Well here I am, 3 weeks since my hiking accident. I am in a short cast and I have a lot of pain in my thumb and first two fingers. They feel asleep, tingly/prickly, and sore under the nails and fingertips, down the length of the finger, very unpleasant.
I'm on Lortab 10mgs. The prescription said "1-2 every four hours". I tried to stay on just 1 every four hours, and did so earlier in the week, but today I've ended up taking 1 every two hours.
I called my surgeon today and left a message asking for a refill of the script and also asked if this pain was normal. His nurse called me back and said yes, it's normal. She said, "Your hand looked awful when you came in, with it being dislocated and broken. I bet the nerves are screaming. That is going to take time." I wonder what the people who get plates and screws in their wrists suffer if this is what I am going through with just two pins.
This whole thing is frustrating because I can't drive until I am off narcotic medication.
Other things: I think I am gonna try to go back to work Monday. I'm going nuts being stuck here. Maybe by Sunday my pain will be better. I do have some better mobility in my fingers so there is progress. Friends have been great. So has Kat in her patience to let me stay at her house. Today I thought about how fortunate I am for being able to walk etc., vs. being stuck in a wheelchair. Easy to take things for granted.
That's it. I have three weeks over - come on lets get the rest of it over so I can have fun!!!
Update June 16th. This morning I went by work to visit a bit and get my mail and work email messages. Confirmed that I cannot use my fingers well enough yet to work. I have to be able to use a Wacom tablet and pen to do my job. But I don't have enough feeling in my right hand fingers and thumb to use the pen. My boss, who is the sweetest person on Earth, is very understanding, and none of my projects are time-sensitive, so everything is OK. I do miss my work friends, though.
Kris drove me and Kat by the bank, then to lunch, then he dropped me off at home, where I promptly iced down my hand and went to sleep. Luna had meowed much of last night and so I hadn't slept very well even though it was my first sleep in my own bed in 3+ weeks. I do not let Luna and Clare in my bedroom to keep the cat fur out of my clothes etc., and paid for it with Luna's yowling, which is NOT usual (I couldn't live with that!). I guess she expected me to stay in the living room with them since I had been gone so long. But there was no way I was going to sleep on a couch again. BUT I've digressed...
This laptop computer is one of the best things I've ever purchased. I can type easier with my left hand only on this small keyboard, and I can lay on the couch while I do it instead of sitting in a chair, which is not easy to do with my sore tailbone. This laptop has saved my sanity.
Trying to take 1 Lortab every three hours (up from two) and so far so good.
Someone at work asked me what I was doing for food, if I could cook, and I told them I was great at fixing bowls of cereal. Seriously I have eaten a lot of cereal... Oat Cluster Cheerios.
If I think of anything else to write I will. I know I won't be able to sleep for awhile.
I'm trying not to be a titty baby, so many people suffer worse injuries than mine, and survive, and thrive.
Thus, I skirt the edges of the 'why me' trap but I am determined not to get snared. I have had two accidents now that I should not have survived, much less walked away from relatively unscathed, and these events have a way of messing with one's mind. But I ain't a-messing where I shouldna be a-messing.
I got my hair cut Friday, it 's pretty short. I love it. My nephew Simon is getting married this coming Saturday. I am going to look lovely all dressed up with a purple cast accessory.
Update June 26 Got the purple cast removed, took some rather gross photos here: My Hand After 2nd Cast.
Then they X-rayed it. After that the doctor came in and casually took my hand, picked up a pair of pliers, and yanked the pin out! A line of blood splattered on the pillow, the table, my shorts, my leg, and the floor. It didn't hurt but it didn't feel good, either. I'd prefer not to experience it again.
Then they put on another cast, this one red, and in 13 days it will come off and they will do surgery under mild sedation to remove the second pin, which is not poking out. Then a velcro brace and PT.
June 12, 2008
May 30, 2008
my hiking accident
I went for an early morning bushwacking-style hike with my friend Brian on Thurs. May 22. We were in a tight narrow gorge near Bham, with no trail. A stream trickled down steep drops. We trekked through lush walls of poison ivy. (I am not affected.) Wildflowers and vines entwined our journey. We were in a beautiful hidden gem. I have pics on the camera in my car.
