Break Through, I Hope

Excuse the near duplicate of a previous picture. At least I had my eyes open in the other one. But I wanted to see Megan's smile which reminds me of the excitement we felt yesterday after she had worked hard on my index finger. It has been very stiff. During our time together Thursday, I heard a pop and suddenly the finger could curve down into my palm which it had not been doing before while working with hand therapy. We surmise that I had scar tissue around a 30+ year-old injury to the palm of that hand and finally something gave way which allowed more flexibility. At last! I was getting pretty discouraged about things but something did happen in that moment and I almost got tears in my eyes. Well, truthfully, I did have tears in my eyes but hid them pretty fast. We were both happy! This weekend I get to play with clay. It takes me back to childhood fun which isn't a bad thing to focus on while doing hand exercises!

The Sun is Always Shining

I once read a book which reminded the reader to hold onto the fact that above the storms of life, the sun is always shining. I've been noticing that no matter how achy my left arm and hand get before bedtime, in the morning it feels so normal, I almost begin to take the splint off as if it were a no-longer-needed glove. Then I quickly remember that, no, I am stuck with it for at least two and possibly as much as four more weeks. I didn't know how much of a relief it could be to drop off a couple of pounds (maybe I only imagine it is that heavy). I can take it off briefly 5 times a day when it is time to do my wrist exercise and to massage the incision. And when I go to the hospital clinic, even though sometimes my muscles and tendons complain, it is heavenly to have the hand therapists work with me. I get heat and cold as well as someone else to massage. It makes it worth it. Since I have never had a broken bone, maybe this process approximates that effect. I've been thinking that my granddaughters might have fun decorating this splint. The hard white plastic is beginning to look dingy to say the least. And I always did want to experience an autographed cast!