Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I'm winding down the occupational/physical therapy for my right hand and wrist, after seeing the therapist last week and discussing how to do this. On a whim, I just tried the same range-of-motion exercises with my left hand. It's stiffer than my right hand, and I can't separate my left thumb and index finger as far, or curve the thumb and fingers as smoothly.

It looks like it would be a good idea to do those stretches and exercises with my left hand. Try once or twice a day? I'm reducing the right hand exercises from three times daily while I was seeing the therapist, to daily over the last week, and then to three times a week, "fading to zero" over three months.

I woke up very late yesterday and then did fewer of these stretches and exercises than usual.

Today, however, I was up at 8 (which is in the range of my current "normal" pattern), sat with my anti-SAD light (which tends not to happen if I sleep late), and have done wrist stretches and exercises.

I am doing well enough that it may be time to stop, or at least pause, the OT visits:

( boring numbers )

It has also been a few days since I used the brace on the right wrist at all, though I'm carrying it with me if I go out for longer than a walk to the supermarket, and having it in reach when I sleep.

I am still sleeping with the other wrist braced and propped up, because leaving that off for more than a couple of days leads to wrist or elbow pain. Sleeping with both wrists in those braces is like sleeping with fingerless gloves on, and can be warm enough to make it hard for me to fall asleep, even naked and without even a sheet to cover me. (Adrian's room is cooler, so sleeping with both braces on when I'm in that bedroom hasn't been a problem.

I tried sleeping without the brace on my right wrist last night, and I think it worked: my wrist didn't hurt when I woke up, and hasn't been noticeably tender during the day today.

The occupational therapist has been saying that getting me out of the brace is a goal. For me, that's secondary to being able to use the wrist (and hand, and arm) without pain, and to lift heavier things, like tall juice glasses, comfortably. If they go together, as they seem to, that's good, but the brace isn't the problem.

On the other hand, if I don't have braces on both wrists, I'll be less likely to overheat when I'm going to sleep: the wrist braces are like fingerless gloves. I've been sleeping with one on my left wrist for years, to avoid a recurrence of tennis elbow; I hadn't noticed it keeping me warm until I had them on both wrists at the same time.

I'm going to do this for a few more days and, if it continues to go well, try increasing the weight for one of the strengthening exercises.

ETA Friday morning: I woke up around 6 a.m. with my wrist hurting slightly, went to the bathroom, came back to bed, and put on both wrist braces. I may wear both braces tonight.

I mis-remembered the time of my occupational therapy appointment today, which I realized while waiting for a bus, because my eye doctor sent a confirmation message for my appointment Friday, for a different time than I remembered. I called a Lyft, which got me to the OT place at 2:02 for my 2:00 appointment, and the therapist told me to come into the appropriate room three minutes after that. So that could have been a lot worse. Also, the time the eye doctor sent the reminder for is more convenient than the time I had written down, so that part at least is all right.

In the last few days, my elbow has been bothering me when I did one of the OT exercises. I told the therapist this, and she asked whether it hurt when she poked a couple of spots, and then did ultrasound on that part of my arm. She explained that the muscle that we've been trying to relax and strengthen because of the wrist problem connects to the elbow. So the plan is that I will use only the one-pound weight for the wrist strengthening exercises; reduce the weights and/or tension that I'm using for the shoulder exercises; back off on hand-writing things, and maybe do less keyboarding; and wear the brace a bit more of the time. I am seeing her again in two weeks, and we'll re-evaluate then.

I walked to the farmers market after OT, and came home with apples, cucumbers, beets, a squash, and a few tomatoes. I had forgotten that we had a few cucumbers (from the supermarket) and beets. If I'd remembered, I'd have bought apple cider instead; as it is, Adrian is cheerfully making an apple and beet salad, which will be part of our dinner.

I had a nice chat on Zoom with my mother this afternoon, just because it's been a while. We talked about our various physiotherapy exercises (including what I'm now doing for my wrist, "occupational therapy" is physio for the hand, wrist, or forearm), and how well we're keeping up with those over time.

I got mail saying that my health insurance company has approved four more occupational therapy sessions, between now and the end of December. Right now, it feels like that will be enough.

After talking with Mom I went for a walk with cattitude and adrian_turtle, since it was warm and sunny (for October, around 72F/22C).

I got mail saying that my health insurance company has approved four more occupational therapy sessions, between now and the end of December. Right now, it feels like that will be enough. I continue to improve, despite not having seen the therapist last week; not seeing her last week means I got no ultrasound or massage, as well as no changes to the exercises I was doing.

My left arm seems to have recovered, which I'm noting here because I noted when I'd resumed the exercises with the putty. I'll probably keep doing those a bit longer, just in case.

I haven't put the wrist brace on since I got home, about nine hours ago: this is partly at the therapist's suggestion, and partly to give it time to dry,

I am going to wear it to bed tonight, and see how I feel tomorrow.

[ETA 9/23: My wrist was strained when I woke up today, so more time in the brace, and a naproxen.]

I tried the strengthening exercise with the palm up again this afternoon, and did eight repetitions without pain. (Also 20 with the palm down, which I've been doing for the past week.)

Other than that, I've been doing a few of my older exercises (none so far today) and walking a lot. We got out yesterday when it was still nice and cool, and walked down to Beacon Street, then along to Coolidge Corner, and up until we got to Kupel's bagels. From there we got a bus to Comm Ave and took green line B home.

