Abandoned...

Yet another blog I abandoned. Sorry - the pinky is almost back to normal now. I still can't straighten it out all the way, and when it's cold outside it gets a little stiff.

The scar tissue is going away and you almost can't see the scar lines anymore. I still massage it and stretch it when I can - but I don't know if it will ever be back to normal. Oh well, I still have 9 more :)

Week 2 after the splint removal

It's almost been a full week since they let me take the splint off. My finger is still curved inward which is really annoying, but I'm beginning to feel a little movement in it... not much. My wrist can bend backwards a lot more (see photo) which is nice. My other non-surgery fingers are moving a bit better, but they are still pretty stiff and do not have full mobility. Yesterday it was cold and my hand hurt like the dickens... kinda like arthritis. I moved my mouse back to the right side and I'm using it with my gimp hand - and that's a little odd. My wrist still doesn't bend like normal and I never realized how much wrist bending was involved in mousing. I'm typing with two hands again, but I cant use my pinky for its keys because it just doesn't "work" yet.

Check out the photos below of my wrist bending back as far as possible as well as my hand and fingers extended as far as possible. I also have a photo of my left hand extended for comparison.

Surgery hand - Hand & fingers extended as far as possible


Left (non-surgery) hand extended... this is what my right hand SHOULD be doing


My wrist bending back as far as possible (my left wrist bends backwards at a 90 degree... or at a -90degree... or something)


And finally my clinched fist... I have hardly any strength in my hand. I can barely hold a cup of coffee or even a cereal box!!!

No More Cast!!!

Well, I went to the Dr. yesterday and he said with the OT's permission I could take the cast off. Today April approved!!! So, the good news is no more cast, the bad news is that my wrist doesn't bend backwards and my fingers are SUPER stiff! My pinky is curved and barely moves which is super frustrating. They said not to lift anything heavy or grip anything tight - no problem there - I barely have any strength. I still have to wear the cast at night for a while, but I'm just so glad to have it back!!!

This is my hand now that the cast is off. I'm bending my wrist backwards as far as I can! Basically it will bend forward but not backwards.

Nothin new

I saw Dr. Powell Wed and he said he was "extremely pleased" with the progress I was making. I still can BARELY move my pinky... and the rest of my fingers only have a very small range of motion. I'm still in the same "ugly cast" and the physical therapist said it will be another 3 weeks with this cast on. I don't know what comes after that. Hopefully NO cast!

We asked Dr. Powell how long until I had somewhat normal use of my hand again and he said probably about another 2-3 months. All I want for Christmas is a working hand...

Finger Lookin' Good

Went to the Physical Therapist today... got another hand massage ;) Everyone LOVED the cast cover aka William Stitch. Everyone there knows me for my crazy casts and were SHOCKED when it wasn't decorated last week... thats why I had to go all out this week.

I also got to watch two "firemen in training" do silly things like crawl on the floor, climb up and down a latter, drag this heavy dummy, and do this weird peg test thing... it was fun. I think they said it was Ergonomics/Employment Testing or something... I'll have to google it.

This is the yukky part - not for anyone eating lunch or anyone who wants to eat in the near future... so if you don't want to hear it, don't read below:

I wish I had taken pictures of the "before" when the surgery had scabbed over, but I didn't. Anyway, today when I went into PT April took my scabbed over part off!! Now all you see instead of a yukky mess is fresh baby skin. You can still see the zig zag they cut, but it looks pretty good!! Here is a photo taken with my crappy camera phone. Its too much work to hook up the digital camera.



They let me bend it a little... it still doesnt bend too good, but she said its right on track.

Meet William Stitch

I'll keep this short because not much has changed... Still in this ugly cast for another month. PT is going good and my stitched up areas look great! (well as great as a stitched up area can be).

I'm getting really good at typing one handed... not that I would EVER want to stay this way. I still cant do photoshop well because my left hand isnt that coordinated.

Anyway... I was complaining of my u-g-l-y cast so my extremely talented mom whipped this cover up real quick... tell me this is not the funniest thing you've ever seen. I'm going to get quite a few strange looks with this one but I SWEAR I'm sane... just immature hehe

Oh! And I drove for the first time today.... its a little scary backing up and parking... but I did ok.

P.S. The Horse's name is William Stitch... Bill for short (because we just got our surprise bill from Georgia Bone and Joint) and... well I think you get the duo meaning in the Stitch part :)

Gotta love the Bills...

When we had the surgery done the front desk girl was kind enough to call us and tell us that insurance would cover all but 20% of the surgery and our part would be $160. Ok, so $160 isn't too bad for surgery... we did the reverse percentage thing and found out the surgery was only about $800 total. Hmmm... for two tendons??? It seemed pretty cheap. Oh but that wasn't the WHOLE bill. That was just for the surgery center. Today we got the bill from The Bone and Joint center.... $2750....PER TENDON. Of course I just HAD to cut both... So $5500 for Dr. Powell's fee. Nice. Our portion was $516 so including the initial two visits... medicine and therapy we are up to $806 for this freakin surgery. Not to mention all the money I'm out from not being able to work!! I wish I could sue the chicken can company for my own stupidity. I think I'm going to look into insuring my hands with Lloyd's of London.

The good news?? I have a new cast-erpiece commissioned with the world renowned smocker/knitter/hooker/sewer/quilter/crafter... Mom. It should be arriving tomorrow and I can't WAIT to show you... you will DIE!!

Until then...