I obtained the usual x-ray first thing, check it out:
The first thing you might notice is how much better I'm getting at photographing x-rays. I don't think this is a marketable skill, but I've had enough practice at it that my pictures are turning out pretty good.
You will need a trained eye and a good imagination if you think you can see a fracture! You can't tell anything was ever wrong with the bone, except for a chunk of titanium and a few random screws. Everything fit back together perfectly and has knit, this is my best picture yet!
Dr. Jurist was elated. He looked at the x-rays and was really impressed. He felt the hand carefully, checking it all out. Then came the moment of truth.
During my previous office visit, the good doc gave me some exercises to do believing I would work hard and not need to see a physical therapist. For the past two weeks I have been working the wrist almost constantly, making it hurt to gain mobility while I can. Diane has expressed something of a contrary opinion, pointing out that the doctor didn't talk about maniacal persistence of exercise, just some exercise every hour. Usually Diane is right about stuff like this, but I felt in my bones that working hard was the right thing to do.
Thank goodness I was right. Or at least not completely wrong. When Dr. Jurist had me move the wrist he was so happy with my flexibility that he almost cried. He had me move it over and over. In a long career of fixing wrists, he's never had one heal this well or this quickly. He was very pleased. Emotionally and deeply pleased.
He told me the bones are healed, the wrist is good, I can do whatever I want. No need to wear a brace any longer. I need to be careful because the wrist has no strength and I might hurt myself, and indeed I've observed that I can't even pick up my coat with the left hand. But by doing hand strengthening exercises and continuing to twist to regain more mobility, he felt confident I would heal fast.
'So the golden question is, can I ride a bike?', I asked.
'Looks like the weather is going to work against you this weekend, but sure, you can ride a bike', he replied, 'just be careful, it isn't very strong.'
'My question to you,' he continued, 'are you going to wander into terrain parks and take big jumps when you go skiing next year?'
'Yes, I believe I will,' I replied. 'I've done hundred of jumps like that before and only messed up once. I don't see why I would stop now.'
He gave me a big smile, 'I thought you might.'
I am truly grateful to the competence and skill of Dr. Jurist, and I thanked him profusely. I also thanked the good ladies at the front desk and once again complimented them on their excellent magazine selection, and they promised they'd get some new ones for me if I called ahead, I don't even need to get hurt again to come by and read.
The weather forecast for Thursday was rain and snow, but when I walked out of the office the roads were dry. When I arrived home it still hadn't started raining so I quickly changed and took off on my mountain bike; I figured the shocks would keep the hand from taking any hard jolts. It was just starting to rain when I left the driveway. When I turned around after topping the hill to Westford Center it was sleeting and coming down pretty hard, but I was having so much fun just riding a bike that I ignored it. At about 4 miles it wasn't much of a ride, but it felt great!
Before I bring this story to a close, there are a couple of loose ends to tie up, although you may not realize it.
Several people have wondered if I was able to work while my wrist healed. The people I work with know I missed very little work over this. In fact, just to help me be productive, Rob, my manager, got me a prosthetic:
This is a mechanical hand that came in a box labelled "The Pianist", so I tried to play the piano with it. You have probably already noticed that it's another RIGHT hand, so not as useful as you might hope. I also took a picture of the instructions:
Oh, the irony! The cruelty! Sure, it seems like such a noble gesture to provide an extra hand when I can't use my own. But requiring someone with a broken wrist to clap is just cruel!
In closing, we live in an age of wonders and miracles, and yet they are so commonplace that we hardly notice them. If an injury such as this had occurred when I was a boy, my arm would never have been right and would have caused me pain the rest of my life. Yet here I am nearly completely healed, only a short time since a serious-ish injury. And I continue to marvel at the human body, a serious bit of engineering with the ability to heal itself and recover from the abuse we give ourselves.
I'll update this blog again when something interesting happens to me. If the past is any indicator, give it 3-4 months.
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