Musings

Cast Off!

It was a great relief to get the cast sawn off of my arm yesterday, and the healing is proceeding apace; the bone has fused back together in the correct configuration as expected.  That is not to say that the recuperation is anywhere near complete and I will need several more weeks to get back to normal.
Since my wrist and hand were locked in place for the past six weeks I’ve temporarily lost about 90-degrees worth of motion in my wrist and hand in every axis; rotation of the hand, flippering of the hand up and down, and moving the hand to the left or to the right.  I can rotate my hand/forearm a little bit, but there is almost no motion in the flippering up-and down or side-to-side directions.  None of this is unusual, as any of you who have worn an arm/wrist cast can attest.
So, my task over the next month is to regain this motion and by extension the dexterity of the hand and fingers.  After that comes the recovery of strength necessary to resume with vigor projects in the studio.
My next doctor’s appointment is Dec 1, and until then I have a greatly restricted regimen of activities allowed, again focusing on regaining the full range of motion but forbidding any hard pushing or pulling, twisting, jerking, or hammering.  In the next month I will be exercising as continuously as possible with flexing the hand in all directions, simply to regain the fine motor skills currently absent — the ability to use a fork with my right hand, brush my teeth with my right hand, and put in my contact lens, button my shirt with my right hand, hold tools, etc.  But now I can shower without a trash bag on my arm.
Ironically working on the computer suits my hand posture just fine.
My hope is that on Dec. 1 I will get the green light to resume activities at the workbench “as you feel comfortable” and my strength regains quickly for my return to projects.