On the mend

And it's about time, too! That cold I was coming down with ended up being pretty nasty. It was just a virus but whatever was going around this year has been lingering with people for 3-4 weeks, at least according to the nurse practioner I finally dragged myself to see. It took me 3 days off of work and sleeping all day--in the guest bedroom :(-- before I finally started to feel better. I can't remember the last time I was so sick, and I hope it's a looooong time before it happens again.

As for the thumb, I got "upgraded" to a real cast when I went to see the hand specialist two days after the ER. I was too swollen for him to do a good exam (my hand was seriously bloated) so he wanted me to immobilize it for a week or two and then come back to make sure I didn't need surgery. What?! This thing just kept escalating. I initially thought they'd just pop the joint back into place...then I had to go to the ER...then x-rays...then 3 doctors to get it back into place...then temporary cast...then specialist...then real cast...and now maybe surgery?! Ugh.

Finally 12 days of showering with my arm in a bag later, I went back to the specialist who gave me a thumbs up (haha) on my progress. Ligaments were healing well, no surgery needed. Finally some good news. But I still needed a splint--the world's most ghetto splint ever, apparently.

Here's how you make it:

1. Place paper towel over palm and sketch out shape of splint with pen.

2. Heat up plastic material until flexible and cut out according shape of paper towel mold.

3. Wrap plastic around palm and thumb; hold until it hardens.

4. Secure the back of splint with a giant, ugly velcro strap.

So, 2 more weeks of splint time to make sure I healed some more. At least it's removable and now I could shower normally and shampoo my hair normally, wash my left arm, move my wrist, etc. Finally, 4 weeks to the day of my injury (just 3 days ago) went to the specialist one more time and everything looked good so I finally could get rid of the splint and start physical therapy. I've been doing the exercises for the last few days and I've already gained so much flexibility in that short time. Yay, just in time for Vail! No way I'm gonna take 6-12 months to fully heal, silly doctors.