I went for a much shorter walk this morning, before it got too hot, which was bad for my hip. If I'd remembered how far I walked yesterday, I would have stayed home. As it was, I came home, took a naproxen, then sat for a bit; Adrian kindly brought me a cold drink so I wouldn't have to move.

Progress in occupational therapy: ultrasound and massage again, and the therapist taught me a strengthening exercise, which I will do cautiously, and stop if it hurts. We're skipping a week, so it made sense to say "this specific thing hurts right now, try again in a few days, stop if it hurts."

The exercise is called an "eccentric wrist extension." When I tried it in the therapist's office, palm down was fine, palm up hurt immediately. That's not a surprise--it bends my wrist in a way that has been most likely to hurt for the last few months. I'm starting with one pound; since I don't have a one-pound weight, she suggested a bag of split peas. I may use a water bottle, if we have one of a suitable shape for gripping for this exercise (we have a scale, so I can check the weight, rather than having to guess at how much water is needed).

After OT, I wanted a cup of tea, so I walked to Kickstand Cafe, which has outdoor tables, and closes at 3. I arrived at 2:50, and decided to get a pastry to go with my tea, and sit outside. It had rained while I was doing OT, but it looked like a few of the chairs were mostly dry. An employee saw me, came over, and dried a chair for me. As soon as I had put put milk and sugar in my tea, the wind shook a tre and dumped water on me. When I asked if there were napkins, the man brought me some, and offered to put up an umbrella, and then dried another chair and table. That close to closing time, I had figured I was talking my chances with rain and damp tables, but I had been tempted by a pastry, and it was warm enough (84°F/(29 C) that I didn't mind getting wet.

When I bought my tea and snack, I asked if they serve the lunch part of the menu in the morning; the cashier assured me that everything is available all day. My next few OT appointments are at either 10:30 or 11, when it should be cooler than in the afternoon, and I might want soup or a salad before rather than after OT.

Getting to OT was annoying -- the 66 bus we were planning to take to Harvard was canceled, and the following bus wouldn't have gotten me to OT, or cattitude to the dentist, on time. We got Lyfts, and I got a driver who takes covid safety seriously: he arrived with the windows wide open, and when I asked him to put on a mask he did so. And then we talked about the precautions we are each taking, the difficulties of dealing with people who aren't being careful, and also that yes people sometimes forget to mask, but there's a difference between "oops" while putting on a mask when reminded, and refusing to put on a mask "because it's not required." If I'd known I would have to take a Lyft, I could have gotten it from home, rather than from a 66 bus stop. Alternatively, if I'd known there would be bus delays, I could have left earlier, and had lunch in Arlington.

Last night, I assumed I would wake up early (or at least earlier than Adrian and Cattitude) and planned to walk over to the supermarket before it got hot.

Instead, I was the third to wake up, so once I'd had my morning yogurt, I pulled on clothes and Cattitude and I went to the Star Market. We got most of the things on our shopping list, including whipped butter, high-protein cereal, and chocolate ice cream. The walk was less pleasant than I'd hoped, because of humidity more than heat, but now I know the route (straightforward except for the bit where I didn't spot the supermarket at first, because the store and sign are behind the parking area). There was enough of a hill to be useful exercise for my thigh muscles, and not enough to strain my hips or knee.

I have started carefully doing a few of my upper body exercises again (no more than one kind a day), along with the OT for the wrist. The OT is, so far, range-of-motion and stretching, and the therapist said last week that we may add a strengthening exercise at my next appointment.

This afternoon, I got a text from the V-Safe program, asking me to answer some questions about my health, six months after my most recent covid vaccine. I filled it out, meaning that I checking "yes" for "any new symptoms or health issues." I then described the wrist pain, noting that it had no apparent cause and I doubt it's related, and that I had a telemedicine appointment, X-ray imaging, and outpatient/clinic appointments related to it. I'm not sure I should have mentioned it at all, but done is done.

I am supposed to do ten each of two exercises, three to five times a day. Today I did them either three or four times. I am sure of three times; I may have done them once in the morning, before we headed out to walk a bit, buy ice cream at JP Licks, and return home before it got too hot for my comfort.

The trip was downhill from our place to green line C, which is shuttle buses instead of trolleys this week, and that bus to Coolidge Corner. adrian_turtle returned a library book, while cattitude and I waited inside Brookline Booksmith to save me some walking in the sunshine. I didn't really browse books, because even paperbacks are heavy; I did look at a display of chocolate bars, where the words "Rainier cherry" caught my eye, so we now have a "Rainier cherry dark chocolate truffle bar."

We had lunch at Rami's, which Adrian and Cattitude have been referring to as "the shwarma place"; I had a flaky mushroom pastry (boureka), and a falafel ball because I felt the need of protein. After eating, we went to JP Licks and I got a pint of cucumber ice cream and a pint of black raspberry.

I still like the cucumber ice cream, but not as much as I did a few years ago. I don't know if that's a change in the recipe, or in my tastes. I expect to enjoy this pint, but not to hurry back for another before the end of July. Cucumber is a monthly special flavor, though I remember one year they had it in July and August. Some of the specials are seasonal in terms of what ripens when; some have other associations with the time of year, like candy cane in December holiday associations (candy cane) or odd tie-ins. Another of this month's specials is "King Tut," flavored with turmeric and coriander, which does not tempt me.

The unpacking continues, and we are trying not to wear ourselves out in the process.