that I should be able to dance.  My dance partner and I will have to see what adjustments will be needed.

Drug Update

Better living through chemicals my butt!  I’m caught in an awful loop at least until I have my surgery.  I have to take the pain relievers because my wrist really hurts when I don’t.  Starts out with twinges and if I let the drugs clear my system by a couple hours say like after having over slept through meds taking time, the pain sits around a 4 0r 5 0n a 10 point scale.  When it was newly broken at the er it was at 12 on the 10 point scale.

As the drugs have built up in my system the pain only pops above a 5 if i bump the arm or like this morning when i had to rewrqp the ace bandage it was 6 – 7 for a bit as i moved it while not fully secured to the splint.

The pain pills are Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen 7.5/325mg.  I love that I’m not in pain but I’m not so crazy about some of the side effects.  I’m experiencing:

• itching
• decreasing effectiveness in pain control 0ver the past few days
• swelling in my feet and ankles —  There are some patients who report this symptoms but the reports are anecdotal and I can’t find confirmation from a reliable source but since the pain meds and a decrease of physical activities are the only new environmental changes I am satisfied that the swelling is either a drug interaction or is a side effect of the pain meds
• lightheadedness  — truthfully this one is kinda nice cause it only happens right after the drug reaches 100% effectiveness.  There’s no pain and a floaty feeling.
• drowsyness / fuzzy-headedness  — which stinks cause I feel like I’m wasting time that could be used productively
• headache — I’ve increased my caffiene intake to try and get some things done and Im pretty sure that is the cause of the headaches.  ineed to start drinking water and lots of it.

Money

I should have an idea tomorrow after my pre-op tests how much this will cost and whether or not I qualify for financial assistance.

Wish me luck because I don’t have insurance and I certainly can’t afford to pay for it.

I’ll know more tomorrow

Dance, Fitness, Health, Work, Friends, Living, and ya gotta have a Plan and a schedule

I’ll do a longer post on this later in the week but the short version is that there is an ideal vision of what I’d like my life to look like which can be quantified into specific goals which fall into broad areas.  To achieve those goals a certain amount of work, time and energy has to be expended each and every day, week, month.

The trick is prioritizing.  I’m not going to let this setback with my wrist keep me from working toward my goals.  More on that next time.

Now the goal is to head to bed.

See ya on the dance floor!

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