the cast has "casted away"

in other news,

i got my cast off yesterday

and what a joyous event it was

...well sort of

here's the story:

from the moment i woke up i was so excited that today... well yesterday... was the big day

luckily work was pretty busy in the morning to keep me distracted

otherwise the waiting game probably would have gotten the best of me

when i got to kaiser i was seen right away.

the nurse took out this big machine.

i laughed because it was called

"the cast vac"

he started sawing away and i flinched

it seems so violent! i thought he'd for sure saw too far and cut my skin

but he didn't. it just tickled a lot with the vibration

the cast was off within minutes.

my arm felt so light, but the skin was so gross

 it was discolored and flakey - i had about 3 layers of dead skin under there

and the weirdest thing - my hand was kinda hairy! (ew i'm so embarrassed!)

the nurse said it will all rub off, even the hairs, and be fine after a couple of days.

once the cast was off, i was taken to the x-ray room across the hall

when the doc came in to see me, with the new x-rays things didn't seem so good

i was convinced he was going to slap that cast right back on

if you see above, my hand is still broken in two places. its healing, but i'm not completely healed as you can see.  so he looked at me, looked at the x-rays... looked at me

we did this back and forth for about a minute, but i felt like 20 minutes

he finally broke the silence and said, "it would be so cruel to put you back in a cast..."

i sighed and said, "oh man, yes it would"

he explained that if he were to put it back on, it would be for at least another three weeks

my heart dropped

he decided not to as my hand would only get stiffer, making the rehabilitation process that much longer.

he warned me to be very careful in the next weeks and to wear a splint (which he provided) as often as possible for a month.

i have to go to physical therapy weekly, which is a bummer

but hey! i don't have a cast and life is almost normal again

and what was the first thing i did, you ask?

...put my computer mouse back to right side of my keyboard.

hah! i would have expected something a little more exciting too

one week

exactly one week and i will be free of this pesky cast!

my hand feels so much better

i can make a fist, i can wiggle my fingers, i can even open drawers again

here are a few things that i've missed and look forward to in a week:

1) showering instead of having to wash my hair in a bathtub

2)...showering with two hands and being able to hold the shampoo/conditioner bottles

3) using a knife properly to cut fruit, etc.

4) DRIVING!!

5) washing my own dishes

6) being able to write

7) going to the beach 

8) going back to the gym

9) sleeping comfortably

10) being able to hold my camera properly

11) brushing my teeth

12) washing my face at night without worrying about getting my cast wet

...gosh, i could probably come up with 50+ reasons, but i'll stop here.

i guess you take for granted the simple everyday tasks we can do so effortlessly with two hands.

be grateful for the little things

a fall off the bike, an afternoon at the emergency room

sorry i missed you all yesterday

i had a pretty bad biking accident on the way to work that left me with one working arm, a bruised jaw-bone, a few butterfly stitches to the chin and some cuts and scrapes...

not a fun way to start my tuesday!

so heres the story as i'm sure you are thinking, "what happened!?!?"

(or maybe you're not thinking that, but i'll tell you anyway).

i was biking to work and carrying a my lunch bag over my shoulder and had it resting on my back.

the bag moved a bit causing me to have more weight on one side of the bike. i started to loose control and swerve a bit and thats when my bag flew forward right in between my bike frame and front tire.

the bike stopped, i flipped over the front, somehow unclipped my shoes from my bike, and landed on the side of my head and hand.

this was probably one of the scariest moments of my life.

i laid in the street, not being able to really lift my head or see. i couldn't really open my mouth wide enough to scream as my jaw was in excruciating pain. i could feel blood dripping down my neck and my hand was throbbing. it's crazy what goes through your head in moments like these; shear panic. i thought oh no i broke my face and my hand, and my head was pounding from the impact. i laid there yelling as loud as i could hoping someone saw what happened. luckily, within minutes, a man came into view with a cell phone asking if i was okay. a few more people came seconds later. i tried my best to explain that i was okay and told him to call taylor. moments later the paramedics came. they made sure i didn't have any neck or back injury and walked me over to the ambulance to clean me up and put a cardboard splint on my hand and arm. the pain was horrible and all i wanted was to see taylor and know that i was going to be okay, but everyone around me was so nice and helpful (there really are good people in l.a.). as soon as taylor came he packed up my things and took me to the E.R. i felt better knowing i was with him. he even made me laugh a little on the way there. he said, "how did this monkey get into so much trouble?"

so, the doctor saw me, stitched up my chin and took x-rays of my hand, wrist and jaw. when i returned to my exam room he showed me the x-rays and told me i had broken my hand in three places. (crap!) he also said some people with this kind of break need surgery, but that my orthopedic doctor will better know if that's the case for me. 

it is my right hand, which is my writing hand. my first thoughts were, oh no how am i going to take pictures and blog (my love and passion), or make french toast on fridays....or work! meanwhile taylor was saying "whoa, cooool" and trying to get the doc to print the pictures out as a souvenir.

so for the next six weeks (practically all of summer!) i will have a cast. but i must say i'm pretty lucky i was wearing a helmet. i dont know that i'd be here right now typing (...slowly typing) without it. so a broken hand, a locked jaw, a stitched chin and a few cuts and bruises...

eh, that's nothin'!

 lets just hope i don't need surgery. i should know on friday.

and i was still (with a lot of effort and help from tay) able to make waffles with our new waffle iron!

sorry my pictures are a little out of sorts. i'm going to have to learn how to shoot left-handed!

happy wednesday!