It's been 7 weeks to the day that I carry a piece of semi-permanent junk in my arm, also known as a "Cobra fixator". It's not a secret, I was very skeptical about switching from plaster cast to pins on my broken arm. The procedure seemed too invasive (holes drilled into my bone?), too risky (it's a surgery after all!), and simply not "necessary" (wouldn't plaster do?).Struggling through the first days after the surgery (including an infection which could not be traced to the pins, known as pin-track infection) all my prejudices were confirmed. I was on a potpourri of painkillers, antibiotics, and paracetamol to simply get through the days and barely through the nights.After 2 weeks the excruciating post-surgery pain as well as the 104+F / 40+C fever due to infection both had subsided. From then on I considered my decision to "go pin" the best I've ever made! The quality of life is a thousand-fold better than carrying a cast! The beauty of the slick "Cobra" is it lets me move my joints! I can move my arm without holding it in an awkward position which leads to back pain. I can wiggle my fingers and even use them for typing and holding light things. I can move my wrist sideways (the "top pin" prevents the up and downward motion of my wrist). My finger strength is returning. My biceps however is shrinking... Oh well. I think rehab will be minimal. At least I hope so!I agree, the look is something to get used to. My cobra is therefore hiding inside a bandage and only gets out during cleaning sessions. One more week and she will be removed altogether. She is definitely not going into the trash! Right now, the ideas "key chain" and "wind chime" rank high in the ideas contest. Better / other ideas are still welcome!
I knew the day would come where I'd have to exchange my homely baggy-clothes-and no-bra style for a more publicly acceptable outfit. Admittedly, for the past 4 weeks my style has been dictated mercilessly by function over form (sometimes to the extend of no form at all...). People who know me know that my taste can do better than sleeveless shirts and shorts. But, simply because my taste had a whim for fashion, my arms wouldn't necessarily be able to perform the task of dressing myself properly!
Now I wouldn't go as far as calling a bra a fashion statement... but please, all you female readers out there, hold one of your arms on your stomach and try to put on a bra. Guys, after you are done laughing at your girlfriends, try it yourself. For the fun of it!Buttons, zippers, hooks, belts - all those cute little accessories become a serious threat to your being on time for a meeting!Your hairband becomes your best friend - to keep non-compliant hair from constantly falling into your eyes. Because, tying it in the back is a task to be mastered in another 2 weeks (that's when your stiff joints will hopefully loosen up again and you can actually move your arm behind your head).Hook earrings are just... beautiful! Because, they don't require two hands to put them on! (I'm just so happy that on Philippines' beaches shell and bead earrings sell 5 pairs for 2 dollars! I have plenty of inventory!)Oh, and while you are shopping for earrings, make sure you get the matching necklace - long enough to easily wrap around your neck a couple of times!
Anyway, no matter how good the camouflage or fashionable distraction. Everybody will notice the bulky skin colored bandage on your wrist immediately. That's a tough one to accessorize...
Today's visit to my doctor yielded conservative optimism about the surgery he did 10 days ago. The current angle of the radius to the wrist is much closer to normal than it was before. Not perfect, but much better! Much is speculation anyway since the cobra fixator blocks the x-rays to get a good view on the fracture. That means, we'll have to wait until the healing process is completed, the pins removed, and the arm free of obstacles.This, however, might still take a while. The initial 6 to 8 weeks of the fixator just moved up to 8 to 10 weeks. What? Another 7 or 9 weeks with pins sticking out of my arm? This new date comes alarmingly close to our planned trip to Indonesia in April... Well, health first!In the meantime, he encouraged me to actively use my left hand as normally as possible. My joints have already become stiff causing pain when I move them. My prescription says to move my fingers, flex them, stretch them, hold a fork, and knead an old sock (in the absence of a stress ball). In that light I'm proud to announce that this blog has been typed with 9.5 fingers (my left thumb is still a bit lazy)! Now, who says that time spent in front of the computer is not good for your health?
I’ve always been a curious girl. I want to understand how things work, and why. If somebody presents me a ‘fact’ my brain immediately comes up with an endless list of questions to probe further. I can just imagine what trouble I was as a kid when my little world started taking shape.
