Ordinary Day

This afternoon we had a team morale event scheduled, one of those gift exchange deals where everybody chips in a gift and you do the round robin thing, trading them around until a gift makes three passes. The team had been asked that everyone buy something of $15 value to chip in--but since monex is kind of tight for me and solarbird right now, and I've been dealing with the medical bills, I asked my lead if I could just quietly bail and he said sure. And he even let me put down eight hours for today anyway. My lead, I must conclude, is Cool.

So I decided to use the time, once I got home, to have another long overdue workout. (Thank you, NaNoWriMo, for eating all my spare time in November!) The good news in this area, though, is that despite not having had a workout in over a month, I have had significant strength improvement in my bad arm. I was able to get pre-break numbers of repetitions out of all the various exercises I do, and I used five pound weights on all of them. Also, my nerve damage has healed enough to the point that I can put both hands on my hips normally--and for the first time since before the break I was able to do the Back Extensions exercise again, which involves lying face down, lifting your arms over your head, and raising each of them along with the leg on the same side. I couldn't get my arm into that position before... and for a while, even though I could get it there, I couldn't lift it. So now this has apparently changed!

And in related news, I think I'm getting some nerve activity in the hand today. Either that or I just really worked it out, because when I was done with the crunches and I just lay there for a few minutes getting my breath back, with my hands resting against me, I felt the right one twitch a lot.

Very satisfying all around, in general!

Last night, I worked out with 8 pounders for the first time since the break. This was satisfying in that most of the exercises were FINE at 8 pounds, though I have determined that certain ones I'm just not ready to do with that level of weight yet. Wrist Curls with an 8 pounder in my right hand: not happening. Not yet. I also can't do more than 8 extremely shaky Shoulder Presses with a 5-pounder, so next time around I'm going back down to the threes.

However, I also found out that I can do the Back Extensions again, sort of. I can't lift my arm very far from the proper position to do that exercise, but I can lift it again. So I can manage to do 16 of those. Back it goes into my routine. Also satisfying: moving up from the twos to the threes doing the Tricep Kickbacks. Slowly but surely getting back some strength in my right arm; hopefully soon I'll be able to handle the gearshift in the car again, and be able to DRIVE!

Getting some recurring twinges in my elbow today, though. I don't know if it's due to last night's workout or the cold weather we're having here in Seattle, or nerve regeneration. It doesn't quite feel like the other nerve regeneration twinges I've had, but then again I haven't had them in the elbow before. The good thing is that this kind of thing isn't hurting nearly as badly as it did some weeks ago; the bad thing is, it still hurts badly enough to be distracting. Ow.

Other random things observed as of late about my arm: getting my backpack on and off is still a bit awkward, and so is keeping the straps from slipping off my shoulders. Also, if I have a handful of random objects, I have caught myself having to stop and think about how to manipulate the objects to keep from dropping them.

This afternoon I did another quick check of my ability to handle the gearshift in the car. I can apparently now get the thing to shift into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, but not 5th or reverse. I can't seem to do the necessary motion to get the stick to go over that far, and I'm not entirely certain why, but it seems to be a factor of strength of muscles on the inner side of my arm. Which wouldn't terribly surprise me since my tricep there is still pretty screwed up.

I had another workout this afternoo as well, this time trying it with the fives. Every exercise I did last time with the threes I was able to do with the fives, and in some cases with a higher rep count, which was promising. The same two exercises I was stuck on the twos with I did on the twos again this time: Shoulder Presses and Tricep Kickbacks. The Shoulder Presses were easier this time; I did 32 of those as opposed to 12 the last time. But the last 10 were very shaky. I am not sure whether this is because I was doing them in time to music this time, or because I'm actually stronger, or both.

The Tricep Kickbacks were still bitchin' difficult, though. I could still barely manage twelve of them. I think I'll try the twos on this exercise and the Shoulder Presses at least on one more workout and see if I am more stable before kicking those up to the threes.

The nerve regeneration appears to have hit another lull; I haven't gotten back any more motion on the thumb yet, which annoys me. On the other hand I had a few spikes of pain in my elbow last night, which felt like nerve spikes, so go fig. My shoulder was pretty cranky as well, so it made for an all around weepy and stressy sort of evening, especially combined with general frustration and annoyance about the Halloween costume thing. (I'm thinking I'll just have to skip the stupid costume thing most likely; it's stressing me out to think of dealing with it, and I'm trying to reduce stress in my life, not increase it!)

