Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Try This At Home

I went to the specialist today. My fracture is very subtle, which is good. I'm no longer wearing a splint & sling. I have a removable brace. I need to wear the brace most of the time to prevent me from banging my elbow & making it worse. I also need to remove it as much as possible & start some range of motion exercises. Apparently, the elbow is a nasty place to have scar tissue build up, so this is important. This also means I can finally take showers again.

I touched on how difficult some routine tasks can be with using only one hand. I'm now going to list some examples. I'm asking you, my faithful two readers, to try attempting these tasks using only your right hand.
  • Brushing your teeth
  • Putting deodorant on your right armpit
  • Putting in your contact lenses
  • Putting on your belt
  • Buttoning your shirt
  • Buttoning your pants
  • Putting on your socks
  • Tying your shoes
  • Shutting your car door
  • Putting on your seatbelt
  • Starting your car
Good luck!

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In an unrelated story, I had my volunteer orientation tonight at the Connecticut Humane Society in Waterford. It was heartbreaking to see the amount of cats & dogs up for adoption, but I know it will be a very rewarding experience for me. I can't wait to get in there & help bring some happiness to these animals until they find loving homes. I will be sure to share any & all heartwarming stories.

2 comments:

Brian said...

Kudos to you for volunteering - maybe you'll find two animals that get along as famously as Hank & Grace. Or maybe not.

As for your laundry list, I'm sure I'm vastly underestimating this, but here goes:

-Brushing your teeth: Wouldn't be the worst, assuming you have some dexterity in your right hand.
-Putting deodorant on your right armpit: would definitely suck.
-Putting in your contact lenses: see tooth paste (I put in my contacts with my right hand anyway)
-Putting on your belt: would definitely suck.
-Buttoning your shirt: would probably suck the most of anything.
-Buttoning your pants: at least it's only one button.
-Putting on your socks: would suck, no question.
-Tying your shoes: would be No. 2 in suckiness. But thank God for Run-DMC (tell 'em you're dressing old school)
-Shutting your car door: tough but manageable
-Putting on your seatbelt: ditto
-Starting your car: How is that hard with only your right hand? I think tilt steering would be harder to do.

Anyway, you know we're thinking of you and hoping you get healed up quick.

Stormy said...

Thanks pal.

I really hope I don't end up with any more animals. Don't get me wrong, I would adopt every single dog & cat in the place. I just don't have the space.

I guess you're right about starting the car. For some reason I was thinking it was a three-part dilemma there. I certainly can't skip around the XM Nation!

The problem with the contacts is that I use my left hand to pry my eyes open while my right hand drops the lenses in.

Today was a breakthrough. I was able to turn my hand over far enough to put the shaving cream in my palm & not the back of my hand.

Thanks again pal.