Continuing adventures as a temporarily slightly differently abled person

[katallison]

Thursday afternoon, I went to the orthopedist, who confirmed that the wrist is broken, although not badly, and casted it. I had an amazing selection of cast colors to choose from--day-glo pink, hazmat orange, fluorescent green—so of course I went for basic black. (Well, they didn't have grey...) The cast constitutes a great improvement over the splint that was put on in the ER, in part because it feels sturdier and more secure, but mostly because it has returned it to me the use of my thumb. OH MY BELOVED OPPOSABLE THUMB, YOU ARE THE GREATEST EVOLUTIONARY ADVANCE EVER, PLEASE NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN. (::snivelling::)

With time and practice, I have been moving actvities from the “impossible” column to the “really incredibly cumbersome, awkward, and time consuming, but possible” one. This would include: washing hair; washing self; brushing hair; putting on socks; tying shoes; putting on clothing—in other words, most of those minor trivialities of daily life that seem so inconsequential until you can’t DO them any more. Getting them back, even in a sloppy and cack-handed form, feels like a win.

Keyboarding is also in the “cumbersome and awkward” category, which was frustrating me mightily until I recollected that my Tablet PC, which of course is currently useless to me for inking purposes, has built-in speech recognition software. Not good speech recognition software, mind you, but not half bad, and I’m in fact using it to compose this entry. So far, its most amusing trait is an insistence on spelling “Fraser” as “ freezer.” (Well, to me, it’s funny.)

I’m getting more comfortable with driving (thank god I have automatic transmission) and with producing a vaguely recognizable version of my signature, which means I can shop. And the new branch library just down the road from me is finally open! So, provisioned with food, hooch, and reading material, and with the powers of textual communication returned to me, I’m doing pretty well.

Thanks again for all the kind and supportive messages – you all are the greatest, and I hug you ( with some caution so as not to clock you one with the cast).

Comments

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

So far, its most amusing trait is an insistence on spelling “Fraser” as “ freezer.” (Well, to me, it’s funny.)

Hee, okay, that is totally not funny only to you. *giggles*

[ratcreature]

Glad to hear that things are looking up for you. I'm so grateful that my bones are sturdy, so far I've never broken anything. OTOH perhaps you'll be more ambidextrous than before what with all the training your other hand is getting? *g*

And there must be ways to do all kinds of things with just one hand. I mean in high school one of my classmates only had one more or less regular arm, and I actually didn't notice for weeks after he came into my year, not until we were on the same team once in PE volleyball and I had to try to aim the ball at him, which is when I noticed that he played one-handed, and that the one hand looked kind of odd too. (Well it's obvious I'm not the most observant person and never really paid much attention to looks, so I just thought he kind of slouched oddly in his jacket or something, I don't know, once I had noticed it was really obvious, but apparently you can miss all kinds of glaring things. *g*)

[akite.livejournal.com]

Yay, opposable thumbs! \o/

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Opposable thumbs and cool black casts FTW!

I've never broken any bones, and I can only imagine how inconvienent it is. Do you have to shower with a garbage bag on to protect the plaster, or has cast-technology improved at all since I was wee? I remember thinking that had to be the worst part of bone-breakage (because showering with a garbage bag seems really gross when you're eight) and the new challenges of little things like writing, driving and day-to-day grooming didn't even occur to me. So I'm glad to hear these tasks are possible, if not very time-effective. I hope the bone heals quickly *hugs*

[umbo.livejournal.com]

You are rocking this whole broken wrist thing, clearly.

*hugs*

[rustler.livejournal.com]

I missed your initial announcement, but yikes! Yay for speech recognition software, and big yay for the return of the opposable thumb!

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

I found a sound bite today of Fraser saying, "Just getting down with my bad self."

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

You're even funnier with a broken wrist than you are the rest of the time. I'm impressed. (:

Fraser *is* a freezer.

Much love to you and your thumb.

[flambeau.livejournal.com]

Thumb yay! And I'm glad to hear you don't have to try to type. :)

Cast

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there also broke a bone in my hand and my thumb is incuded in the cast it really sucks I am going nuts!!!!!! How do you deal with it?Anyway feel free to e-mail me my name is David,mortgagebank1@gmail.com