random thoughts – Day 1,795 – (Friday) – x-ray vision

Thursday night was surprisingly restful with the injured arm wrapped in an Ace bandage and resting on a bed pillow. There was minimal OTC pain relief because all the bottles at The BungaLowell require nineteen hands and Popeye strength to open. The only flip top bottle had only one capsule in it.

Friday morning began with unwrapping the Ace bandage (compression!) from the wrist in preparation for entering the shower for a one-handed adventure. Bruises had appeared since Thursday night. the wrist was at an odd angle.

Untamed sea witch hair.

The showering and shampooing was tricky, but not impossible. What was impossible was styling wet hair with one hand. Instead, it was combed and left to air dry, which resulted in a beachy wave effect, but not in the lovely and trendy mermaid look that has been popular, but more that of a shipwrecked sea witch. Other lessons learned are that it is difficult, but not impossible to apply roll on deodorant to the right underarm with the right hand. Dressing is tricky, and button front shirts with button cuffs help a lot. 

The doctor’s office wasn’t open yet when I called, so time was spent on the patient portal on the “book an appointment” module (a wonderful convenience). A response came with news of the only opening for the day at 10:00. Sold!

I could tell when the PA looked at my unwrapped wrist and poked around that things were, indeed, wonky. Maybe it was the odd angle of my wrist. Or the swelling. She was great, and did not cause alarm, but she also didn't say “oh, it's just bruised,” and instead said I needed x-rays of hand and wrist. Two nearby facilities were options.

The x-ray tech was great. It felt like another clue to the situation when he said, “Let’s just get one more.” He said my doctor’s office would be in touch with next steps. And it certainly seemed there would be some “next steps.”

The x-ray results landed in the portal during lunch. The word that caught my attention was  fracture – twice – in the wrist, but the hand seems okay-ish. A trip to CVS got ibuprofen in a bottle with a screw top that can be opened with one hand. Score!

It was a couple hours before I heard from the primary care office, and it was to tell me they had been trying to get me an appointment with an ortho. There were none available today, but I have an appointment on Monday, so there is that to look forward to (holiday hijinks!). And I have questions – like how soon will my wrist work again because the dance group choreographies for upcoming shows have lots of beautiful hand gestures.

Leading up to the ortho visit, it’s icing, wrapping, elevating, and surviving Saturday’s snow and ice storm without additional injuries. Hooray for adventures!