At the last steep portion I was near the edge of a drop and had the ground give under me. With nothing to grab to stop my descent, I slipped over the edge of a cliff wall. I free-fell 15 ft., hitting the ground on my side, bounced, slid down a steep angled rock floor about 25 ft. and ended my forward momentum by slamming my right arm into a boulder (I was tucked into a curl). My wrist broke. I lay in the stream, incredulous that I was alive. I had not lost consciousness. I did a quiet personal inventory. I could move my legs. As far as I could tell, only my arm was broken. I hollered my condition up to Brian, who then spent about 10 minutes and one ass-bustin' of his own to get to me.
We determined that I could walk. I consulted my GPS and determined the best route would be down the streambed. Eventually we found an ATV trail and hiked out to the road from that. It took us about half an hour. Brian had called a friend who lives nearby, who drove and met us with bags of ice and a towel for my arm.
He took us to my car which is a stick-shift. Brian drove me to St. Vincents East ER. They gave me dilautid injections and x-rayed my arm and pelvis. They put 3 stitches in my right knee. The ER doc told me I would need surgery on my arm. My tailbone, ass, and left hip were black with bruises. Jeans ripped open in the seat. I never heard anything about the pelvis xray, but my tailbone remains absurdly sore (and its been 8 days since the event).
I asked to transfer to St. Vincents in Southside, where my orthopedist Dr. Adkison is. He did my bankhart shoulder surgery in 04. I was admitted to the southside St. Vincents. The ER nurses put my arm in a splint. My sister Kat drove me to the southside StV's. Since my jeans were ripped and soaked with creekwater I wore two gowns tied together in weird fashion. I had a DVD with my xrays. The tech geek in me loved this.
My room at StV's was the nicest hospital room I have ever been in. It was a 'suite' in the south tower with a big window view of the city. It did not look or feel like a hospital room. It had a refrigerator and a self-adjusting bed.
My ortho doesn't do wrists so a partner in his group did my surgery. Dr. Kissel looked at my xrays and brought out a model skeleton arm with an apparatus screwed into it. "Best case scenario, we use one of these- an external fixer. If the bone is shattered too much I'll have to open your arm up instead and put plates and screws." I hoped for the best - what else could I do? I told him I am a guitarist. "We'll have you playing again in 3-6 months," he said. "F," I thought.
He shot my wrist full of lidocaine - that sucked but when he was finished it was gloriously numb for a couple of hours - and set my bones, then put my arm back in the splint. I would have surgery on Friday. They hooked me up with a morphine pump back n my room. Every 10 minutes I could press a button and get 1 mg morphine.
Friday I remember the pre-op room, I was in a queue I guess. I had to stay there a long time. Finally they wheeled me into the OR and I got on the table from my bed myself. Then I was knocked out and woke up back in my room. I love anesthesia!
My mom and sister told me great news. Instead of all that hardware, when the doc got to my wrist he found that setting my bone had lined it up great, so all he had to do was put in two pins. I am in a big cast for two weeks, then a short cast for 4, then some PT. Kat stayed in my room with me Fri. and Sat.
I spent that night with the pain pump. Saturday they took it off and put me on slow release morphine pills, and on Sunday I was discharged from the hospital. I'm staying at Kat's. Can't use my right hand for anything. I typed this whole trip report with my left hand on my laptop. I anticipate at least one more week off work. I'm on short-term disability, so I'm not eating my PTO.
What I am missing:
Mini triathlon last Sat. that I trained for over 2 months and bought a road bike for, AND took lap swimming lessons for.
Sunday Coosa kayaking
Monday Mem. Day Chief Ladiga bike trail
Tonight (Fri 30) -gig with my brother Rick's band, using my new Vox AC30CC1 for the first time.
This Sat-Sun -Hiwassee paddle trip
All the Tues. night road biking (I have fallen in love with road biking) with the Bham Bicycling Club.
Who knows what else.
But I am grateful to be here! And grateful for my great family and friends.
Update June 11th.
