I did something really stupid on the 23rd December - I went to a skating party, fell and broke my wrist.
Which normally is small in the overall scheme of things, except for someone who makes their living typing. Trying to type one-handed is a pain in the patoot, and with small-ish kids home until this past Monday, voice recognition software and dictating a romance novel just wasn't working. Which left writing longhand and trying to get those pages converted to text with OCR software. Thankfully I've been given the go ahead to type with two hands - thanks to a new cast, and it's SUCH a relief!
But leaving the writing aside, there's a whole lotta inconvenience to having to go about things with one hand.
Like trying to unscrew the cap off my sugar dish. It's just THAT MUCH too big to fit in my hurt hand comfortably. And my coffee must have sugar...and I won't tell you the trouble with getting the cover on my travel mug...
And dear God - let us not forget the agony of trying to fasten a bra or button one's jeans. *shudder* Camis and yoga pants are my new best friends.
How about draining vegetables? Getting a casserole out of the oven? Carrying laundry downstairs to the laundry room? Washing dishes?
What about putting on deodorant? Fine for the injured arm, but trickier trying to put it on the same arm that's holding it...LOL. Or putting in a ponytail! I accomplished this yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks. I felt so proud. I now know how my daughter felt when she did hers for the first time and came out of the bathroom to show mommy.
Even reading is hard, because I am left holding the book in one hand which gets heavy.
(You know, category romances are perfect for this! A lovely break, without wrecking my other wrist by being too weighty.)
Have any of you ever broken anything? Have funny stories about coping? Let me know because misery does truly love company...
Which normally is small in the overall scheme of things, except for someone who makes their living typing. Trying to type one-handed is a pain in the patoot, and with small-ish kids home until this past Monday, voice recognition software and dictating a romance novel just wasn't working. Which left writing longhand and trying to get those pages converted to text with OCR software. Thankfully I've been given the go ahead to type with two hands - thanks to a new cast, and it's SUCH a relief!
But leaving the writing aside, there's a whole lotta inconvenience to having to go about things with one hand.
Like trying to unscrew the cap off my sugar dish. It's just THAT MUCH too big to fit in my hurt hand comfortably. And my coffee must have sugar...and I won't tell you the trouble with getting the cover on my travel mug...
And dear God - let us not forget the agony of trying to fasten a bra or button one's jeans. *shudder* Camis and yoga pants are my new best friends.
How about draining vegetables? Getting a casserole out of the oven? Carrying laundry downstairs to the laundry room? Washing dishes?
What about putting on deodorant? Fine for the injured arm, but trickier trying to put it on the same arm that's holding it...LOL. Or putting in a ponytail! I accomplished this yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks. I felt so proud. I now know how my daughter felt when she did hers for the first time and came out of the bathroom to show mommy.
Even reading is hard, because I am left holding the book in one hand which gets heavy.
(You know, category romances are perfect for this! A lovely break, without wrecking my other wrist by being too weighty.)
Have any of you ever broken anything? Have funny stories about coping? Let me know because misery does truly love company...
15 comments:
Yes, I broke a bone and no, I don't have any funny stories...except how it happened: I slid off a curb (no, I wasn't drunk) and broke a bone in my right foot. Didn't go to doctor, just regular soaks in ice water and an ACE bandage wrap for about 2 weeks. I think the worse part of the whole episode was the ice water. Even though it was torturous to do at the time, it really made my foot feel better and kept the swelling down.
I can imagine! I didn't see a doctor for 2 days, insisting it was a sprain and icing it. I hate ice. It hurts! LOL.
I got a hairline fracture in my left wrist while playing hockey when I was sixteen. I can totally relate to what you've been going through... only I think my pain was less than yours and mine healed faster too!! Poor you. ((Hugs))
Everything you said, I was nodding my head to. Only difference is, I was in boarding school so I had to rely on my friends to help me out -- and that wasn't always easy or convenient when our class schedules were different.