My curious nature didn’t change over the years. My approach to seeking answers however did. My questioning technique improved manifold when I ventured into journalism. Equipped with the essential “Five Ws + H” I get what I want to know faster and more precisely. According to my anesthesiologist, my questioning faculty is intact even under sedatives!
When my doctor said my bone is not healing properly and that it will require surgery he started an avalanche of questions. Most of which he didn’t answer to my satisfaction. I sought a second opinion from a different doctor. He immediately impressed me with his scientific approach to explaining what’s going on. Instead of saying “I think you’ll recover well” he took a protractor, drew lines on my X-Ray, measured and said “You’ll lose 40 degrees of the range of your wrist motion if we don’t correct the displaced bone within the next three days”.
I understand that language. Now that he had convinced me that surgery is necessary, he had opened Pandora’s box! Rather, Jana’s box of questions about the procedure itself, the options for anesthesia (yes, there is an alternative to general anesthesia!), and various risks. He answered my questions patiently and the schedule was set.
Enough time for me to consult “Dr. Google” on the cobra fixator, and to track down my anesthesiologist to ask him about the nerve block procedure which I had chosen as an alternative to general anesthesia. He took his time explaining to me the short-term sedative that will “relax” me first, and the axillaries block, which will numb the nerves of my arm for 8 to 12 hours.
The last words I remember in the operating room were “If you feel sleepy now, just close your eyes.” I sure did – without my glasses on. When I woke up in the recovery room, however, they were neatly placed on my nose. Turns out, I had asked for my glasses during the procedure when my doctor showed me the X-rays of the corrected bone. Why don’t I remember any of this? Well, apparently, in the haze of sedatives and nerve blocks I had been asking too many questions on what’s going on! That’s when the dose of sedative had been cranked up to shut me up! I can just picture the two doctors rolling their eyes listening to my drugged smart-ass talk! Which, by the way didn’t end there. I interrogated my doctor again in the recovery room. How many pins had he put in? How long did I sleep? Was setting the bone a problem? Again, nothing I remember!
Although I wished I could remember more of the procedure and not have bossed my doctors around, I’m happy to know that asking questions has become an instinct which my brain performs even under the influence of various drugs!
I’m happy that the strong wind that partially caused my broken arm is the same strong wind that keeps Manila (relatively) cool these days. At least there is no flood of sweat running down the inside of my cast causing the itch everybody has been predicting so far. Keeping the inside of a plaster cast ‘hygienic’ is virtually impossible. Coming to think of it, the cast was molded over the aquatic remains of Lake Taal. We all know what a vivid biotope that lake is. This thought coupled with the information of a knowledgeable website on broken bones, which predicts “pale and scabbing skin” under a cast puts the brakes on my eagerness to have it come off...
But, let’s have a look at the one-arm effect on daily body hygiene. Let’s start with dental hygiene. Brushing your teeth is no problem once you managed to balance your toothbrush between your lips in order to apply toothpaste with the healthy arm. Try flossing and you’ll realize that one arm is simply not enough. If you are a frequent user of mouthwash, make sure you get a flat bottle – one that you can somehow squeeze between your plaster arm and chest to unscrew the top. I highly recommend plastic bottles!
Showering is a no-brainer as long as you either can keep your cast outside the shower curtain or are able to tie a trash bag (unused!) around it. Washing your hair becomes a challenge especially if it is long. I’ve been contemplating for the past week whether or not to shave my head. So far, I could restrain myself from shaving my top hair.
Less of a restrain but more of a handicap is the removal of unfashionable body hair in more delicate locations... It’s like trying to lick your elbow – certain acrobatics are simply impossible given human anatomy. If ever you do manage to bend yourself weirdly, chances are you just broke a bone. And how do you explain this to the ER doctor!? “Well, I tried shaving my armpit?!”
Now, before you think I turned into a smelly and overgrown creature within the past week of being incapacitated let me tell you I’ve two loving helping hands taking good care of me.
It's been 7 weeks to the day that I carry a piece of semi-permanent junk in my arm, also known as a "Cobra fixator". It's not a secret, I was very skeptical about switching from plaster cast to pins on my broken arm. The procedure seemed too invasive (holes drilled into my bone?), too risky (it's a surgery after all!), and simply not "necessary" (wouldn't plaster do?).