I'm wearing my second cast. I still have a lot of pain in my thumb and first two fingers. When they cut the first cast off, I took (warning, kinda gross) pictures of my hand with my camera phone here:
http://dangerjudy.smugmug.com/gallery/5147918_cRVao#311429818_c6GqS
This cast is much shorter; it starts below my elbow. They will take it off on June 26th and x-ray my wrist again and determine if the two pins are ready to come out. If they are, then the pins will be removed and I hope I get a brace not another cast.
More updates: http://dangerjudy.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-hiking-accident-update.html
At the last steep portion I was near the edge of a drop and had the ground give under me. With nothing to grab to stop my descent, I slipped over the edge of a cliff wall. I free-fell 15 ft., hitting the ground on my side, bounced, slid down a steep angled rock floor about 25 ft. and ended my forward momentum by slamming my right arm into a boulder (I was tucked into a curl). My wrist broke. I lay in the stream, incredulous that I was alive. I had not lost consciousness. I did a quiet personal inventory. I could move my legs. As far as I could tell, only my arm was broken. I hollered my condition up to Brian, who then spent about 10 minutes and one ass-bustin' of his own to get to me.
We determined that I could walk. I consulted my GPS and determined the best route would be down the streambed. Eventually we found an ATV trail and hiked out to the road from that. It took us about half an hour. Brian had called a friend who lives nearby, who drove and met us with bags of ice and a towel for my arm.
He took us to my car which is a stick-shift. Brian drove me to St. Vincents East ER. They gave me dilautid injections and x-rayed my arm and pelvis. They put 3 stitches in my right knee. The ER doc told me I would need surgery on my arm. My tailbone, ass, and left hip were black with bruises. Jeans ripped open in the seat. I never heard anything about the pelvis xray, but my tailbone remains absurdly sore (and its been 8 days since the event).
I asked to transfer to St. Vincents in Southside, where my orthopedist Dr. Adkison is. He did my bankhart shoulder surgery in 04. I was admitted to the southside St. Vincents. The ER nurses put my arm in a splint. My sister Kat drove me to the southside StV's. Since my jeans were ripped and soaked with creekwater I wore two gowns tied together in weird fashion. I had a DVD with my xrays. The tech geek in me loved this.
My room at StV's was the nicest hospital room I have ever been in. It was a 'suite' in the south tower with a big window view of the city. It did not look or feel like a hospital room. It had a refrigerator and a self-adjusting bed.
My ortho doesn't do wrists so a partner in his group did my surgery. Dr. Kissel looked at my xrays and brought out a model skeleton arm with an apparatus screwed into it. "Best case scenario, we use one of these- an external fixer. If the bone is shattered too much I'll have to open your arm up instead and put plates and screws." I hoped for the best - what else could I do? I told him I am a guitarist. "We'll have you playing again in 3-6 months," he said. "F," I thought.
He shot my wrist full of lidocaine - that sucked but when he was finished it was gloriously numb for a couple of hours - and set my bones, then put my arm back in the splint. I would have surgery on Friday. They hooked me up with a morphine pump back n my room. Every 10 minutes I could press a button and get 1 mg morphine.
Friday I remember the pre-op room, I was in a queue I guess. I had to stay there a long time. Finally they wheeled me into the OR and I got on the table from my bed myself. Then I was knocked out and woke up back in my room. I love anesthesia!
My mom and sister told me great news. Instead of all that hardware, when the doc got to my wrist he found that setting my bone had lined it up great, so all he had to do was put in two pins. I am in a big cast for two weeks, then a short cast for 4, then some PT. Kat stayed in my room with me Fri. and Sat.
I spent that night with the pain pump. Saturday they took it off and put me on slow release morphine pills, and on Sunday I was discharged from the hospital. I'm staying at Kat's. Can't use my right hand for anything. I typed this whole trip report with my left hand on my laptop. I anticipate at least one more week off work. I'm on short-term disability, so I'm not eating my PTO.
What I am missing:
Mini triathlon last Sat. that I trained for over 2 months and bought a road bike for, AND took lap swimming lessons for.
Sunday Coosa kayaking
Monday Mem. Day Chief Ladiga bike trail
Tonight (Fri 30) -gig with my brother Rick's band, using my new Vox AC30CC1 for the first time.
