Look, Ma!

Two hands!

We’ve come a long a way from our tandem bike accident during our honeymoon in November.

It may have taken 12 weeks, but Bobby’s doctor finally gave the “OK” yesterday to remove the bright blue cast that had become a comfortable part of our lives.

Only joking, of course. Bobby couldn’t WAIT to get that thing off of him! πŸ™‚

He looks like he’s going to attack something in this one.

The realities of our trip to the doctor yesterday were very interesting. When the cast first came off, you would have been amazed at how his thumb and wrist looked after being trapped under fiberglass for so long. I will spare you the pictures, but let’s just say that as human beings, we shed a heck of a lot of skin and when it has nowhere to go…it ain’t pretty! πŸ˜‰ With a little loofah action and lotion, however, everything is almost back to normal.

Another reality check was that at first, it was almost impossible for Bobby to move his thumb. It’s amazing what can happen when your brain no longer has to give attention to a certain area. Fortunately, the doctor said he likely won’t need physical therapy, as long as he continues to do small exercises every day to gain back full functionality.

One such exercise is re-learning how to hold a wine glass with your right hand.

To celebrate his new cast-free way of living, we opened a bottle of Malbec. It was called Camino del Toro and we got it with our Groupon to Barclay’s Wine (you have to love a coupon for wine). Truly excellent. I have yet to meet a Malbec that I don’t like!

The next true test will be preparing dinner. Bobby creates beautiful works of art but has struggled with chopping using one hand (not to mention it’s dangerous). Gripping the knife with his right hand again should hopefully help him regain familiarity!

I can’t wait for more dishes like this veggie-filled whole wheat pasta.

Chopped mushrooms, sauteed spinach and stove-softened vegetables like broccoli, red pepper and onion, all mixed with a tomato sauce and thrown over whole wheat pasta al dente. Swoon.

The best news, though? Now I’m not the only one who is able to do the dishes. :mrgreen:

Question: Do you have any stretching exercises for a healing wrist or hand?

We would love to hear from anyone who has gone through this before!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! And please, if you haven’t already, vote for my good friend Mara in the POM Wonderful Valentine Cupcakes contest! I can vouch that her cupcakes are AMAZING.

CaSaundra is in the contest, too! See her link in my last post.

Abrazos,

19 Comments

  1. ah, so glad he finally got that blasted cast off!!! i’m sure it was bothersome! i know whenever i had to wear one it was!

    sorry, no exercises from me… I’ve had those injuries but they were years ago, and i don’t remember them…

  2. SO happy for him!!!!!! I’m sure seeing the skin underneath a cast is ummm interesting. Glad things are looking ALMOST back to normal though ;). You two should celebrate it up al weekend long. And Bobby definitely needs to be making dinner πŸ˜‰ You know…for recovery purposes

  3. Hooray for the return of two hands! I once had to be a lefty after a bad incident with the spiralizer. That only lasted a couple days, so I can only imagine how relieved Bobby feels!
    If you look into joint exercises for elderly people (no, seriously!) there are a lot for hands, wrists, and arms.

  4. Glad Bobby is on the up & up! I rememember last spring when I had to get 8 stitches in my thumb, it took FOREVER for me to start using it again. He should be back to new in no time though!! πŸ™‚

    And THANKS so much for the shout-out, I soooo appreciate it πŸ™‚

  5. jenn! i’ve fallen off the face of the planet, and i dont know how i didnt put this together during your post about the bike accident… but my fiance (robert!) broke his hand in october and just got his cast off recently too. i really cant get over how parallel our lives are, haha. hope bobby enjoys having two hands again!

  6. isn’t it crazy and how much muscle tone and memory you lose after being in a cast for so long?! i hope it comes back quickly!

    malbec is by far my favorite kind of wine. that is ALWAYS what i choose! mmm, so good.

  7. Another vote for a stress ball. I broke my wrist back in 2nd grade and I remember lots of squeezing once I got the cast off my shriveled arm. My doctor also told me to practice throwing and catching a tennis ball, so I spent a lot of time throwing a ball at a wall like a prisoner πŸ™‚

    Glad Bobby’s on the mend!

  8. Pasta rocks.

    I competed in gymnastics my whole life and one great stretch for your overall forearms and wrists is to get on all fours with your hands flat then pivot your hands so that your fingers are facing you (or as close as you can get them). Do this in both directions as far as you can and rock yourself slowly front and back to stretch your arms. πŸ™‚ It feels nice.

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