Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Adios, Portwenn

earlier in Pasadena...

late middle-aged woman trips and falls - shatters wrist, surgery scheduled

day of surgery
4:30 wake up, 5:00 drive to Good Samaritan, 5:30 prompt arrival for pre-op check-in
6:30 wheeled to operating room - hi, doc, hi, drape, high 'berta
back from snooze land
"you can take off the tourniquet"
arm is like a sausage in a sling  - very present, totally non-responsive
repeatedly reminded to leave arm in sling and
DO NOT GET NEAR A STOVE OR SHARP OBJECTS

home again
nerve block still present, arm might as well be sausage since there is no, null, niente sensation
i move fingers of right hand with left hand
understand now why stove and sharp object comments made
it would be too easy to have an incident similar to the Lucy, William Holden, false nose moment

every once in a while try to will fingers to move -eventually they do move, have no idea whether or not trying to will them made a difference

when fingers begin to tingle percoset became a friend; then used only as needed

wonder when the color of my right hand will match my left hand
wonder when the swelling of right hand will decrease

recovery
there are techniques needed when your dominant hand can't participate in one's taking a bath
the elbow can be a good substitute - who knew?
it is good to have a partner who can help with many things like cutting your food or
recovering the many things the left hand may drop

time for intimate moments with my housemates

Zen Master Larry

Knight of the Woeful Countenance Panfi

Lali, Queen of All She Sees

thanks to roku i have binged
House of Cards - bbc and netflix versions; The West Wing - all 156 episodes; movies i've been meaning to see..tinker, tailor, soldier...; a single man; iron lady; the way...

Doc Martin-almost all episodes - character study, telenovela, comedy set in beautiful Cornwall
Auntie, James Henry, Luisa, Bert, Al, and the rest of the characters of the village have been a part of my day to day life

they've been all been a part of the heavy duty "I can't lift a book" time of recuperation

I'm about ready to transition to the "use only as needed" stage

it is the end of the blue stitch era


stitches are gone
on to a new chapter  
Huntington Library lecture in less than a month

4 comments:

  1. Knight of the Woeful Countenance, indeed. Does he tilt at windmills?

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  2. No. Too woeful. He does tilt and twirl before he cuddles.

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  3. I liked Martin Clunes a lot in something I saw, but none of the IMDb titles look familiar except "Shakespeare in Love." Seems it was more recent.

    I sure didn't notice your wrist on TV. You're a natural on camera, you know. Some people are very self-conscious but you did a great job.

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  4. Only learned about his work via Doc Martin. want to see more of his work. some of his docs look interesting, too.
    I felt like the wrist was huge. Thanks.
    Funny about the camera- hate having my picture taken because the still camera catches me mid-expressions. The TV camera seems more forgiving so i don't think about its being there.

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