Wednesday, February 14, 2018

In the Palm of Your Hand

I was sooooo looking forward to yesterday.  It was the day my cast was to be removed.  Well, it was removed. I had kind of anticipated that they'd tell me, "one more week....", so I wouldn't be disappointed during my visit. As it turns out, the entire visit took place in the cast room.

The doctor came by to see how I was doing. I told him of my soreness and he nodded accordingly. He told the ortho tech to remove the cast, and the stitches and set me up with a splint, but he'd be back after the cast came off.

The reveal wasn't actually what I thought it might be. I'm not sure what I thought, but it was all anticlimactic. I found out the stitches were disposable, so told the tech not to bother taking those out. When the doc returned, he had other ideas. He wanted them out - so out they came.

As the doc looked at my surgical site, I had a chance to see where my pain was and how it was in no relative area where the screw had been placed. Before the cast came off, I just assumed it was where my pain emanated.  I was wrong. Hmmmm.  I mentioned this, and he couldn't quite tell why, though we assume it might be how I was holding my hand while in a cast and still trying to type 6-7 hours per day. 

It was the palm of my hand that freaked me out. Not just because the hand had not been washed in two weeks, but the bruising.

(now I know how Rob Porter's ex-wives feels!)

Again, no rationale as to why, as the screw did not come through to that area. Again, maybe just the palm against the cast - and it's horribly painful.

....but not enough to use my opioids. I still have 28 left.

The doc, asks how the pain meds are and if I needed anymore. Really? Another prescription? I told him I only took four and he nodded approvingly. He wasn't laughing that much when I asked him if he knew where I could sell the rest.

So, I went from cast to splint.  The splint was warm and pliable going on......until it wasn't. It hardened and is actually way more restrictive in movement than the cast. I have no access or movement to my thumb.....on purpose.  Buttoning and zipping my pants was incredibly cumbersome.  Pooping for the next 8-12 weeks is going to suck!

The difference with the splint is, I can take it off to shower.  I hope.

I tried to take it off to eat lunch yesterday and it was a struggle to remove....to the point of I didn't think it would come off.  And it is so sweaty underneath!

I don't know what the wound will look like once it heals. The scar will most likely be smaller than this, but who knows. It's actually bigger than I thought it would be.  In the last pic, you can see two slightly larger than pin pricks in my palm. The screw was threaded which came out those two holes i case the screw broke, so they could pull it out with those threads.

Oh.....and the screw itself....



So, I can't start PT for at least four weeks. So it's just me and the splint (btw......my fifth with this injury......but who's counting?).  If it's truly 8-12 weeks of PT, then I'm not done with all of this until closer to summer.

Balls.


Song by: Alison Krauss

5 comments:

anne marie in philly said...

OUCHIE! you are all purple. I would not want to be wearing that splint into the hot summer months. onward and forward.

Raybeard said...

AAAAAAAARGH! - both for what I see and what you've written. For your sake I wish it was possible to put your life into fast-forward mode.

Anonymous said...

You could have warned me! If this made me squeamish I dread to think how you felt. Hopefully hubby gave you a big kiss to feel better.
JP

Leanna said...

Still black and blue. That's rough. I was wondering why the doctor didn't put a pin in the bone instead of that huge screw. Many doctors work with pins today because it helps bones heal faster with minimal downtime and scarring. Also wondering why he didn't have you in a temporary removable cast instead of a splint.

Old Lurker said...

Oh my. You didn't actually make a joke about selling your pain meds, did you?