Cast-off!

Just a quickie to let you all know I got my cast taken off last Wednesday - yay! My wrist is till a little bruised and swollen, and very stiff, but generally on the mend. The specialist gave me a soft splint to wear on and off for another week, and I am trying to use my hand as much as possible without overdoing it.

You'll be pleased to hear I am now typing with two hands and am able to wash my hair with both hands too. Today was a major achievement - I bought a take-away coffee and was able to carry it in my left hand! Woo! No more missing out on my lovely store-bought morning coffee! Yay! :)

So all is progressing well. This week I am seeing a specialist in hospital again to check on progress, then after that a physio to get some exercises.

One weird thing: I have scratched all the skin on my left hand and wrist off, leaving a new, shiny and very sensitive skin underneath - when I feel something with my left hand, all the textures are amplified, making for interesting sensory experiences! :)

Ciao,
Mimi "The Hand" Iakovidis (as Ben has taken to calling me lately)

My left arm

Ok, so it's not a Daniel Day Lewis movie, but it's still pretty interesting. My last 'arm' update (aside from my gratuitous broken-wrist-mentioning Facebook status updates) was written during my week of pain, when I first broke my wrist. I mentioned some flowers and cards I was sent - from work, and my friends Kate and Tom, Ben and Jo, and Alex and Asitha - here are the pics. I also mentioned the painkillers - here is my bedside stash!

My first day back at work was awful - I was so tired and overwhelmed. Fortunately that reduced significantly the next day, and it's been pretty good since. But it's easy for me (and others) to forget that my body is healing and I will (and do) get tired more easily.

About 10 days after the first (half) cast was put on I had a hospital appointment where they removed the cast, X-rayed my wrist again, and put a new, all the way round, fibreglass cast on. This cast was stronger and lighter than the plaster one. I asked the guy who put it on for me (an orthopaedic technician by the name of Tony who was awesome) to wash my arm for me as it had started to feel a bit manky. Here are some pics of my wrist between casts - can you see the bruising? (Apologies, my phone isn't exactly the latest model.) At least the swelling had gone down.


In the meantime I've taken my cast and sling to a wedding, to super corporate client interviews (tip: footy injuries go down well with male execs!) and have even braved London public transport with them. Unsurprisingly, not everyone on the buses and Tube notices my cast or takes care not to knock into me. Some lovely people have given up their seat for me, but they haven't been in the majority I'm afraid. And it's not easy to keep your balance and hang on to bus/train poles with one hand, let me tell you!

So now I am due to get this second cast removed in 10 days and I am practically counting down. Not that I should expect my wrist to be fully operational afterwards... I expect it will take a few months before it regains its strength. I am wondering what it's going to look like though... currently I am scratching the dead skin off it (not pretty, but I can't help myself) - you can see my two-tone thumb where I've scratched the darker skin off. Yes, ewww back to you. Plus I've been told my arm might be super hairy when the cast comes off. Nice...

Disarmingly yours :)

P.S. In case you're wondering, no I haven't let anyone sign my cast. I have a super corporate client and I don't think it would look very good. Maybe on my cast's last day..