Had another massage appointment with Liz this afternoon, and the work she's doing on my arm continues to help a lot. I'll be continuing the every-two-weeks thing with her for a while.

For the first time since well before I broke my arm, I have completed a weights workout using the list of exercises out of Weightlifting for Dummies that kathrynt gave me. I have determined that I can with varying degrees of ease do all of the exercises on the list except one, which is Back Extensions. Or, as solarbird and mamishka have been known to refer to it, Carpet Swimming. This involves lying face down on the floor, with your arms stretched out in front of you past your head. You lift your arm and your leg on the same side to stretch your back muscles and alternate sides. I could get into the position to do it but could not lift my arm. Oh well! No Back Extensions for me for a while! ( Read more... )

I have lifted my arm OVER MY HEAD. And I almost got it straight, too!

So the good news is, this week has been much easier on me in the arm department than last week was.

The REALLY good news is, something important reconnected in the nerves of my hand on my way home from work last night. I was holding my iPod in that hand as I was getting off the bus; I felt one of those "nerve activity" prickles, and happened to switch the iPod to my other hand. As I did, I realized immediately that there was something Different in the feel of my hand, specifically right around the knuckles of my index and middle fingers. It was as if they'd suddenly gotten looser, freer. And my hand felt less lopsided, overall. ( Read more... )

So I have this bottle of something calling itself "arnica pine salve" which my former chiropractor gave to me some time ago. It is supposed to be good for aiding the healing of bruises and muscular aches, and since I do in fact have some lingering muscular annoyance due to the whole arm thing, I decided to use the rest of this stuff on my arm. I've been smearing it on the last couple of nights and it does seem to be helping some.

But it's also kind of oldish at this point; I've had it for well over a year and I don't know how long this stuff keeps. The bottle has no expiration date on it, but it does smell a little different from when I first got it. There isn't any discernible change in how it works, though.

It's made by a company called Herb Technology, and there is a Seattle address on the label, but these folks don't seem to have a web site so I can't go look them up.

Has anyone heard of this stuff and in a position to advise me on whether I can happily use up the rest of this stuff vs. going to find a fresher batch? Also, anybody know where I might buy more of this or something similar? It's got tincture of arnica in it, and witch hazel, and pine tar, and apparently also turpentine and a couple other things.

So, a reprieve this past week from medical examination... and in exchange I have gotten back a bit more range of motion, a brace that has started making a habit of sliding down my arm at inopportune times, and growing frustration at waking up after about six hours because my back goes TIRED OF SLEEPING ON BACK NOW while my arm goes HEY HEY HEY NOT REALLY READY TO SLEEP ON SIDE THANK YOU. Which makes for a groggy Anna in the morning. Especially since I am more sensitive to being awakened by sunlight, now that my stupid arm has turned me into a morning person. This past Saturday, I was awake BEFORE NINE A.M. Ugh. ( Read more... )

Here, at last, pictures of the Claw courtesy of solarbird:

http://www.annathepiper.org/pics/claw/P8030001.jpg
http://www.annathepiper.org/pics/claw/P8030002.jpg
http://www.annathepiper.org/pics/claw/P8030003.jpg

A couple more things I forgot to make a note off in my last arm status report, and/or which have come up since then:

1. I can write with my right hand again. Not perfectly, and I need to do things like move the pen or the thing I am writing on with my left hand; moreover, my arm tires quickly if I keep it up for long and I have to switch to my left hand. But still, it's nice to be getting that back.

2. My arm has been a bit more swollen again, and the pain got spiky again up near the top of the brace. I think the latter of these two things has something to do with not wearing the brace tight enough. I have rectified this problem, and over the last couple of days my arm has been a lot less cranky. I do still have some swelling though.

3. I have as of this past Saturday morning successfully bathed without anything at all on my arm. I was really happy about THAT since I was craving lying back in hot water, and I was able to do that okay as long as I held my arm very carefully. Even better was being able to stand under the shower.

4. I am getting some mobility back in my index finger, definitely. If my hand is pointed straight down I can wiggle that finger the most. And some mobility is coming back into the arm in general, both assisted and not. I can kind of hitch my arm back at the elbow and raise my right hand enough to button my shorts, and as of today I determined that if I am sitting up straight and using my left hand as a brace, I can reach and grasp the shelf just above my monitor.