It's Surgery Day

 The good news is that today Dr.. Patel will repair my break (s), the bad news is that we are not expected at the surgery center until 1:30 PM, which means NPO is in order, the medical lingo for nothing by mouth for eight hours prior. As such, the alarm went off at 5:30 this morning in order for me to have a little breakfast. To tell you the truth, I don't really get it as I won't be put to sleep which is usually the reasoning for those instructions. Instead, I will be given a sedative along with the nerve block to my arm. Learning that was a bit of a relief, so no photos can be expected. 😀

Rather than a post about my latest calamity, I was looking forward to sharing good news about some exciting progress on my road to, once again, being able to use my left hand.  Alas, the best-laid plans of mice and men....

Let's get to that good stuff, shall we?

When last we met, well actually the time before that meeting, I'd written about my desire to make a birthday cake for Bruce. Choosing an oft-used easy recipe, Lemon Delight Pound Cake, I set to work incorporating some tips Bruce suggested. While it was slow going, satisfaction set in as I felt I was accomplishing something at last. Using a plate under the measuring cup worked like a charm.

Tapping and leveling the flour came easy using this method.

During Monday's therapy session Darlene implored me to use my hand for simple tasks. Hurray. I actually held the measuring spoon, albeit precariously.

I've gotten pretty good at cracking eggs one-handed, well, sort of. 

Alrighty then, batter is all mixed. Yikes, lifting the Kitchen Aid bowl and getting the batter to flow into the awaiting Bundt pan with such thick batter, was a bit comical, however, after lots of drips on the counter, into the oven the pan went. Ahh...the aroma of a baking cake! My happy balloon burst soon enough when I realized that I could not remove the pan from the oven using only one hand. And this, my friends is when you thank God for good neighbors. Connie, my go to helper was out, but thankfully Julie was in, responding to my knock, she slipped  on her shoes and came downstairs to help.

Not only did she take it out of the oven, she stuck around long enough to dump it onto the cooling rack. Fortunately the cake cooperated.

In typical fashion, Bruce was working at the church on his birthday, but when he returned, he hopped into  action, first by moving the cake onto a plate, followed by cleaning up my mess.

In the end, I am glad that I did it, even if it took three of us to make it happen!

Arriving at Wednesday's therapy session, I once again expressed my doubts as to making any movement progress while my hand was so swollen. This time Darlene seemed to agree, beginning our time together with warmth.

In turn this made the fluid in my hand more pliable, allowing her to massage it toward my arm.

After time spent in the cold massage, she wrapped each finger individually as well as my hand, in compression tape, instructing me to leave it on as long as could be tolerated. SOLD! My hand felt better than it had in weeks.

Furthermore, she suggested that we purchase a golf glove to wear overnight as it would provide good compression. We stopped at Dick's on our way home and did just that. 

That same afternoon I finally did away with my Covid hair, visiting the salon after a 17 month hiatus. Leaving it long enough for a ponytail, she added some much needed highlights, making me feel like a new woman. Things were beginning to look up for this gal.

Waking up Thursday morning, my hand looked much improved. So much so that after having Bruce tug the glove on my hand, he left for his volunteer work and I hopped in the MINI and drove for the first time in  52 days! Woo hoo! First stop was Lake Davis for a stroll with my camera. 

Lots of little ones to see. Next stop, Publix where I finally found my beloved pickles.

While I prefer the Hearty Garlic variety, I took what I could get. 

Seemingly, life was returning to some semblance of normality.

What makes my current predicament so sad for me is that after wearing the glove overnight on Thursday, I woke up to a nearly flat hand causing much excitement in the Peck household, enough so that a lakeside stroll in fine weather was in order.

Well then, we now know how that turned out, don't we? 

In excellent news, I've heard from several people that I could not have a better doctor working on me this afternoon.  Meet Dr. Patel here.  According to Sandy, who has known him since he was very young, not only is he crazy accomplished academically, he is an exceptional human being. How's that for some happy news?

And so I go into this procedure with high hopes and gratitude, feeling so much love from more people than I can properly thank by name. Last evening we learned of the sudden death of an important part of our community. An accomplished Nurse Practitioner at ORMC, while I was being wheeled into the emergency room, she spoke to folks about treating me well, for which I was most grateful. Only 62, on a vacation in Utah, from what we know, her last hike was just too much.  

It kind of puts things into perspective, right?

your friend, 

Gail