My Physiotherapist Gave Up On Me. Thu, Oct 22. 2009
After a terrible weekend, I suddenly had two 'not-so-bad' days, where my hand almost looked normal, aside from the dent where my scaphoid should be, and it almost didn't hurt... I went for my regular physio appointment today, and while he (Matt, the PT) seemed quite encouraged by the reduction of edema (thanks Celebrex??), but as he palpated my wrist for 10 minutes, things just went into spasm and it got puffy again. Fail.
Matt was visibly frustrated, and I hurt. Basically he/we can't start working on strength (or anything) while things are this angry... he's at the end of what he can do for now. Further down the road though, he suggested I talk to an Occupational Therapist about getting a functional wrist brace as opposed to the cast/splint I have now, so I could at least use my damn hand without damaging it further.
Still feels like my thumb is going to fall off.
An hour later, at my doctor's, I relayed all of this, and my epic frustration at the whole situation... and how my right wrist is now getting somewhat pained from over-use too.
Her orders/advice:
- stop the physio - it's not helping
- continue with the Celebrex
- take time off work ("We can write a note for your employer...?" "Me?" "Oh. Hmm.")
- pester the MRI clinic (I'm now on the cancellation-shortlist, they could call with 30 minutes notice at any time...)
- get a TENS machine
- maintain immobilization, since that's the only thing that helps
- sit tight for your MRI and keep your chin up
I'm pretty dejected about it all, things are supposed to get better with time, not worse... right? (Want to count how many stupid fights/arguments I've had with people in the past week? This isn't me. I don't like it.) Now I'm getting to the state where I wonder what the next piece of bad news is.
Taking time off work isn't really a viable option for someone who's self-employed. Before all this happened I'd been getting into job-hunting mode since mWare consulting hasn't been bringing in enough money. D'you know anyone who needs a high-powered network-geek/UNIX-sysadmin that can't type very much/fast/accurately? I seriously need to get some consistent income going on. Soon. Even just a little.
Having my own TENS machine will be nice; vastly better than popping pain killers. It's also the only part of the PT that I actually found brought any tangible relief. They're cheap enough to buy so I'll pick one up in the next week.
Making things even more fun, I just learned that I'll likely be losing my insurance coverage in a month or two because the company I partially owned and was getting my coverage through, has been sold off. The new owners are going to move the corporate policy over to their existing one - and I'll probably get dropped in the process. I'm going to try and negotiate something since they'll still need me for a few things though.
Otherwise, the MRI countdown continues...
Oh yeah - I ordered a new laptop. I'm also going to try and get a Magic Mouse ASAP, since I'm trying to further improve my computer setup. I'd still love to have an external multi-touchpad like what's in the Apple laptops - for my desktop. (Any suggestions?) But we'll see how I fare with the all-touch-sensitive-surface'd Magic Mouse.
Matt was visibly frustrated, and I hurt. Basically he/we can't start working on strength (or anything) while things are this angry... he's at the end of what he can do for now. Further down the road though, he suggested I talk to an Occupational Therapist about getting a functional wrist brace as opposed to the cast/splint I have now, so I could at least use my damn hand without damaging it further.
Still feels like my thumb is going to fall off.
An hour later, at my doctor's, I relayed all of this, and my epic frustration at the whole situation... and how my right wrist is now getting somewhat pained from over-use too.
Her orders/advice:
- stop the physio - it's not helping
- continue with the Celebrex
- take time off work ("We can write a note for your employer...?" "Me?" "Oh. Hmm.")
- pester the MRI clinic (I'm now on the cancellation-shortlist, they could call with 30 minutes notice at any time...)
- get a TENS machine
- maintain immobilization, since that's the only thing that helps
- sit tight for your MRI and keep your chin up
I'm pretty dejected about it all, things are supposed to get better with time, not worse... right? (Want to count how many stupid fights/arguments I've had with people in the past week? This isn't me. I don't like it.) Now I'm getting to the state where I wonder what the next piece of bad news is.
Taking time off work isn't really a viable option for someone who's self-employed. Before all this happened I'd been getting into job-hunting mode since mWare consulting hasn't been bringing in enough money. D'you know anyone who needs a high-powered network-geek/UNIX-sysadmin that can't type very much/fast/accurately? I seriously need to get some consistent income going on. Soon. Even just a little.
Having my own TENS machine will be nice; vastly better than popping pain killers. It's also the only part of the PT that I actually found brought any tangible relief. They're cheap enough to buy so I'll pick one up in the next week.
mmm... electricity!
Making things even more fun, I just learned that I'll likely be losing my insurance coverage in a month or two because the company I partially owned and was getting my coverage through, has been sold off. The new owners are going to move the corporate policy over to their existing one - and I'll probably get dropped in the process. I'm going to try and negotiate something since they'll still need me for a few things though.
Otherwise, the MRI countdown continues...
My Anticipation Widgets
Oh yeah - I ordered a new laptop. I'm also going to try and get a Magic Mouse ASAP, since I'm trying to further improve my computer setup. I'd still love to have an external multi-touchpad like what's in the Apple laptops - for my desktop. (Any suggestions?) But we'll see how I fare with the all-touch-sensitive-surface'd Magic Mouse.
Myke's 'blob. on : "Will it hurt? No, I won't feel a thing."
Myke's 'blob. on : Of mending hearts and hands
Myke's 'blob. on : It's Safe To Say It's Over