Rehab Day 1... again

I was going to apologize for my last very short post but it turns out that I never posted it so never mind on that point. This blog post is going to be a little down so sorry about that.

After my surgery last Thursday, I didn't take everything as seriously as I should have. I'm extremely independent so after letting people take care of me the first two days, I went back to being independent. I did everything by myself and that's where I went wrong. I really should have asked for more help.

A myriad of factors came together for my latest drama this week as I was put on antibiotics that we now think I was allergic to. This led to me getting spasms and shakes and in a total freak accident, a finger they repaired last week spasmed and the stitch holding the tendon together let go, putting the tendon in pre-surgery mode, only worse since it tore even more.

But even surgery and that tear didn't make me realize how much trouble I may be in until physical therapy today. I will be in my brace for at least 12 weeks with PT 3 days a week for the foreseeable future and that's only if there are no setbacks.

I am extremely lucky this time to have my mother here this week to (sorry for the term) wait on me hand and foot so I can't do any more damage for a few days. Since she flew in just for my surgery, I don't feel as bad about bugging her as I did the other people that have helped me over the past few weeks so I can be more dependent for a little while until she flies out again.

To be honest, having the reality hit me that my situation is serious has made me sit back and realize that I need to accept help and not act like a tough person. 

Last week, I figuratively got back on the work horse within two days of surgery. While getting back on the site and working distracted me and didn't do actual harm, it probably didn't help either. This time, I've taken a few extra days off at the request of my doctor and may even add more days depending on how I feel.

I'm definitely on a long road and all I can hope is that I recover as fast as possible even though I've already been told "slow and steady wins the race". But it has also given me a chance to think about some things I never would have thought about before and for that I am extremely grateful.

For those that want to see my hand two weeks after the initial injury...

3/22-1 week after first surgery, 1 day after second surgery, 13 days after initial accident.

Rehab Week 1

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my life two days after surgery. Surprisingly, I'm not in that much pain at the moment but I credit that to the pain meds. Surgery went well on Thursday, although there was apparently more damage than expected so the surgery took a little longer than scheduled. I can move everything so that's a big plus because I was really worried about that.

Yesterday morning was painful but when my mom reminded me I need to take two pills of the specific pain med I'm on for it to have an effect on me, life got a lot better. I also started physical therapy yesterday, it was massively painful but no pain, no gain. I've been doing exercises every hour and go back for both PT and my follow-up appointment on Monday morning so I'll have more updates on that later.

The block I use to keep my hand elevated when sleeping

I return to work tomorrow but will be working from home since I can't drive until the 26th. I'm definitely ready since I've been bored the last two days. ABR has been amazing about this whole thing so I really owe them.

And finally, I did my first bit of exercising today. It was just a walk down to the store because I didn't want to bug anyone to pick me up some stuff ( I have had some awesome people helping me and wanted to give them a day off) but felt really good. I haven't been able to do anything for two weeks, first because of being sick then this and I can't get my hand sweaty so just walking around makes me feel somewhat accomplished. I'm ready to get back to the gym though.

I don't have much more to say so I'll give you another update when I know more.

-Mel

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Sometimes you do stupid things and other times you do STUPID thing. Last night I did a STUPID thing.

I decided that one of my candles needed a hole in it to drain the wax that had been putting it out. About the time I decided that I should stop, the knife slipped. Because I never do anything at half-effort, I cut three of my fingers on my right hand. But I didn't just lightly cut them like some might do. Instead I sliced them open, cutting two tendons in my ring finger, one in my tendon, and nicking one in my middle finger in addition to cutting a bunch of nerves.

It's safe to say that I called 9-1-1, got a ride in an ambulance, and spent a few hours in the ER. There were also a few minutes when I panicked because I couldn't get ahold of either of the people in this town that I would call with this sort of info (that's something that had me feeling extremely alone here, I think my social life will definitely be something I focus more attention on in the future). Thankfully one of them called me back and NR was a life saver, spending time with me at the hospital, taking me home, and bringing me needed supplies this morning.

Unfortunately, this isn't nearly over. I have 10 weeks or so of recovery time in front of me, including surgery in the next few weeks. So forgive me if there's not much blogging in the next few months, timing with one hand is more complicated than one would think.

And for those that laugh about my "birthday month" curse (March 23 is my birthday), all I can say is it continues. I'll hopefully outgrow this some day.

For those that are interested in seeing the stitching job, I included a picture below. I'll save you from seeing the pre-stitch picture, that one is not pretty.

The stitch job

My lovely cast