Throughout the week I get into a familiar pattern: get out of bed at 7am, clean myself up, do the occupational and physical therapy exercises and stretches that I have been given, take a shower, and then proceed to appointments as required. Later each day I get in a second round of the OT and PT exercises before relaxing with Netflix or the baseball playoff games. Since I'm not back to pre-accident sleep quality levels, I sleep late to make up for it. And the body probably needs more sleep with all of the repair that it is doing. And a simple exercise as taking a shower involves an accrate set of steps to perform the shower safely and without over-extending still-healing bodyparts.
On Tuesday I ride Lyft over to see the hand surgeon. He gives two options on how to deal with the problem and we both agree to start with the least invasive procedure first (of which he's performed many times). Soon my complete left ring finger is completely numb (like after a dentist numbs an area of the mouth) and now I close my eyes because I don't want to watch. The doctor uses a set of diagonal pliers to slowly cut away pieces of the exposed bone. As he snips the pieces, I can hear the snap and also hear a piece fly against the operation surface or even a wall, but I don't feel a thing. He meticulously smooths the end of the bone with small snips and then we're done. He shows me how to dress the wound just in case I need to before I see him again in two days. Then I call another Lyft and ride home.
On Wednesday I have no appointmens, thus I take the time and effort to wash all of the bedding. Since my body is weird now, I keep having hot or cold flashes and have sweat a fair amount at night. So let's get rid of those toxins. Except that as I'm doing laundry both the home health care occupational therapist at noon and the home health care physical therapist at 4pm come over to do an evaluation of my mobility in the house and if I am performing the exercises properly. The OT person runs through the checklist as I show her how I can cook and prepare food, move food between the oven/microwave/burners to the table, and get in and out of the shower with being too risky. She's satisfied and leaves. The PT person comes and watches as I perform the PT exercises and decides that I am doing well enough that he's going to add three more exercises.
Thursday is a good day. After my typical morning start, I Lyft over to the hand surgeon and he says that it looks good. So he shows me how to dress the area (it's different this time) and order the bandage film that I will need. And he'll see me in one week. When I get home I realize I'll have to overwrap the bandage film with gauze when I sleep because there really isn't anything protecting that finger tip of impacts right now. At home I am able to talk from one end of the house to the other with the cane in the air the entire time! I take a break and then retrace my steps again with the cane in the air. I can walk under perfect conditions without a cane!
OnSunday and Monday I walk around the block with minimal use of the cane (only when the pavement is uneven or over a curb). I run into a neighbor behind me and he says that our block is one mile in perimeter. I'm a bit skeptical but the time is about right and he says he measured with his car. (He's extra friendly because it turns out he had a stroke and was on a cane for a while. Though he looks too young to have had a stroke.) Each of these days contaiins football games and flexibility exercises and strenght exercises and stretching exercises as well as the MotoGP and Moto3 races from Australia.
On Tuesday I make a practice walk to the Vons grocery store. It's a round trip walk of 29 minutes and my right leg (i.e., the weak leg since the accident) is tired when I finish. I don't actually do any shopping but now I know I can walk to Vons and carry items back home with a backpack (as long as they are not too heavy or bulky). After a shower and dressing the finger wound I am tired from the "long" walk. There's an exciting Moto2 race from Australia and some Netflix for entertainment. Sine the walk was long I only do stretching and flexibility exercises and pass on the strengh exercises.
I start Thursday with shoulder and PT and stretching exercises and grab a shower. I ride lyft over to the hand doctor and despite all sors of white, pink, and purple colors, the skin is growing as intended and looking good. The doctor has me come back in two weeks - I just have to keep changing the dressing every other day.
On Friday I walk to Vons, load up the backpack with food, and load a smaller bag with food, and walk back home. Later in the day I do more physical therapy exercises.
On Saturday I walk extra long. I walk for more than an hour with a quick stop at the CVS pharmacy. I know after this long of a walk I will be sore throughout the day. I get a call from the physical therapist to schedule a Tuesday checkup and he's surprised when I tell him that I walked an hour this morning. On this day, one day after complaining to a friend that it has been twelve weeks since I won the lottery and I still don't have a check yet, the check arrives. I spend the rest of the day moving around a fair amount to prevent some soreness and watching qualifying for MotoGP/2/3 from Malaysia and F1 from Circuit of the Americas. By the evening time I'm a bit surprised that I am not more sore than I am.
I continue to push the walking and physical therapy - though pushing makes me stiff and sore throughout the day, it's the right thing to do for a rapid recovery. Throughout the next few days I watch exciting MotoGP/2/3 races from Malaysia and a nail-biting F1 race from Circuit of the Americas. There isn't much else going on at this point.