After 2 1/2 weeks of the soft cast, I went in to have it removed. There was a LOT of dried blood hiding in there which kind of freaked me out but I was anxious to see how my wrist and my incision looked under there. The incision kind of freaked me out, too, lol, as you can see in the next photo. ( no wonder I needed a long nap when I got home)
So, it looked scary and weak, but when I very gently turned it over, the former horrible knot and the painful, grinding angle were gone. (They “corrected her dorsal tilt by about 40 degrees.” No wonder it wouldn’t bend before!) My left arm looked long enough, too after an 8 mm bone graft)
I was so emotional at this moment. I thought back over the years of being so limited in so many ways because I was left mangled by a doctor that I won’t name on here, but I didn’t “Love” his work!
They got my stitches out and Steri-stripped me.
They found that I have a flexion contracture of my FPL and some mild swelling. Hey, think about this – they’d made a bone 8 mm longer and that automatically made a thumb tendon that much too short. Dr Koester instills such confidence and took the time to explain everything in side-by-side X rays. So, I tried not to worry about my thumb.
Then, they sent me to the rehab services. The guys there are just the best. I’ve been in there 3 times. They are professional, caring, and they make me laugh. They trust me to do what they tell me to do and they don’t make me come in constantly. They help me with all the stretching exercises needed for the work that I can do at this point. They make me all manner of creative torture devices, like this one:
It’s a lot of work but it’s working. I’m more in control of my thumb as the days go by. It’s not where I want it to be yet, but forward progress is my goal every single day.
At the last rehab session I even got this putty. When I told my sister, Annette, that it didn’t “match” my pink cast, she said, “It did in the 80’s.” Ha!
So, it’s been a long 37 days so far but I want to be able to be independent in the kitchen. I want to be able to bear crawl. I can’t wait to get a bar bell back in my hands. I want to be able to put my contact lenses in again and brush my teeth with my dominant hand, too.
It’s a constant battle to remain positive and not be depressed, so I fight on…constantly.
Feeding Ger Sasser 