Things I'm thankful for this week:
1. More Soul Food
Remember a couple weeks ago I told you about this guy from work who didn't know I went to church? As one of my cube mates (Rickshaw) said today, it's hard to know where to start to try to describe him. You also have to wonder if this guy understands how offensive some of the comments he makes are. I don't know if he's such a different cat because he's originally from a different country, or if he's just that way. It could be a combination of both. I think I will nickname him Sundaes. I have a couple interesting stories to tell you about him.
The first happened earlier this week. He stopped by my cube and asked me how my vacation was, where I went, etc. When he found out I went back to where I grew up, he asked if I had seen my high school sweetheart. I told him that I hadn't. He asked why, and I told him I didn't have a high school sweetheart. He said that explained a lot of things about why I am the way I am because I'm emotionally damaged from not having a high school sweetheart. Yes, he called me emotionally damaged. Good thing I had just been to convention and could laugh at that. Needless to say, I begged to differ. At this point Rickshaw, who had been sitting at his desk, interjected himself into the conversation too. From there the conversation evolved into a discussion on relationships. Sundaes insisted that it's not possible for two people to be married for many years without kids because you would get sick of looking at each other. He says that kids help a marriage because that way you don't have to spend so much time with your spouse. Rickshaw and I disagreed. We also had the old argument we usually have about how not everybody's standard of fun is the same. I'm not sure what planet Sundaes is from, but it's a pretty crazy one from what I can tell.
Today as I was leaving for lunch, Sundaes wanted to go to lunch too, so I went to lunch with him. The lunch conversation wasn't all that crazy (for him), although it did involve an invitation to go with him to the Bahamas or Lisbon, Portugal on vacation. Don't worry Dad, I didn't commit to any of that. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm stuck in a rut and not willing to experience anything new. But the crazier part came later in the meal. Sundaes had accidentally ordered a fairly large meal (more of a dinner size than a lunch size). He was saying he wouldn't be able to eat all of it, so I told him he should consider getting a to-go box. He said he could, but he didn't know how he'd keep the food from spoiling. I told him he could put the box in the refrigerator. He liked that idea and thanked me for the idea. At that point I didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him. Did he really not know you can put leftovers in the fridge? I tried to decide whether I needed to give him re-heating instructions, but I figured I'd let him try to figure that out for himself.
When I got back from weekend, all the green tomatoes that had been on my plants were all gone. I don't know if it was Gary the Groundhog or a deer or raccoon that did that destruction, but I was not happy. By the way, there have been several Gary sightings in the last two weeks or so. Uncle John better get here soon to help with varmint control.
I went in today to have my blood drawn for my biometrics screening. Usually this has been a straightforward process. The nurse uses the rubbing alcohol, puts the needle in, gets a vial or two of blood, and then it's done. For some reason the nurse today struggled. First she tried a vein on my right arm. It seemed like it would be OK initially after the needle poke, but for some reason no blood would flow into the vial. Then she dug around with the needle trying to get a better position in the vein. She asked if I drank anything this morning (yes, a glass of water). No success. She tried a different vial. Still nothing. I informed her by this point that usually they don't have any trouble (hint hint). Even when I give blood and they use the giant needle, they just poke me and hit the vein right away. Still no luck in getting blood. I was like a turnip. She dug around a little more and definitely hit a nerve at least once. She said she saw "the flash" and everything, so she didn't know why she wasn't getting any blood. I was losing my patience and was about to do more than hint by bluntly suggesting she try a different vein when she finally came to the same conclusion. She tried my other arm with a smaller needle. Thankfully she got it on the first try this time. My right arm was sore for several hours after that. I was kind of expecting to have a giant bruise on the inside of that elbow, but it's just a smaller bruise. Actually, I have a small bruise on the insides of both elbows from her pokes, which usually doesn't happen. My nursing readers - is this normal? And what is "the flash"? To me it seemed like she wasn't a very good phlebotomist, but maybe there are other mitigating factors that could cause this. It was 7:50 AM, and she looked a little groggy and/or worse for wear already.
That's enough stories for today.
I saw the hand doctor and OT yesterday. About the swelling they pretty much said, "Yeah, it will do that. Wow, it did swell up, huh? I could take up to a year for all the swelling to go down." They didn't seem very worried about it, so I guess it's kind of normal. Range of motion progress was pretty minimal from last week (partly due to the swelling I think). The range of motion is about 90 degrees on the MP joint, 85 degrees on the PIP joint, and 55 degrees on the DIP joint.
