What An Electrifying Time!

So either my physio team is getting desperate, or we are just resorting to weird ass treatments.

Today, they hooked me up to a "Muscle Stimulator" machine today. Basically, it's a nicer term for what it REALLY is.... An electrifying machine. Seriously. I kid you not.

They stuck some electrodes onto my arm, and tried to pinpoint where my tendons are (by trial and error, of course!), and then turned up the voltage! Aaaaaahhhh!

My hand did all SORTS of weird things that I had no control over! It started out feeling like pins & needles, and then escalated to my fingers curling and moving of their own volition. Really hilarious.

But it was by FAR the most exhausting thing I've done in recent memory! When we left Physio, we walked out to the car, and I was actually TREMBLING from exhaustion. (I don't remember the last time I felt that way!) So I went to Co-Op and bought something to eat, in hopes that I would stop shaking and stuff.

I did, but it's taken about 3 hours to sort of "get my bearings" again. (3 hours, 2 danishes, an egg salad sandwich and a cuppa tea, to be precise!)

I have a feeling it's going to be another early night! I could go to bed now, and sleep thru the whole night!

Hubby is going out with 2 of his buddies to go see the new Bond flick (so jealous!), so it's just me & the kids tonight.

Later!

If I Make It Thru November....

I hate November. I really do.

Normally, it's Hubby that has a hard time with November. (Just full of bad anniversaries and stuff) This year - it's me. I'm having a hard time in November.

I don't know if it's just the pain from my hand, or the constant frustration of not progressing at all with it (Casual Diane is sending me back to the Hand Surgeon as she can't tell if the tendon is intact at all or not), or it's just some sort of spiritual "funk" that I'm in..... 

I haven't done any Christmas shopping (save for 1 gift), I haven't done my Christmas cards, I haven't started my baking..... None of it. (Hubby was actually surprised.... he started talking about how "we" need to do the shopping and get it done. :(  )

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

Farewell, Quackers.

My new splint. It's so tiny!!
Look! Practically itty bitty!!!
Oooooh..... More sexy mesh. Somehow I get the feeling that Casual Diane is trying to reduce the swelling (it works like those pantyhose that helps to control varicose veins - compression!)

My new night time splint!!! What she is trying to do HERE is trying to straighten out my gosh darned pinky!! Argh!

Well.

Bad news at Rehab today.

My OT, who I call "Casual Diane" to differentiate her from "Formal Diane" and "Institutional Diane" (apparently, they like to hire Dianes there! LOL) told me that she is NOT pleased with my progress so far. Or shall I say, my lack of progress. :(

My pinky actually regressed in mobility this past week. All due to my nemesis - scar tissue. My pinky is "thick" (so they say) with scar tissue, and they are amazed at how MUCH scar tissue I've laid down. My OT is now thinking that I've created so much scar tissue that there is tendon, scar tissue, and then the other side of the tendon. Which is extraordinarily bad news. That means that another surgery to release scar tissue along the tendon sheath is all but guaranteed for me.

*sigh*

Casual Diane was telling me about another patient of hers with the exact same injury as mine. He is 6 weeks into his rehab, and he has full mobility, full range of motion. 

It's so hard not to be so insanely jealous at times.

But then I sat next to a guy who has almost the same injury as mine (minus the butter knife), and he is on tendon reattachment #2. The surgeon had to recreate tendon sheaths, as well as put in a silicone spacer so they can later do a tendon transplant. He had some muscle spasms as well - right AFTER his was originally sewn up, and it ripped and they couldn't catch it for 6 whole weeks.

So, compared to him, I am golden.

Sad, but true.

I had no idea how COMMON tendon injuries were!!!

Oh, before I get too far - Casual Diane told me to throw out Quackers. I was sad, and managed to hide him in my purse before she could grab him. So now, I have new splints! Yay! It's like shopping, except not as pretty. :D  I think I need to get ahold of my sister's heat gun to affix some sparkly stickers to it. *grin*

So that's all that's fit to print! I am instructed now to use my hand, and bend, bend BEND my pinky as much as I can! *groan!*

C.

Just a quick update before I start my Crazy Day....

Well... I am off to Physio again today. Hopefully we will discover why my middle knuckle is so stiff and achy (almost like I have arthritis or something goofy like that in that particular knuckle). I am not looking forward to the actual WORK of physio though. If someone would have told me in the summer that simply trying to move my pinky would make me break a sweat. I would have laughed. So incredibly hard. 

