Broke my wrist!!!

The service Cass the driver is rendering to me is priceless. He picks me up at my house, he comes back for me & he brings me home. It’s not even that much money plus a tip for Cass.

I don’t need to save money. Whatever it costs, it costs. You have to remember that I don’t drive & none of these doctors offices are in the city I live in. They’re all in large complexes in neighboring more affluent towns. So it’s just the kind of thing I stress about: Will I be on time? Will I be taken to the right place.? Will he come back for me or will I be stranded God knows where? Not to mention that I’m already stressed with a broken bone.

No, we’re fine as we are.

__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Two or three days of convulsive crying & I’m done. Feeling better even though the weather still freakin sucks. Damn selfish boneheads who don’t do their sidewalks! It’s a city ordinance. Same people every winter & some of them are corner houses with two driveways they haven’t shoveled.

Realized I have two winter flat sheets for our bed so I can use them instead of a fitted sheet which I won’t be able to deal with for some time. Cleaned the bathroom this a.m. Didn’t go hog wild, but I did a nice job. Will clean downstairs tomorrow, but won’t overdo it. Its been easy so far.

I can relate, Stirchley. I didn't realize (until recently once again) how an injury can effect the emotions.

(I've decided I'm going to call the Dr. on Monday about my shoulder).

This part is more for the things that annoy you thread. but... I was holding off calling the Dr. due to a dental appointment - I get there today and am told the Dentist is not in and I can't see the Dentist until the end of the month! I was so happy yesterday when they said they had an opening today. All I got was a cleaning!)

Anyway, my minor crippling really has me down - after a month and a half, it just seems endless. Everything (like getting dressed) takes much longer, every minor task becomes a major chore that now has to be done in a different way, and a lot of things just aren't getting done the way they used to. Feeling "less than" due to an injury leads to depression, but it is normal.

The key is to stay busy - exercise the parts that aren't injured even more than you used to because with an injury you're either atrophying from inactivity or overcompensating with other body parts that need to be balanced. Get outside as much as possible (endure the cold). Lean on family & friends - just to stay social if not for more practical needs. Remind yourself: this state will not last forever - I will heal.

After I got the results from my ankle's xray I didn't want to see the doctor as the xrays didn't really show anything wrong. I have arthritis in my ankle joint, it hurts at times like hell, but that's just the way it is and a doctor can't fix that....BUT my wife talked me into going to the foot doctor and the doctor said I have an inflamed tendon, not arthritis. So yes it will get better and I learned exercises and care techniques like ice packs and ibuprofen that helps. Good thing I went to the doctor as it gave me a positive attitude about my ankle. I'm glad you're going to the doctor as well!

Hi Rules!

I had gout a few times and the first time it manifested in my left ankle.
A couple years later I started to have recurring ankle pain (various twinges) - most of the symptoms fit "peroneal tendonitis." I'd spend months wearing an ankle brace for my walks.

I started taking a Turmeric supplement - it's anti-inflammatory properties are supposed to be a treatment and a preventative for gout. (And I haven't had any full-blown flare ups for 2 years.)

But the amazing thing is my chronic ankle pain is also gone. I don't know whether to attribute it to the Turmeric, but if that was the key, then it's worth a try.

The only problem is you may have to take it for several months before seeing a result.

Easily cleaned downstairs. No more tears left. Off to ortho on Wednesday for weekly new cast or whatever. I usually hate changes to my routine, but not in this case. My ortho is so nice & the guy who does the casting is a gem. So it’s almost fun going.

Good thoughts Captain. I easily can get trapped in a funk. Though the weather here is crap I force myself out. If I didn’t go I would feel so much worse.

Thinking further on this: I do believe my driver might be losing money with me. Because we don’t know how long my appointments will last on any given day. Nothing is rushed in this place & however long it takes is however long it takes.

So what does my driver do in between dropping me off & my call to him to come get me? The longest I have waited for him was our 1st trip & it took 20 mins for him to get me. That was just the once - he now usually comes in 10 mins or less. This is an affluent town & everybody drives & nobody needs a cab ride so I think he just cruises around until I call. There isn’t even a Dunkin at any of these places where he could get coffee.

