3-2-1...Cast-Off!

Well, hello there.

If this is your first time visiting, you might want to catch up before you continue reading. I fractured both of the arm bones in my right forearm while ice skating in January, which curtailed some of my adventurous living for a few weeks, but now I am back.

The date for the Cast-Off, as I liked to call it, was Valentine's Day, and it was as good a distraction as any... plus a big positive step in the right direction! Now I've got a removable brace and physical therapy exercises, which aren't too bad at all.

This being my first time with a broken bone, it was pretty cool seeing how the process went. It was painfully obvious that the technician did a dozen of these a week, but it was new to me, and fascinating. So of course I took pictures. Cackhanded.

 First he used this mini-circular saw, powered by what looked like a shop-vac (see top picture) to cut through the fiberglass part. It tickled a bit, and gave off some heat. Me? Worried?

 

Then he used a pair of surgical tongs to widen the strip, and then surgical scissors to cut through the under-layer of gauze. I had been wondering what kind of super-sensing machine could saw through it all without nicking your skin for 4 weeks, so I was somewhat relieved that there were graduated steps to this process.

 When the cast came off, my skin felt weird. Old. And that makes sense, when you think that skin under a cast doesn't have a chance to slough off in its natural course, so I needed to exfoliate it. Ick.

What was surprisingly painful was the range of motion. I was kind of assuming that when the cast came off, I would be able to move my arm normally again, if carefully and with caution. Nope. What you see here is as far as my wrist would go backward and forward, on its own. Whoa. They said it would feel 'stiff,' but this was nuts! It got much better after 24 hours though, and now I'm chipping away at it with the PT. I'm very grateful it was a clean break and I didn't need surgery. Whew!
Now I am pretty much back to my old tricks...

Yaki Soba noodles and spice packet, but with pre-chopped vegetable mix from Trader Joe's (new item, and not something I would buy with two good hands)

Linguine with Smoked Trout, with fennel and onion broth (using up leftovers, frugal foodies can rejoice!)

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

What's not to love? I was having fun with the microwave reflection in this as well. Because if you can't have fun with your peppermint chocolate chip cookies, what can you have fun with??

More to come on those action steps from the Tea Klatsch, including social connections, skill cultivation, and balance. Do any of those jump out at you as something you're working on, or might need to focus on? Leave a comment and join the group!