Yeah.....

Joke's on me. :)

But I have a day full of errands to run

- pick up Natty at 11:15 from Kindy

- make it to the Chiro for an 11:40 appointment

-head to Ikea to hopefully get replacement bolts and dowels for Liam's Big Boy Bed

- eat lunch (if I don't put it on the list,  I won't eat.) (Which I've been told isn't healthy for me)

- head to Shawnessy where I....

- take back my Library books to the Library

- Physio is at 2 until 3

 - the kids "Fun Bag" is packed with the nintendo DS's and some granola bars so HOPEFULLY they will be good while I "work it!"

-rush home to the 'Toks for Birdie when she gets home from school at 3:30

and then I still have to go to the 'Toks Library, the water store, and No Frills to pick up some bread.

No wonder I'm already tired! :D

Have a great day, and to all my American readers - GO OUT AND VOTE!

Later!

C.

4 Weeks Later, Or, 4 Weeks of Sheer, Unmitigated Hell

Well, it's been a full 4 weeks since my tendon surgery. If I would have known what a long & winding road this journey would have been (not to mention how pain filled), I'm not 100% sure I would have done it.

Yes..... the finished product will prolly be great, and will prolly be what I envisioned..... But I am not at the Final Product yet. I am nowhere NEAR the Final Product, trust me! Right now I can MAYBE get 20 degrees of bend out of my pinky. Pretty frustrating. 

But here.... let me take you on a bit of a tour.

This is my Buddy Splint. Basically, it gets my pinky to move when my ring finger moves. Note the mesh?? Very sexy.   (Not.)
This is possibly one of my FAVORITE things. It's something like a sticker, but it just protects the still healing skin a little bit more, so it's not quite so raw and sensitive. God bless scientists.
This is my NEW night time splint. Pretty cool!!! After 4 weeks of having the splint on the TOP of my hand, now it's on the bottom. Comfy.  (Also good for konking Hubby on the noggin in the middle of the night.)
This is my incision.... 4 weeks after the fact.
This is Quackers now that it's been modified some more. (Note the ever-so-attractive white sleeve underneath? Roaa-rrr! Sexy!)

All in all.... I am really surprised how HARD this has been! Between the pain, the lack of mobility, and the challenges of being one-handed in a two handed world (hello! Jeans? What's up with that? Bra clasps! CAN OPENERS!!).... Some days I just want to scream in frustration, or to start bawling in utter humiliation. (Case in point - we were at a wedding this past weekend, and Hubby had to cut up my dinner for me.)

I THINK, and I sincerely hope that all this is worth it, and that my finger returns back to a functioning state. They (they being my occupational therapist at my tendon rehab, and my hand surgeon) think that I'll prolly have to have a second surgery to strip off some of the scar tissue off of my tendon, to get it gliding more smoothly and effectively. (To which I said a very eloquent, "Well, poop. That sucks!")

I thought that in 4 weeks, I'd be laughing, and ready to resume my normal life. Ha ha.... turns out that the joke is on me. I can't write, I have a hard time slicing bread, using a knife with my right hand, I can't lift anything with my right hand.... I JUST started using my right hand to type (hallelujah!), and washing my hair.

4 weeks down, 4 more to go. 

A Long Overdue Update..

 This is Quackers, Version 2.0. Note the ever-so-classy Velcro straps??? All I can say is THANK GOD it's so easy to get on and off.

My lovely healed up incision.... It is looking alot better than it was 2 weeks ago!

Look!! I am straightening my pinky! (Well, sort of....)

Given that this week is the third week since my surgery - I have to look on the upside, right??

But our main concern is definitely the swelling from my muscle spasms that I had over the Thanksgiving long weekend. So far, ice and compression are doing wonders for both my comfort level and the swelling. 

Thanks for all the well wishes... I am still on the search for an Electric Can opener, so if anyone finds a great deal on one, let me know!

C.

Happy Fricking October!!!

The incision is from mid-palm to almost fingertip. And, in case you needed to know, finger tendons look A LOT like chicken tendons. I'm not liking chicken too much right now.....

Hubby thinks that we should name my splint "Quackers" and glue some googly eyes on it.

Got the tendon surgery done.....
Here's some pics.... (sorry 'bout the little to no narritive.... i am typing this one handed.) Boy oh boy.... it HURTS!!!!!

C.