Sunday, December 2, 2012

Not so lucky... the good the bad and the ugly

Well, it's been two and a half weeks since my lfall.

the good... the orthopedist and the chiropractor both say I am healing very well, which speaks to my good health.  The orthopedist is 90% sure my fracture will heal with just a cast.  I don't have a lot of pain in the fracture site which i understand is unusual.  My eye is looking much better.  i am managing to mostly entertain myself.  i am well taken care of and have been touched by the kindness of my husband, friends, and even strangers.

the bad... although the fracture site doesn't hurt much, lots of other things do...my thumb, my hand, my arm, my shoulder, my knee and my back all have pain sometimes and, at any one time, usually at least one of those places is hurting.  But the cast is the worst and drives me crazy.  i find myself wanting to tear it off.  especially when it feels like it is lined with fiberglass insulation.  i hate that i can't tie my shoes, open most containers, cook, open a can of cat food, use scissors, shower myself, zip my coat, write my name.  i can dress and type a little but it is very awkward and slow.   i walk a couple of times a day but am afraid of falling and of someone bumping into me.  it has slowed our kitchen project to a crawl because not only can i not do my part for the household, but my husband has to do so much for me.  i have worked some but sitting for more than fifteen minutes is really hard on my body.  there is so much i cannot do and it already it feels like it has been forever.  while all that is true, somehow it paints it worse than it feels.  I can read, walk, use the internet some and it gets better every day.

the ugly...  health insurance sucks.   western medicine is way too expensive, mostly for reasons that do not benefit my health.  The cast protects the bone,  but the cast and immobility are bad for the muscles, tendons and ligaments; that makes me worry about how my arm will be when the cast comes off.  Most wrist fractures take six months to a year to heal; that seems like a long time.  It is possible my wrist may never be the same again... I think it WILL be okay, but it scares me to think of it being impaired.  My body has always been so reliable.  I like it that way.




It was a very hard fall.  I've been told I am lucky my injuries weren't much worse.  I didn't injure my eye or break any teeth.  I could have really hurt my head.  I could have had worse bone breakage....  etc, etc.  And that is all true.  Having it be worse would be unlucky.  Not falling.... that would be lucky.

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