I have another new torture device to help improve range of motion. It's called a buddy strap because you can use it to "buddy tape" a finger to the one next to it. However, it's also used to help stretch things too as I demonstrate below. It's a pretty slick little invention. It's mostly a loop of Velcro with a tail. The inside of the velcro is really grippy so that it doesn't slide around on your finger. And the very end of the tail has the opposite kind of Velcro so it can stick to itself.
I'm still doing exercises six times a day with DIP Blocking, PIP Blocking, The Claw (bend, stretch and hold), and The Full Fist (bend, stretch, and hold). In addition, I do The Claw and The Fist with the buddy strap on. I still use the "naughty putty" three times a day to make fists and do finger rakes. 10 reps each on all those exercises.
I have two more weeks of playing sports with the splint on, and then they said I should buddy tape the finger to play sports for a couple months after that until the finger feels back to normal. One of the ligaments or tendons on the side of my finger still felt "spongy" the doctor said and needs a little more healing time before getting any big jars. And of course this finger is more susceptible to dislocation in the future.
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| Using the buddy strap |
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| The naughty putty behaving - it's really more of a bright pink color, but here it looks orange. |
Things I'm thankful for this week:
1. Afternoon Kayak
As I was looking back at September of last year to find a few links, it was kind of amusing to see how much of a routine my life has. September goes like this: 'vention, 'vention, department outing, 5K run, trying to resist turning the furnace on.....although this year there are a few different twists. The whole dislocated finger has been a change of pace, and there will also be 'vention three times instead of two. I'm still resisting turning the furnace on. I made the first fall cup of tea this evening.
You may have been wondering what I did for the last two weekends. One I spent at 'vention a little further upstate. It was very good, but not memorable in the same way that a trip to Oregon is memorable. I think a lot of the same things apply to this year as they did last year, so I won't bore you with repetition. Something that is different this year is that Tim&Kate now have four children. And I'll share a good thought from 'vention since I don't want to be using last year's bread: "Seeing someone giving their all shouldn't make us jealous; it should encourage us to give our all as well." The other thing I liked was the reminder to be dependable in our place. I saw the usual suspects there, although there is a new usual suspect that it was fun to see from the growing up years. I'll call her K for now until a better, more original handle comes along.
Last Friday was my department's outing. Like last year, it was a hard day of work. I golfed in the morning for the first time in about three years because I didn't feel like shooting, and golfing seemed like it might work better with the splint. Lunch was roasted pig again, and then the HW vs SW engineer "Smackdown!" was on in a rousing game of kickball. The HW team redeemed itself by winning 5 to 4. Then some others went to play dodgeball, which I passed on because of the splint. So I played volleyball one-handed instead. Then, I went and played ultimate frisbee one-handed. I'm sure the doctor would be horrified at me doing that because of all the risks, but I figured it was a calculated risk. It was only a couple days before the official splint removal, and I was careful....
Like last year, the department outing was the day before a 5K run. I wasn't sure I would run in it, but Paul (PJ) injured his knee a couple days beforehand and had an available registration, so I couldn't turn it down. This year the 5K was a fundraiser for a local progeria foundation. Jared did NOT make an appearance, but Cam did. Like last year, my knees were hurting right off the bat from frisbee the day before, and I just ran through the pain. I did stop to walk for a little bit a couple times. My final time was 32:17, which is a little less than a minute longer than last year (31:31). At least two software engineers beat me this year. The good news is I didn't completely embarrass PJ. Even as a 30-year-old male, I didn't have the longest time. When I compared my time to the other females my age, I was in the middle of the pack. Not bad for not training I guess. It is also slightly depressing that many 8-year-olds beat my time.
Last Saturday I also went over to PJ's house for a camp fire and s'mores in the evening with some of my other friends from work. Instead of plain old chocolate, try peanut butter cups or the Nestle Crunch chocolate with the crispy rice in it. Very yummy.
That's all for now I think. Later gators.
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| Looking out my tent door at 'vention. |
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| "My" race bib for the 5K. |
I saw the OT today, and it was good news. I can take the splint off now except for playing sports. However, I need to be watching for any finger drooping that may occur to indicate something might be going wrong. The finger is kind of swollen tonight, which is a bit worrisome to me. I'll see how it looks in the morning and call the OT if necessary.
