Week 5 Status Report
Jul. 24th, 2003 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperIt is amazing how much better having some information makes me feel. This past Friday Dr. Titelman finally called me back and told me that it was apparently okay with him that the nerve testing happen when it's scheduled for... but the whole thing was sort of moot anyway because he is apparently going to Atlanta, so he's handing me off to another doctor, a Dr. Emma Woodhouse.
Monday I called the B&J center back, explained AGAIN that I had been told that at the 6 week mark or so was when I was estimated to be able to lose the brace and that the nerve testing was scheduled for the 7 week mark, so I needed an appointment before then. This time I must have been speaking in coherent English as they went "oh okay" and scheduled me an appointment for 8/1 with Dr. Woodhouse. This is, coincidentally, the same day![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
solarbird is due home, so if all goes well I should be able to come home from work that day, have a Dara there, and be able to hug her with BOTH ARMS.
I also had an appointment on Tuesday with Laura the OT, so that she could adjust the Claw. This also went a lot more smoothly than the previous visit with her, and I got some questions answered from her as well. To wit: she wants me to not do the elbow exercises till after I lose the brace, and she estimates that it will probably be at least two weeks or so post-brace before it will be appropriate for me to resume exercise that involves the arms. I mentioned that I do free weights workouts and asked her about wrist curls with my 2-pounders, that kind of thing. I will also discuss this with Dr. Woodhouse as well and see whether I should buy a couple of 1-pounders; I've got good wrists so the 2-pounders might do if I am careful. We will see what the doctor has to say.
Lastly,kathrynt's having told me about her experience with nerve testing helped as well... because now I have an idea of what to expect. She surmises and I agree that some folks in this situation wouldn't want to know ANYTHING, they just want the doctor to do magic and make it all better. Whereas others like us need that information and actively want to know what's going on. Some of y'all have described for me how it's also actively difficult to ask for the information you want when you are the one in pain and stressed out... and now I know that y'all are absolutely right. I am fairly sure now that I am in the home stretch for mending, since the last interactions with the B&J folks were surprisingly non-annoying. Specifically because I asked for information and got it, plain and simple.
In other good news, sensation is continuing to return to my hand. The numb area has reduced itself to a sort of ring around my thumb, and after I went to bed last night I'm pretty sure I remember feeling other interesting twinges and tingles in my forefinger and through my forearm, more potential signs that the nerve is working on coming back online.
risu is more comfortable now with loosening the brace so that we can change the sock underneath it. The last time we did this, a couple of days ago, my arm felt almost normal and certainly more stable than our previous attempt.
At work, my team is being totally supportive about the arm situation, wishing me good luck and all, and working with me to have backup plans in place for who gets to do my BVT's on the days when I have to be at the doctor's. And yesterday, my boss (not to be confused with my immediate lead, who is one hop down from him on my food chain) chatted with me about the Claw; turns out he's had experience with nerve damage as well, and when I described my symptoms to him he thought they sounded like the nerve had been merely bruised.
And I have gone ctrl-alt-fuckit and let myself resume drinking soda, which I wanted more for the comfort of normalcy rather than the need for caffeine. I think four weeks off put a huge dent in my caffeine addiction; I can't handle much diet Mountain Dew right now at all, i have to drink it slow. But hey. SODA!
So all in all... things are looking up. But I am still totally counting down the days to 8/1! EIGHT MORE DAYS TILL THE LIBERATION OF THE ARM!
Monday I called the B&J center back, explained AGAIN that I had been told that at the 6 week mark or so was when I was estimated to be able to lose the brace and that the nerve testing was scheduled for the 7 week mark, so I needed an appointment before then. This time I must have been speaking in coherent English as they went "oh okay" and scheduled me an appointment for 8/1 with Dr. Woodhouse. This is, coincidentally, the same day
solarbird is due home, so if all goes well I should be able to come home from work that day, have a Dara there, and be able to hug her with BOTH ARMS.I also had an appointment on Tuesday with Laura the OT, so that she could adjust the Claw. This also went a lot more smoothly than the previous visit with her, and I got some questions answered from her as well. To wit: she wants me to not do the elbow exercises till after I lose the brace, and she estimates that it will probably be at least two weeks or so post-brace before it will be appropriate for me to resume exercise that involves the arms. I mentioned that I do free weights workouts and asked her about wrist curls with my 2-pounders, that kind of thing. I will also discuss this with Dr. Woodhouse as well and see whether I should buy a couple of 1-pounders; I've got good wrists so the 2-pounders might do if I am careful. We will see what the doctor has to say.
Lastly,
kathrynt's having told me about her experience with nerve testing helped as well... because now I have an idea of what to expect. She surmises and I agree that some folks in this situation wouldn't want to know ANYTHING, they just want the doctor to do magic and make it all better. Whereas others like us need that information and actively want to know what's going on. Some of y'all have described for me how it's also actively difficult to ask for the information you want when you are the one in pain and stressed out... and now I know that y'all are absolutely right. I am fairly sure now that I am in the home stretch for mending, since the last interactions with the B&J folks were surprisingly non-annoying. Specifically because I asked for information and got it, plain and simple.In other good news, sensation is continuing to return to my hand. The numb area has reduced itself to a sort of ring around my thumb, and after I went to bed last night I'm pretty sure I remember feeling other interesting twinges and tingles in my forefinger and through my forearm, more potential signs that the nerve is working on coming back online.
risu is more comfortable now with loosening the brace so that we can change the sock underneath it. The last time we did this, a couple of days ago, my arm felt almost normal and certainly more stable than our previous attempt.At work, my team is being totally supportive about the arm situation, wishing me good luck and all, and working with me to have backup plans in place for who gets to do my BVT's on the days when I have to be at the doctor's. And yesterday, my boss (not to be confused with my immediate lead, who is one hop down from him on my food chain) chatted with me about the Claw; turns out he's had experience with nerve damage as well, and when I described my symptoms to him he thought they sounded like the nerve had been merely bruised.
And I have gone ctrl-alt-fuckit and let myself resume drinking soda, which I wanted more for the comfort of normalcy rather than the need for caffeine. I think four weeks off put a huge dent in my caffeine addiction; I can't handle much diet Mountain Dew right now at all, i have to drink it slow. But hey. SODA!
So all in all... things are looking up. But I am still totally counting down the days to 8/1! EIGHT MORE DAYS TILL THE LIBERATION OF THE ARM!
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no subject
Date: 2003-07-24 01:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-24 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-24 08:59 pm (UTC)Well, that was one of the funnier episodes in the later series of Red Dwarf... :)
Sounds promising!
Date: 2003-07-24 02:00 pm (UTC)And I really like the phrase "ctrl-alt-fuckit" and will use it when next appropriate!
Cathy
Re: Sounds promising!
Date: 2003-07-24 08:57 pm (UTC)