This Sat-Sun -Hiwassee paddle trip
All the Tues. night road biking (I have fallen in love with road biking) with the Bham Bicycling Club.
Who knows what else.
But I am grateful to be here! And grateful for my great family and friends.
Update June 11th.
I'm wearing my second cast. I still have a lot of pain in my thumb and first two fingers. When they cut the first cast off, I took (warning, kinda gross) pictures of my hand with my camera phone here:
http://dangerjudy.smugmug.com/gallery/5147918_cRVao#311429818_c6GqS
This cast is much shorter; it starts below my elbow. They will take it off on June 26th and x-ray my wrist again and determine if the two pins are ready to come out. If they are, then the pins will be removed and I hope I get a brace not another cast.
More updates: http://dangerjudy.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-hiking-accident-update.html
March 31, 2008
Water
I was telling my friend Dave Howell about the decipherment of Hittite Cuneiform. We have interesting conversations as you will see.
My knowledge came from a book from the library that I checked out sometime in the recent past, but I have no idea which book it was. I suppose it was about the decipherment of cuneifom and hieroglyphics in the Middle East and North Africa. ;-) Sometimes I 'graze' the new book shelves in the history and social sciences sections of the library looking for an interesting read.
What makes this subject particularly interesting, and made me remember the tidbit of information that I related to Dave, is that the word 'water' was the key to translating Hittite Cuneiform, because it's the same word phonetically in ancient Hittite and in Modern English. No, really! When I went home I looked this up on the web to verify my memory's claim.
From:
nu ninda en e-iz-za-te-ni
Hrozny recognized the cuneiform ideogram ninda as representing bread. This led him to speculate that some of the other words in the lines might be for something like eating. He at that point was still considering Hittite as a Semitic language so he was looking for words that might be cognate with words for eating and so forth in other Semitic languages. Hrozny was a Semitic scholar but as a Czech he was also familiar with German. In scanning the lines looking for something that would be associated with bread what does he find at the beginning of the second line but wa-a-tar. It fairly leaps out as virtually the English word water although Hrozny probably saw it as a cognate of the German word for water, wasser. This was the clue to Hrozny that Hittite belonged to the Indo-European language family. He found similarities of the words in the lines to other Indo-European languages and was able to translate the pair of lines as:
______________________________________
In fact, the sound 'ah' as in water, or close to it, is in the word for 'water' in all of the languages that branch out of the Indo-European family, as far as I can find. If you have an example that contradicts this, feel free to post it here.
Latin - aqua
Italian - aqua
Spanish - agua
French - eau
German - wasser
Hindi - pani
Marathi - pan-ni
Arabic - nahla
My knowledge came from a book from the library that I checked out sometime in the recent past, but I have no idea which book it was. I suppose it was about the decipherment of cuneifom and hieroglyphics in the Middle East and North Africa. ;-) Sometimes I 'graze' the new book shelves in the history and social sciences sections of the library looking for an interesting read.
What makes this subject particularly interesting, and made me remember the tidbit of information that I related to Dave, is that the word 'water' was the key to translating Hittite Cuneiform, because it's the same word phonetically in ancient Hittite and in Modern English. No, really! When I went home I looked this up on the web to verify my memory's claim.
From:
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty
nu ninda en e-iz-za-te-ni
wa-a-tar-ma e-ku-ut-te-ni
Hrozny recognized the cuneiform ideogram ninda as representing bread. This led him to speculate that some of the other words in the lines might be for something like eating. He at that point was still considering Hittite as a Semitic language so he was looking for words that might be cognate with words for eating and so forth in other Semitic languages. Hrozny was a Semitic scholar but as a Czech he was also familiar with German. In scanning the lines looking for something that would be associated with bread what does he find at the beginning of the second line but wa-a-tar. It fairly leaps out as virtually the English word water although Hrozny probably saw it as a cognate of the German word for water, wasser. This was the clue to Hrozny that Hittite belonged to the Indo-European language family. He found similarities of the words in the lines to other Indo-European languages and was able to translate the pair of lines as:
Now you will eat bread and drink water. "
______________________________________In fact, the sound 'ah' as in water, or close to it, is in the word for 'water' in all of the languages that branch out of the Indo-European family, as far as I can find. If you have an example that contradicts this, feel free to post it here.
