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The incomparable Louis Armstrong, La Vie en Rose:

Bonus! A Kiss to Build a Dream On:

So I go to the orthopedist yesterday, and the technician first uses a fluoroscope to confirm everything is still where it should be (cool! moving x-ray! sci-fi!). Since it is, he says we can change me out to a smaller cast. Yay! So he fires up that vacuum/saw thing to cut the purple monstrosity off, and people, that thing is SO WRONG. Eardrum-piercingly loud, enough vibration to shake loose a few brain cells, and also the vacuum part is useless because I still ended up covered in purple particles.

But the worst part was when it came off.

Yes, my arm was pale and skinny and flaky – I could deal with all that. But it HURT. Hurt like the day I broke it! Hurt like HELL! Because it’s still healing, duh. And that’s when I realized that maybe I won’t just “bounce back” from this injury like I thought I would. Three more weeks in this smaller cast. Then, some as-of-yet unknown amount of time in a removable splint/brace type of device. Then…?

The new cast is hot pink, lets me bend/straighten my elbow, and makes some tasks a bit easier. But it’s much, much tighter than the last cast; has rough edges that irritate my skin; and is so far rather painful. I’m dutifully putting moleskin on the edges that bother me, but I have to admit, the whole thing is really uncomfortable. Kinda makes me want to drink or something to distract myself.

Ouch.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! I go to the orthopedist and hopefully get upgraded (or is it downgraded?) from a cast that looks like the one on the right, to one that looks like the shorter one on the left:

(Image adapted from here.)

I’m so excited I might pee my pants. Being able to bend/straighten my arm will make everything so much easier. I’m a little worried about how my arm is going to look. I can tell the skin is really dry because I’m itchy a lot more, and the skin on my exposed fingers is so dry, it’s constantly flaking off – and I can put lotion there! I know the outer layer of my skin is just exfoliating itself but it’s so gross to contemplate on a large scale (like an entire arm). Ew!

Finally got the DVD with copyright release of the costumed photos that got taken of Veronica back in January. This was a complete surprise! I walked in to pick her up from daycare and this dude says “Would you like to look at the proofs and see what you like?” I didn’t even know they were going to take pictures and was stunned that they had actually dressed all the kids in costumes and photographed them on a set. The pictures were mind-numbingly adorable, and I paid a ridiculous sum to get a package, but how could I not?

My wrist is screaming now that I’ve typed all this, so I’m off to take more drugs. But here are a few of the photos (full set here).

What’s a bigger hassle: having a broken arm or dealing with all this snow? How about, “both at the same time?” Ugh.

Typing is a real chore, which is why I haven’t blogged lately. I’m in a lot of pain – it seems worse now than the days right after it happened, but I’m sure that’s because I’m healing. I remember the same deep, non-stop ache when my broken femur was stitching itself back together in 1990. Another week and a half in this giant monstrosity of a cast – then it will be replaced by a smaller model, only to the elbow, for another two weeks. CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH.

I’m terrified that when they take this cast off, my elbow will be stuck and I won’t be able to straighten my arm! Kind of like what happened to my knee when the cast came off my leg. I have to keep reminding myself that only happened because my knee was also badly injured, and full of adhesions/scar tissue. If my elbow is stiff, thank goodness it will only be temporary.

Office is closed again tomorrow, but so is daycare. Oy vey.