I'm still supposed to do finger exercises 6-8 times a day and putty exercises 3 times a day. A new putty exercise was added called the finger rake where you flatten the putty out and then rake your fingers through the pancake of putty. Because my range of motion improved, I get to drop the third fist exercise, but I still have to do the "claw" and "full fist" with more stretching and holding involved. She also dropped the individual DIP and PIP joint stretches, but I'm still supposed to do the DIP and PIP active exercises. Towel scrunches have been dropped unless I'm not using my pinky in concert with my other fingers and I need to train those muscles to do coordinated movement again.
To answer a question that was raised, it takes 5-10 minutes to do the exercises depending on whether I'm doing the putty exercises. Bex, check out the picture below. See how well your ink stood up? It has faded some, but it survived a daily assault from water, soap, and rubbing alcohol plus a weekly dousing in bleach water for seven weeks. That must have been a pretty permanent marker. I also purchased a small sewing scissors the day after the weekend at the house of KarmX. Thanks for the ideas.
Things I'm thankful for this week:
1. Sunrises
Exciting things have happened since the last finger update. If you like medical details, read on. If not, then just skip this post.
I went to the hand doctor and OT on the Tuesday after Labor Day. The verdict was that it was healed enough to start exercises. Woo-hoo! I'm still wearing the splint all the time except to take it off to do exercises 6-8 times a day. Mostly I'm doing 6 times a day because I haven't been able to figure out how to get into a routine of 8 times a day.
During the 6 weeks of continuous splinting non-bending, I did DIP Blocking and MP (Flat Rooftop) exercises 4-6 times a day with 10 reps for each exercise. This was to prevent the joints from getting stiff, to keep the ligaments moving so that they didn't attach to the bone in wrong places, and to prevent a boutonniere. To tell the truth, those exercises were pretty easy and quick. Sometimes I'd be an overachiever and do 15 reps instead of 10. I would also do DIP Blocking on the adjacent ring finger because it was having sympathy pain.
Once the "real" exercise phase began, the first week consisted of 8 exercises (6-8 times a day). I still did DIP Blocking and and MP exercises, but then I added two different PIP exercises (PIP Blocking and Individual PIP Flexion), Three Fists, and Towel Scrunches. Everything was 10 reps each except the towel scrunches, which was 20 reps. The towel scrunches were just a sneaky way to get me to do more of one of the fist exercises. And, the OT said something about towel scrunches being good for coordinated motion.
This week I went back to the OT, and the exercises changed. The ones that are the same are the DIP Blocking, PIP Blocking, Three Fists, and Towel Scrunches. Plus, three passive exercises were added (read here: stretching exercises) where I stretch the DIP and PIP joints individually plus do a combination stretch (10 reps each to a count of 3). In addition, I do five more of the combination stretches where I'm supposed to hold the bent position and the stretch for 3-5 counts. If that isn't enough, three times a day I'm supposed to do some exercises with a special putty. It's a non-Newtonian fluid, and the OT called it "naughty putty" because if you leave it sitting on or in anything other than its container, trouble is likely to occur. Anyway, it's this putty stuff that's like a combination of gak and silly putty. I do some hand rolls and more "making a fist" exercises. By the end of all that, I'm feeling the small aches and pains and am ready for the finger to go into the splint for a bit.
See below for some exercise illustrations. That's the update for now!
For the Labor Day weekend I went to the second Boring 'vention in Oregon. It was very nice. Here's the summary of stuff (not necessarily in order of importance - it's too bad multiple things can't be #1).
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| Square glasses club meeting at the Claim Jumper. |
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| A reminder of what to do with your pet and some "product placement". |
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| Downtown Portland |
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| St. Johns Bridge with a full moon early in the morning. |
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| Mt. Hood. |
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| Crunchiness. It was at one of the more uppity grocery stores in town, but still.....I did not have to try at all to get these pictures in the parking lot. Multiple Subarus, multiple roof racks with carriers, a little Honda with a bicycling license plate, and a Prius....need I present more evidence to support my claim? |
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| Picking blackberries. |
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| Plants that need identification |
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| Last but not least.....the wildlife seen on the trip. |
Things I'm thankful for this week:
1. Older sister (Ananias)
Things I'm thankful for this week:
1. Hospitable relatives
