This past week brought a new blue plastic brace for my surgically repaired thumb. What first struck me about it was how my thumb looks so large as it’s immobilized out to the side, and then I noticed it was a great shade of Kansas University Jayhawk blue. But as much as I was cheering for my home-state KU Jayhawks, they just couldn’t pull through in today’s NCAA game. However, it was not all for want…my weekend consisted of the following: three full tanks of gasoline, one hotel room in Ames Iowa, and 850 miles on I-35 for a surprise visit to Kansas City to celebrate my Mom & Dad’s 60th wedding anniversary…it was all priceless! We succeeded in showing up at Mom & Dad’s house prior to a big celebratory dinner with my brothers and their families. Everyone was successful in not letting Mom & Dad know of our plans for a quick trip south to join them. It turned out to be a grand surprise, and a great celebration with all my nieces and nephews in attendance too. Congratulations Mom & Dad on a grand celebration of 60 years of marriage!
After thumb surgery
My thumb surgery was this past Friday and seems to be a success, at least what I can tell of it. Obviously there isn’t much to be seen as my wrist, thumb, and 2 fingers are bandaged up and immobilized. There is a hard cast that is supporting my palm and wrist and is keeping my stitched-back-together thumb tendon in one place. Thanks to the surgeon and the pain drugs I’ve been taking, I’m sure I’m on the road to recovery. In the meantime I’m trying to do things with my left hand — a true exercise in patience and creativity. Hopefully I will get the cast removed later this week and start physical therapy on my thumb to get it back and functioning before summer and the Minnesota fishing opener! Until then I’ll be content to curl up with a good book and rely on my wonderful friends for their help and support.
A tale of two thumbs – Part I
Those of you following my blog will remember that I sprained my wrist eight weeks ago while attending the US Pond Hockey Championships. And being my dominant hand it’s been an exercise in patience, of which I sometimes haven’t had a lot of. But what was originally diagnosed as a sprain has since proved to have been a break. A few weeks ago I found out that I had broken one of the bones in my right arm below the wrist, the ulna. Good news was that the break was healing. Bad news was that my thumb wasn’t working right. If you look at the photo, the thumb on the left is giving a good “thumbs-up” whereas the thumb on the right is unable to flex up and back. (For you photographers, yes, I did flip the photo. It is my right thumb that is the problem thumb.) I could use my left hand and pull my right thumb back without any problems, but I could not get the muscles and tendons to do it on its own. After multiple doctor visits, I was informed that I have a ruptured tendon in my thumb as a result of the break in my arm. No amount of physical therapy will be of any help — the only solution is surgery. I’ve since learned that we have one tendon in our thumb, however we have two tendons in each of our fingers (although we really only need one). The surgery to repair my thumb, called an EIP to ELP tendon transfer, involves taking one of the tendons from the finger and moving it over to replace the ruptured tendon of my thumb. So this coming Friday I’m scheduled to have my thumb repaired. Hopefully in about six weeks I’ll be able to give a 2-thumbs-up and have it really work right!
Something other than winter
It is snowing now as I write this, and with the prospect of snow on four of the next five days, I just couldn’t bring myself to post another photo of winter, no matter how white, peaceful, calm, and beautiful it might be. So I went looking for something with the color of green – the color of spring and hope and warmth. These calla lilies seemed to fit the bill, even if they do include quite a bit of white! The gentle arches and curves of the flowers struck me as both delicate and beautiful. And in this image their colors take on a soft wash because of the shallow depth of field with the photograph. I know spring will yet arrive, even if winter has its tight-fisted grip on us for a bit longer.
The quiet of a Sunday morning
There’s a special stillness and quiet of a Sunday morning that doesn’t exist on other days. Perhaps most people are slowly easing into the day. The sound of commuter traffic is not to be heard, the air is still as the wind hasn’t picked up yet, and the landscape becomes peaceful and meditative. I headed over to Como Park early this morning. After a light snowfall yesterday and another dusting during the night, the snow was once again white and clean. The footsteps of walkers and the tracks of snowshoes had been covered. There was a bird that had awakened on the other side of the park, and his call was soft but not disturbing, as if he too had only just awakened. This bench had been decorated with the fresh snow, and it seemed to invite anyone who was willing to climb up and over the piles of snow by the side of the road to come sit for a while and enjoy the quiet and the beauty of this early morning time.
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