Cast-off

A couple of weeks after having the smaller cast on, I saw my physio again.  She was very pleased with the flexibility and told me I could stop wearing the cast for things like driving short distances and no longer needed to sleep in it.  Given that those were the only things I was actually still wearing the thing for, after I left that day I have not worn it again!  She also said we can start to work on strengthening from now on, which means it could be about to get a whole load more painful!
A couple of days later, exactly 6 weeks after the operation, I was back at Spire for an x-ray and a meeting with my surgeon.  He seemed pleased with how things are going and asked to see me again in about 6 weeks.  I have to say, I left his office feeling somewhat deflated.  If I'm honest, I don't think there is much difference in my wrist now from how it was before the operation - aside from another bluddy great scar.  It still hurts just as much (in fact sometimes more so), and my range of movement hasn't improved at all.  I know I shouldn't, but sometimes I feel a bit negative about the whole thing!  A colleague asked me out of interest what sort of things the lack of rotation limits me from doing, as I guess until you can't rotate your wrist you have no clue as to how not being able to do so might affect you.  I've listed a few things below.  Although none of these are a massive hinderance, over the course of each day they do add up and although not life-limiting, it can get pretty frustrating from time-to-time!

• Eating or doing anything that requires holding a spoon/fork level.
• Opening and closing my car boot.
• Wiping my bum (sorry, TMI!!!!!!!).
• Applying lip gloss or lipstick.
• Plucking eyebrows.
• Carrying cups - I can do this but it hurts.
• Carrying a plate - I can't level it out so stuff would fall off.  So if you combine this with the point above you have a problem!
• Washing and applying moisturiser to certain parts of my body.
• Eating chips and dip (and anyone who knows me knows how often I do this!).
• Doing my nails.
• Doing my hair.
• Washing my face and doing my make-up.
• Blowing my nose.
• Picking up cats and small children - I can't create that cradle.
• Holding my mobile in my right hand means I can't hold it flat.
• Licking my fingers on my right hand isn't easy!  Neither is eating pizza!
• Using a camera.
• Ladelling soup at the work canteen. Or anything else for that matter.
• Accepting change.
• Getting soap into my hands from soap dispensers.
• As and when I think of more, I'll add them, so this will be an ever-expanding list!!!

Anyway, as an aside to all that, here is a picture of the new scar.  Very neat, but not exactly subtle!  Thankfully, because it's on the far side of my wrist, and because I can't rotate it, it's actually quite hard for me to see it!!  There's always a silver lining!!

Beautiful Emily

One of the hard parts about breaking my wrist, and the subsequent lack of strength/rotation and requirements for more surgeries, has been that it has been hard for me when it comes to being around kids.  My niece always wants me to play with her, and although she is gentle and thoughtful, it is hard for her to understand there are limits to what I can do.  For example, picking her up is really quite painful!  I do it anyway because I cherish every moment to get a cuddle!!  Then there are the twins - Charlie was interested as to what this thing was on my arm (Jake wasn't bothered at all!) and knew to be gentle, but being 3.5 years old and a boisterous toddler means that sometimes gentle is forgotten!
My best friend had a baby girl back in June, and being in plaster has meant I've not been able to cuddle her on many occasions, however I was pretty determined I would be able to hold her on her Christening day, when I was very proud to become one of her god-mothers :-)
I'm not much of a religious person, however there is something about being in a Church.  Last time I was in this one, it was to see my best friend walk down the aisle and become Mrs Walsh, so it'll always be a special place!  The same vicar did the Christening service, and at the part about where you are bringing light into the child's life, we got given sparklers!  We were asked to spend a few moments thinking about the victims of a bad motorway crash also, and although I did briefly, I used the time to instead think about my four friends who are currently fighting cancer.  I hope it helps in some way (and nobody saw the tears!).  There was a line in one of the hymns that particularly struck me "Give me courage when the world is rough, keep me loving though the world is tough."
Anyway, Emily Grace Walsh, I promise to be the best God-Mummy I can be!

No Cast!!!

Beautiful Emily x

Mummy and God-Mummies

Sparklers!

Time Flies...

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last blog post!  I don't really know where the time has gone, but so many things have happened in that time which probably accounts for me losing track of it.

I had my big cast off four weeks after the op, so six weeks ago now.  It was changed for a smaller cast which I was told I'd have to wear for four weeks (two more than I was anticipating) and which I was able to take off, and in fact was encouraged to start doing so.  Of course I took my physio's words (which were 'you can try taking the cast off now and again') to mean I didn't need to wear it, and subsequently went back to the office and took it off for the rest of the day.  I then decided driving the next day would be a good idea too.  I guess I just really wanted to get back to normal as soon as possible, and with two holidays coming up I thought that maybe I could just skip this step and not use the cast and therefore not have to take it on holiday with me.
Cue pain and the requirement for more codeine to manage it.  Duly got a telling off from my physio, who reminded me the idea was to wean myself off needing the cast, not just stop wearing it straight away.  I think I mentioned before about my stubborn streak - well in this case it was sort of working against me!  The good news was that the amount of flexibility I had straight away was pretty impressive, and not far off what I had before the op.

So, I reluctantly took the cast on holiday to Kent with me when I went away with some friends.  Honestly, it made no difference to how my holiday went so I don't know what I was worrying about - I had a fab time!  We were lucky with the weather so we had a halloween party, including decorating the cottage, carving pumpkins and setting off fireworks.  We went for walks, ate loads of food (including one of Ali's legendary roasts), visited the Spitfire Memorial and shopped in Canterbury.  The less said about the trip Ali and I took to Herne Bay and Culver Beach the better, although our day did improve when we ended up in a pub in Broadstairs and then sat in our cars letting waves crash over us!
I also had my birthday treat from Pete whilst we were away, which was to hand-feed a cheetah.  A truly memorable experience and I can't recommend highly enough a trip to the Kent Wildlife Heritage Foundation.