So altogether a good deal.

Maybe my final cast today. This one stays on for two weeks (6 weeks in total). If my doctor likes the X-rays in two weeks’ time, I may be moving to a wrist splint.

Apart from everything else I have to do with a broken wrist a bird dropped down the chimney of our no-longer-used wood furnace. Not the first time since husband never did cap the chimney. Poor bird was in there for 2 days at least. So this morning I went in the basement, opened the furnace door & the bird was quietly sitting there. Not a little bird, but the next size up.

I had the basement doors open, but it took a little while for it to realize it could fly out. Cute little bird who was chattering away. Glad I succeeded in getting it out by myself. It would have been frightened by my husband.

Gotta get chimney capped. Happened too many times.

Got Wednesday mixed up with Thursday this week. Final cast is off & I now wear a wrist brace, which is very comfortable.

Doctor wants me to have 8x 30-minutes of physical therapy before I go back to see him in 4-5 weeks. Good thing is I can have it done downtown in the city where I live rather than go to the neighboring town again. Now I can walk there & back.

Hand & wrist are very tender, but I have to get through the therapy.

Wish me luck tomorrow for first physical therapy.

Physical therapy is basically always awful, but it can get better quick. Good luck.

Good luck on your therapy. Hope it goes well.

Chris! Just scared the wits out of me now! 😳

Sorry.

What I really just mean is that the very nature of physical therapy is that the movement you don't want to do, is what you have to do. If it hurts to make a fist if you have to make a fist. If it feels weird to bend your wrist back, that's what you gotta do. But honestly there's something nice about knowing you're supposed to do it anyway, and you might be surprised at how quickly you bounce back once you get through that first couple of times. I think in your case it'll go great.

Good explanation because I don’t want to do the movement that I have to do. Funny you mention the wrist back bend - ortho guy is very fond of this.

No doubt I will have a few tears tomorrow, but I don’t want to scare away the female therapist.

My wrist is very tender & it just seems scary that someone is going to be touching it when I would just like to keep my wrist brace on.

Any other good advice gladly accepted if you have more. Have you had PT ever?

This will cheer you up Stirch...therapy on your wrist will get you back to normal 5 times faster than if you just left a wrist brace on it and avoided using your wrist.

Yeah, I got bitten by a dog a few years ago and had to do PT for my hand. And it was as described: the one thing I didn't want to do (make a fist) was exactly the thing I had to do. And as I talked about it with other people I realized that's basically almost always what it is. Lots of injuries just heal, but PT is distinct from healing in that it stops your body from healing "wrong" as it were. Healing in some new place or angle that hurts less but will create more long-term problems.

But there really is something liberating about it, too. Ever try to turn a screw or a knob or whatever but not want to go full-bore because you think you might break it? It's kind of like that, except you KNOW you're turning it the right way and can't break it, so you can just turn as hard as you want. It's kinda...fun? Weird to say fun but that's how it feels to me. I feel similarly about things like this: it's interesting to cringe at the thought of something but to have professional assurance that it's okay, you won't actually injure yourself if you do it.

Anyway, your reward is at some point, possibly even pretty early on, you'll do the movement you don't want to do and it'll be a little easier/better than it was before, and that's a lovely feeling that you can coast on through the rest of the therapy. And then one day you realize you haven't even thought about the movement and you're back to normal.

Good advice & it makes sense. I think ortho told me to keep it on until next visit (3 weeks to go). He didn’t want my hand “flapping around” is how he put it I think. Sleep without it on, etc. I sleep perfectly well without the brace.

I do like my brace for sure & I could see it being a crutch. I’m just so nervous without it.

Will see what therapist says tomorrow. She’s with a major hospital so not worried about her creds.

I totally remember the dog bite.

Making a fist is not a problem - phew.

Turning a doorknob has been a milestone for me. I make myself do it now.

Just got husband to open cat food cans again. Gone backwards with that, but the cans of fancy feast are small & the ring pull is annoying.

Funny thing is, I’m afraid wrist will break again. Having a hard time steering away from negative thoughts.