Here’s an update on my recovery from last week’s fall. My left wrist broke in a complex way, so as to require surgery to repair my poor bones. Luckily, I was referred to an excellent orthopedic surgeon in Boston who specializes in hands. On Wednesday, the doctor operated and it looks like everything went very well. She used a metal plate and some screws to hold the bone fragments in place. So, now airport security will never be the same!
I have my version of the “pain scale faces” that are displayed in hospitals.
This is how I feel without pain killers:
detail from "Pocketful of Posies", to be published in Sept., 2010
This is what I look like with some pain killers:
detail from "Pocketful of Posies", to be published in Sept., 2010
Here’s what it looks like with too many pain killers:
fairy sleeping
I can’t say how long the healing process will be, but I feel like the worst part is over and my body will mend at its own pace. Now that I’m taking fewer pain killers, I’m more alert and noticing things around the house. I watered the house plants before they died and emptied the dish washer, using one hand. Taking a shower with an arm cast is becoming routine and my husband is able to do a bra clasp without saying, “Why are these so tricky?”
We had to throw out last night’s dinner. My husband spent hours making a squash and chicken casserole, which looked so good. He even made homemade croutons to mix in! We found out that our garden grown acorn and butternut squash was so bitter it was inedible. It didn’t look rotten, but must have something very wrong with it.
We don’t have TV service, which normally is not an issue, but at first I wanted to watch something, for the distraction. We’ve been borrowing movies from the library and watching them on an old TV set with a Dvd player that broke the other night. The disk was stuck and wouldn’t come out, so my husband took the whole thing apart and got the disk out, so we could return it. We haven’t the nerve to try another Dvd for fear it will get stuck. For now, I’m listening to books on tape because reading is still difficult since my concussion. Right now I’m enjoying Alexander McCall Smith’s Morality for Beautiful Girls, which is in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I love listening to the narrator’s lilting Botswana accent.
So, that’s it for now. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. Keep tuned: I’ll be posting new stories that I wrote before the accident.
SALLEY MAVOR 
Feel better soon!!!
I’m glad your hand is back together and healing. There are good doctors in Boston! Wishing you a smooth recovery! You may want to buy one of those small dvd players; they’re inexpensive and so useful. And you can easily play a dvd on your computer.
Healing blessings– and may you find projects to occupy your healing time that are either painlessly useful or pleasantly distracting!
I am glad to hear that you are on the mend, and hoping that you heal quickly. Truly, for an artist I can imagine nothing worse than having your hands out of commission; when I had surgery on my right hand I spent weeks watching videos, though I got clever about pecking out things slowly on the computer with one hand. And most computers that have a CD drive will play DVDs, we don’t have a TV here at Acorn Cottage, and watch films on the computer instead. The screen isn’t really big, but it is handy.
A few others have suggested watching on the computer, too. I’s just that our computor is in a place that is not warm, nor does it have comfy chairs. I’m so used to not watching anything, that it’s not much of an inconvenience. The books on tape are good, though!
Glad the surgery went well… you need those wonderful hands!
Books on CD are great, aren’t they? I listen in my car while driving my kids to appointments, sports and piano lessons, and sometimes make up excuses to run errands so I can listen when they get to the suspenseful parts.
Hang in there!
I hope you will feel better. Take the time to be quiet 😉 I imagine you are a very busy girl before the accident.
Yes, books on CD are very plaisant. In France, many famous french actors read and reccord the books on CD. Is it the same in USA ?
Have a nice sunday (not too much pain !)
Elisabeth
Hope you are better soon. If I was closer, I’d bring you my old IPod. There are so many fun Podcasts available for free- artist interviews are my favorites.
thanks for thinking of me and your old ipod. I went to library today and took out a whole slew of books on CD. I’ve also stopped taking the painkillers!
Dear Salley,
The pain scale illustrations made me chuckle. I hope you don’t mind. I love Alexander McCall Smith’s books. I have read them all. The Portuguese Irregular Verb series make me laugh out loud. And I love the Sunday Philosophy Club books and all of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books. One of the things I like about them all so much is the theme of morality, a theme we rarely encounter in contemporary literature. Keep getting better. For something wonderful to watch, look at the website for This Emotional LIfe, a PBS series, and watch the program about Happiness. It is amazing. love, Beth
i’m glad that the pain scale made you laugh. i’ve been trying to see the humor in the whole experience, which is easier now that the pain has subsided. i agree that Alexander Mccall Smith is extraordinary! I just took out 2 more of his books on CD.
Dear Salley,
It is good to see that you continue to be very creative, as evidenced by your redesigned pain scale icons. I like yours so much better than the plain Mr. Yuck faces! Thank you for sharing more news about your latest journey of healing and recovery. I greatly appreciate learning about a new (to me) author and will take some time to dig into A.M. Smith’s books. For many of us, this time of year is when we “hibernate” and enjoy the quiet of the wintry, cold months, so I hope you are able to relax and take advantage of your own period of cocoon-ness! My thoughts and prayers will continue to be with you as you find ways to renew your body and spirit…and are then ready to be more creative than ever!
Oh awesome pain scale illustrations ! I agree – Hope you are feeling better : )
I discovered “you” on Craft Gossip or somewhere and I love your wee folk. I am so sorry you hurt your hand. I hope it heals quickly. I am so amazed at your talent and hope your hand is useable soon! The world needs you!