Latin - aqua
Italian - aqua
Spanish - agua
French - eau
German - wasser
Hindi - pani
Marathi - pan-ni
Arabic - nahla
January 30, 2008
My mom's recipes - I made a blog just for them
I've made a blog and moved my mom's recipes to it. Hopefully I will add lots more. For now, here it is:
http://sarasrecipes.blogspot.com/
http://sarasrecipes.blogspot.com/
January 21, 2008
Locust and Mulberry Conversion Chart
*Note - the Mulberry Gauge is being moved to a site upstream. The correlations to the bridge gauge will all have to be re-done over the coming year(s).*
Link to spreadsheet of new Mulberry correlations
I've had this in a printout on my wall for years. I don't think it is online anymore so I am going to type it in so I have it handy online. I don't know who originally compiled it. I've altered it to suit my own experiences.
Online gauge for the Mulberry:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/uv/?site_no=02450000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
Online gauge for the Locust Fork:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/uv/?site_no=02455000
This information is NOT intended as a gauge for safe water levels. Be sure to check the readings at the put-in bridges. Use your judgment and DO NOT attempt to paddle if your skills do not match the river conditions. Gauges change, and rivers change.
CFS Conversion
-->
Link to spreadsheet of new Mulberry correlations
I've had this in a printout on my wall for years. I don't think it is online anymore so I am going to type it in so I have it handy online. I don't know who originally compiled it. I've altered it to suit my own experiences.
Online gauge for the Mulberry:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/uv/?site_no=02450000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
Online gauge for the Locust Fork:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/uv/?site_no=02455000
This information is NOT intended as a gauge for safe water levels. Be sure to check the readings at the put-in bridges. Use your judgment and DO NOT attempt to paddle if your skills do not match the river conditions. Gauges change, and rivers change.
CFS Conversion
-->
THE
CFS Flow
|
LOCUST
Stage or Height
|
FORK
Comments
|
222-441
|
2’0” to 2’6”
|
Minimal flow for paddling
|
530.5-630
|
2’8” to 3’0”
|
Good Paddling begins at this level.
|
732
|
3’2”
|
Ideal technical paddling with a little push.
|
962.7
|
3’6”
|
House Rock rapid gets strong; ender hole is prime for tricks.
|
1230
|
4’0”
|
House Rock rapid needs scouting; Double Trouble rapid gets less technical; ender hole begins to wash out; surfing and wave wheel paradise.
|
1970
|
5’0”
|
Big Water river in trees;
|
2900
|
6’0”
|
A real flusher; Whirlpool above Ender Hole becomes very dangerous.
|
THE
CFS Flow
|
MULBERRY
Stage or Height painted on Bridge. Subtract 3.3 from the online USGS gauge to get the correct feet on the painted bridge gauge.
|
FORK
Comments
|
250-300
|
0”
|
Bump and scrape. Too low!
|
420
|
0” – 6”
|
Class I.
|
600-750
|
1’
|
Class II. At 651, bridge gauge said 1 ft with lots of little surf waves. -at bridge 1ft./700 cfs the surf spot between the islands at Glen Clark was in.
|
800
|
1’6”
| |
1100
|
2’0”
|
Enjoyable run; great down river run.
|
3000
|
3’0”
| |
4000
|
4’0”
|
Pushy; rapids and eddies begin to wash out; floating debris may be present; 5.0 questionable but the hole behind is great.
|
January 18, 2008
Femme Avec Guitar Electric - Right Hand Assertiveness
I want to talk about right hand strumming technique with a pick this morning. One of the things that I am aware of with my right hand is that the fulcrum of strumming is not my wrist; it is my elbow.
If you take your hand and wiggle it from the wrist, you get the classic 'limp wrist' motion. Imagine slapping someone with your hand moving it this way. Or - go ahead and slap your own face with the back of your hand this way. Now wiggle your hand with the elbow as the fulcrum. Slap your own face with the back of your hand - ow!
There is a lot more power generated from your hand motion if you use the elbow as a fulcrum and keep your wrist straight.
This is not to say that your hand or wrist should be tense.
