wrist update: SORE!!! STIFF!!!

Yep, Jennifer the physician's assistant at the orthopod was right--my wrist IS very stiff and sore without the support of the brace. Tried to do my flex exercise today to loosen things up to no avail. Ibuprofen and extra strength tylenol are my friends...

The most annoying/painful thing to do so far? Buckle my seat belt with the bad wrist in the driver's seat. OUCH!! A delightful (not) zap of pain and stiffness as I try to pull the belt down over myself to the buckle. Not so fun...I've become quite adept at using my right hand to pull the belt over myself as best I can, then only use the left as I need to to pull more belt out of the thingus to get enough to clip the buckle. Driving is also kinda painful still, but it wasn't a treat when I was casted or braced, either. Got really good at steering with my right hand only with occasional assists from the left, so that will continue with gradual build-up to using both hands more consistently. After all, it's definitely better and safer to drive with both hands on the wheel at all times, even though most of us probably don't do so most of the time anyway...

Neither of the two providers suggested to me by Jennifer for physical therapy are in-network for insurance, so back to Edward Hospital PT department for my treatment. I was pleased with what they did for me with my back so I don't expect my wrist will be any different. Go for my eval appointment on Tuesday at 1315. As was the case back in '09 for my back insurance is still annoying for it. My eval is automatically covered, then it goes to a department through $Insurance specifically for PT/OT called Orthonet that gets my information (eval, scrip details for how many visits the doctor wants me to have) then they make the final decision as to how many visits I actually get. When I went for my back in '09 they approved almost the full amount of visits on my scrip, so I'm hoping they'll do the same for the wrist thing. We shall see.

This is going to be a long road to recovery. I think I've finally accepted that. :/ I'm ready for wherever it takes me...

Diva: just over one year...

...since her kidneys crashed and we almost lost her. That anniversary fell on 11 September. That was a Sunday last year. We knew to take her into the e-vet when she refused tuna, lapping only a small amount of tuna juice out of the bowl before turning and putting her head down sadly. At 11 years old having her kidneys fail was a total shock...

She spent a week at the vet getting stablized; I left the Humane Haven annual rummage sale to go pick her up on Saturday 17 September. She came home with the catheter still in her leg in case she crashed again once we got her home in hopes to avoid sticking her again. Her foot swelled up to at least double its normal size, so back to the e-vet we went that night for them to remove the catheter as we were to afraid to remove something directly in a vein for fear of excessive bleeding once removed. What a time that was.

It's a year later and aside from a few bumps and fits and starts she's been doing pretty darn well on her treatment regimine. She still fights the fluids treatment almost every night--that's how we know she's doing well, when she's feisty enough to fight the needle. ;) It's maddening that she's not gotten used to the nightly ritual as well as Jazz has, but she's got a totally different temperament than her sister so it stands to reason they'd react differently to the process. We're still hoping she'll learn to better cope with it as time goes on since she's going to need her sub-qs regularly for the rest of her life to keep her kidneys working properly. It ain't going away, so best hope is she gets used to it and doesn't fight as much. If she does continue to fight it so be it--we've dealt with it so far, we'll continue to deal with it.

Diva was my parents' cat. I opted to take her in after Mom died. My brother was willing to but he was at least a little relieved when I offered to try her in my home first. After a few weeks she fit right into the pecking order with Jazz and Smudge (RIP). When I moved down here to IL to live with J she didn't adjust quite as quickly, hating his cat Ra from the start. :/ That sucked. :/ They still don't get along but they do try to coexist best they can. That was the first time I saw Diva's feisty side was her reaction to Ra!

Diva's not the most affectionate cat in the world--somewhat aloof, but still can be a love when she wants to be. I wouldn't trade her for anything. She's part of my heart and I love her to pieces.

So much love and scritchens to my Diva Doots for making it this far!! :)