Entry posted by CeliaBBW ·
962 views
Just a fair warning there'll be pictures of my x-rays (before and after the break) and of my scar so if that freaks you out you might not want to look lol.
Ok, so we left off before my check in with the Dr. Once I saw him again and he did more x-rays he said it was definitely healing well and maybe even ahead of schedule. That was a relief to hear. He still said no lifting more than the weight of about a banana which I was a little bummed about. He prescribed physical therapy and it was my choice whether to do 2 or 3 times per week. I opted for 2 since copays can get expensive and I figured I could also do a good bit of exercises for it at home. He also said I didn't really have to wear my splint much anymore except when I was out and about or maybe driving. So that was good too. The first couple of nights I wasn't quite ready to sleep without the splint, but then once I did I never turned back Of course it was so much more comfortable without it. I just was afraid I would turn over on my wrist strange while I was sleeping lol. But so far even now that hasn't happened.
My first physical therapy visit was super interesting (at least to me) since I've never been through anything like this before. They took all my range of motion measurements and the size of my wrist for the swelling, etc. Then they warmed up my wrist in a sand bath. It's this really cool machine. You stick your hand inside and it blows sand all up and around your hand. It warms the sand from below while it's moving too so it slowly gets warmer in there. It feels really good and since you can move your wrist while it's in there, it's a good way to warm up your muscles.
They had a couple of really interesting tools and exercises all geared towards extending and stretching my hand/wrist and getting my grip strength back. It didn't seem like long, but I could barely grip anything that well at this point. I really liked my therapist and it's been a really good experience so far. I'd even go so far as to say some of it was fun lol. Some of it is a little painful when they really have to stretch it, but it feels good like it's supposed to.
I had to wait 2 more weeks and saw the doctor again on 3/7 for another set of x-rays. He finally said I could lift and bear weight on it! I was so excited. At this point I felt stronger than what they were "letting" me do so I was more than ready to advance. He lifted all restrictions and said it was mostly healed. He said to take it slow and start small, but that if it didn't hurt, then go with it. No more splint at all either (though I had slowly mostly stopped wearing it anyway even when I was out).
So they amped up some of my physical therapy exercises and that felt good as well. I did come home with my wrist feeling a little "tired" sometimes, but it felt good.
During all of this it has been tough trying to work around my limitations and what I felt comfortable doing. Not just for my every day activities and working, but for the content creating too. I wanted to come up with creative videos and things I could show, but without my arm being too obvious or too distracting. I also wanted to work within the confines of my doctor's orders and not lift too much (which is hard when you've got a belly as big as mine! lol). But as you can probably see in my clips store I definitely found ways around it. Filming and editing and all my prep work took longer than normal, but it was still rewarding to be able to make content for you all.
As I was slowly able to do more I definitely noticed my overall mood improving too. Getting ready didn't take as much energy or time and so I felt like I could do more. It was really tough for a while when it took me almost an hour to shower and get ready. And doing makeup for a photo shoot or a video? Forget about it! lol It might not always be so obvious, but there's a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes of making these videos and I wanted to still make the best content I could. But now as I can do more and I don't have to think about and don't feel my wrist as much it's almost back to second nature again now.
Physical therapy has since still helped me gain more grip strength back and slowly improve my range of motion again too. I'm still not quite back to where I was before and so some small actions are still slightly difficult, but it's a vast improvement.
I was also so happy that I wouldn't have to wear a cast or splint even when I was going on vacation. It was one of the things I thought about on the day I got hurt. I thought it would be way too soon for me to have surgery and not be wearing a cast. I just imagined sitting on the beach in a cast and not being able to go in the water. But here I was going away with a wrist that's mostly healed and I could lift things and mostly be like normal. It was such a relief!
Now I have two more visits for physical therapy and one last final check up with my doctor on Monday. I'm hoping this is when I'm discharged and then I can slowly work on my at home program so I don't need in person physical therapy anymore. But as before, I will keep you all updated!
So just for context here are the pictures
1. The x-ray of the break before I had surgery
2. The scar on my wrist with the stitches still in right after they took off the cast - two weeks post surgery
3. The scar partially healed and cleaned up a bit
4. The x-ray of the break with the plate and 7 screws
5. The front view x-ray of the plate and screws
6. The splint I was in after they took off the cast
7. My scar now totally healed
- Desdinova and maybejames
-
2
2 Comments
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now