My term for this is assertiveness, because I believe that's what it sounds like. Whereas playing with a limp wrist sounds like a child's hand smearing around finger paint.
You might say, "But what if I want to sound like a child's hand smearing around finger paint?" There is nothing wrong with that, if you want to sound that way. But if you are a woman who wants to play rock and roll, you need to play with assertiveness. And that is the one thing I see and hear most lacking when I see women rock guitarists.
Exceptions to this? Well they abound, but I think it's good to get this assertiveness thing nailed first. One exception is playing a lead. I use my wrist to play leads and the palm and side of my hand to mute the strings I do not want to be heard.
Another exception - well, sometimes I do strum with my wrist, but in this instance the up strokes have as much force as the down strokes.
I'll probably amend this later. Remember, this is just my own opinions and worth every cent you paid.
If you take your hand and wiggle it from the wrist, you get the classic 'limp wrist' motion. Imagine slapping someone with your hand moving it this way. Or - go ahead and slap your own face with the back of your hand this way. Now wiggle your hand with the elbow as the fulcrum. Slap your own face with the back of your hand - ow!
There is a lot more power generated from your hand motion if you use the elbow as a fulcrum and keep your wrist straight.
This is not to say that your hand or wrist should be tense.
My term for this is assertiveness, because I believe that's what it sounds like. Whereas playing with a limp wrist sounds like a child's hand smearing around finger paint.
You might say, "But what if I want to sound like a child's hand smearing around finger paint?" There is nothing wrong with that, if you want to sound that way. But if you are a woman who wants to play rock and roll, you need to play with assertiveness. And that is the one thing I see and hear most lacking when I see women rock guitarists.
Exceptions to this? Well they abound, but I think it's good to get this assertiveness thing nailed first. One exception is playing a lead. I use my wrist to play leads and the palm and side of my hand to mute the strings I do not want to be heard.
Another exception - well, sometimes I do strum with my wrist, but in this instance the up strokes have as much force as the down strokes.
I'll probably amend this later. Remember, this is just my own opinions and worth every cent you paid.
January 16, 2008
Friends
Well, I am having a bloggin' kind of morning, what can I say? BT is down and there's not too much else interesting online. It's kind of pitiful that the entire World Wide Web can be boring. It's not like cable channels - it's the freakin' world! But for whatever reason, it is.
Maybe, just maybe the woman I was worried about actually did find my blog and read it. If she did, she has declined to contact me. I'll never know. I DO know that I had a weird dream the other night about seeing her in a public library. I walked up and said, "Hey how are you? I was worried about you though I have no idea why. Are you OK?" She said yes, and that she is now a wiccan researching spells. (btw I didn't know they had that kind of stuff in the public library.) So I replied with something like, " O... K... cool, um, whatever" and walked off in a bit of shock that someone who was so staunchly agnostic would practice religion ever again, much less with such an esoteric choice.
I did discuss all of this with another friend who is also a former friend of the woman in question (yes that is how tangled up life becomes) and she thinks, as I do, that it very well could be that my worries were valid, in a Jungian kind of way. Well, for no reason I can ascertain I stopped worrying about her, so she must be doing better. Maybe she cast a spell of happiness, I don't know. ;-)
BTW young lady, you can still contact me. Or not. Just... be well.
Maybe, just maybe the woman I was worried about actually did find my blog and read it. If she did, she has declined to contact me. I'll never know. I DO know that I had a weird dream the other night about seeing her in a public library. I walked up and said, "Hey how are you? I was worried about you though I have no idea why. Are you OK?" She said yes, and that she is now a wiccan researching spells. (btw I didn't know they had that kind of stuff in the public library.) So I replied with something like, " O... K... cool, um, whatever" and walked off in a bit of shock that someone who was so staunchly agnostic would practice religion ever again, much less with such an esoteric choice.
I did discuss all of this with another friend who is also a former friend of the woman in question (yes that is how tangled up life becomes) and she thinks, as I do, that it very well could be that my worries were valid, in a Jungian kind of way. Well, for no reason I can ascertain I stopped worrying about her, so she must be doing better. Maybe she cast a spell of happiness, I don't know. ;-)
BTW young lady, you can still contact me. Or not. Just... be well.
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