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Trauma Drama! An update on my wrist…

Update on my wrist…

The best news is that I’m using my right hand more to type. Yay! That has been the biggest pain in the… uhm.. wrist? LOL Typing with one hand is no fun. And it is very slow. Not to mention the super abundance of typos that ensue when only using one hand.

The truly weird part is how using only one hand slows down the thought process. When typing with one hand I am VERY much aware of the letters of the words I’m typing. When using two hands, as I’m doing now, I’m much more stream of consciousness, with a feedback loop occurring between the screen, my brain and the fingers in between are pretty much operating without me consciously saying type this letter “K” now.

When typing with one hand only, the left, in this case, I literally am spelling out each word in my head and guiding my left hand as I type each word. Ugh!

Doctor’s Visit on Tuesday…

My Facebook Friends can skip this section and jump down to the next one, or if you’re bored or didn’t read it then or want to re-read it then go for it. Your choice! LOL I posted the following update late on Tuesday evening on Facebook:

Update on arm: I’m on track to a full recovery but I was hoping to be ahead of schedule. *sigh*

I think the doc was ready to let me dance when he came into the exam room with the x-ray but then he TRICKED me!!!! He said that the xray looks good, and he said’ to the nurse, let’s put him in a removable sport splint. He then asked me if I needed a refill on the pain medications. I said “Yes; I’m almost out.” <<< TRICK QUESTION!!! >>> The scoundrel!!!!! His reply was to run into the whole “you are on track but can’t do this and this and this and you should do this and this and this.”

I swapped out large uncomfortable temporary splint & ace bandages with smaller velcro strap and laces “sports” model. Received permission to shower without splint; got prescribed lower strength pain meds. No driving while still on the pain meds. No dancing until next week (when is when I should be able to go off the meds) He said that the pain I’m experiencing is normal as my body adjusts to the metal and repairs the bone. where the break was and the screws are.

No dancing until I’m off the pain relievers because he says that the meds mess with the sense of balance and honestly I have to say that he’s right. I’d like to say otherwise but he’s right. *sigh* Not a huge amount but enough so that a couple times I’ve had to put out my good hand to stablize myself while standing at the kitchen cabinet. I don’t want to fall again so I guess I should follow his orders. *SIGH* I can start dancing next week if I’ can stand not havng the meds. But have to watch the amount of force on the wrist and have to wear splint at all times while dancing!

For the rest of this week: no force on the wrist. stronger than that used to lift a hand towel or shirt, then I can start using it to the extent that my body allows. Sore from stretching flexing and light use is ok, but avoid inducing pain. He said that an example of too much right now would be lifting a mug of coffee and truthfully I don’t think I’d actually be able to do that at this point.

I’m supposed to keep moving the fingers and rotating the arm. When not in the splint (once or twice a day this week, more as time goes on. I’m supposed to gently flex the wrist up and down)

I see him in four weeks.

Fourth of July

There was one? I woke up around 4 am on the fourth and then proceeded to sleep most of the next twenty-four hours. I think my total time awake and out of bed was bout 4-5 hours. And those 4-5 hours are very very fuzzy. I have no idea what was going on but I’m sure it is drug related.

The narcotics I’m taking to control the pain are awesome in controlling the pain but they really mess with my alertness and my sleep cycles.

Fifth of July

I woke up this morning around six am and I’ve been working on my latest Squidoo article and drinking coffee pretty much non-stop since then.

I have three goals for today. (1) Finish the Squidoo article and get it posted. (2) do laundry. I literally have no clean clothes. Oh, isn’t *that* an image? (3) Do some planning. I have just under six months before Worlds and there is a LOT of work to be done. I need to set my goals for the rest of the year then do a Gantt chart to achieve them.

See ya on the dance floor!

This. That. and the Other Thang, Over Yonder (txcowboydancer.com)
I has an owie! Muddlings of a one fingered typist (txcowboydancer.com)

Posted in Misc

This. That. and the Other Thang, Over Yonder

Jun 24

Posted by TxCowboyDancer

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!