My PE teacher wouldn't believe I'd hurt my wrist enough to be in tears (hey, I was 16 and I have a low threshold for pain) so it took a couple of days before the school dispensary ordered x-rays... That whole episode was no fun.
I wish you a speedy recovery, Donna!
Well..that being said Lee, the last week has seen great improvement and instead of into February for removing the cast, I go back on the 29th. I think the awkwardness I feel now is because the cast just hinders movement (imagine, doing its job! lol) and I think the other side got a sprain so I have twingy things going on.
And yeah. I was being silly with a hockey stick too. :-)
Sorry to hear about your wrist. May it heal fast. No never broke any bones but I had two c-sections and I remember how difficult the recoveries were. It is amazing how when you can't bend over without pain how difficult certain tasks like putting on shoes and shaving can be so I truly can be sympathetic.
I broke my left arm skating once when I was in second grade. I never want to go through that again so I really feel for you. Get better soon!
I broke my right wrist when I was a senior in high school. Fortunately I am left handed, so all went well with school work.
The cast covered my fingers, so I wouldn't move them and make my wrist worse. Ever try to use a stick on the column with a cast on your right wrist and hand? I lived in the country and only went to school half day as a senior, so drove to school.
Yes when I was 21 I broke my left arm really bad and dislocated my right shoulder at the same time in a car accident. This was a trip because I didn't have the use of either arm. You talking about being helpless I had to have help with everything. Then when I was 34 I had a spill on roller skates to and broke my right wrist, needless to say I don't roller skate anymore.
My word! I am not feeling so badly about it all now. LOL. I did break this arm when I was 12 - quite badly, actually - and had 8 months of therapy as I couldn't use elbow or fingers at all. This is much different. Thank goodness!
Last year on Valentine's Day -- my 27th wedding anniversary -- I fell down the cellar stairs and broke both wrists. I had what are called comminuted fractures, meaning many pieces. No casts for me. I had to have surgery, and the fractures were repaired with external fixators that were screwed into the bones to hold them in place. The fixators were big cumbersome pieces of hardware that sat on the tops of my wrists between the thumb and mid-point of the forearm. I could do nothing for myself. I was referred to our local nursing service and had an aide that came in daily for two months to help with personal care. My dh had to do everything else, including dealing with a new puppy. It was dead of winter, and I could not wear long sleeves -- froze all the time. I had to sleep on my back with my arms on pillows. I honestly felt like I was layed out for burial. After 5 weeks, the fixators came off and I got a brace on the left arm, and a short cast on the right for an additional 3 weeks. I started occupational therapy, which continued 3 times a week for 4 months. The right side, which was more serious, still is not back to normal. I was told that it was the type of fracture that is typically seen from a bad auto accident. The whole experience certainly put things in perspective, and my husband really appreciates the "recovered" me and all I do.
Best of luck recovering, Donna. Reading some of these horror stories makes me wince. I've broken my left ankle four times. The second time, like you, I didn't think it was broken and I hobbled around NYC for five days on it, went home and went to the doc about my right kneecap which was really painful, swollen and badly bruised. They x-rayed it and it wasn't fractured. But the doc said, "Why are you hobbling?" and I said, "When I fell I hurt my ankle, too." And he said, "I want to x-ray it, too." And he did, and came back and said, "It's broken. Why didn't you go to the doctor? Last I knew they had doctors in New York City."
Sigh.
I hope your wrist is better again soon, Donna. The thought of breaking anything makes me wince - I'm lucky enough (or perhaps not sporty enough!) to have broken anything. But way back when, when I worked in catering, I did drop a 100 pot coffee machine full of hot coffee all over my feet - Not fun. Ice helped. A lot.
What was funny about it, though, was when the blisters started going down the fluid in them would slosh as I walked - an utterly bizarre and weird feeling.
I hope that's made you feel better :-)
Michelle Douglas
Ok Michelle....eeeeew! LOL
Wow... you are hurt but blogging... that takes courage :)
I have never broken a bone (just a wrist sprain), only one of my mom's cherished bowls!
Hopw you are recovering well... that must hurt!
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