Plague Diary: The Saga Continues

[lydy]

 This is just a quick update on the general State of the Lydy.

The arm is healing nicely.  I do two sessions of PT, one more than is prescribed, and often more reps than is prescribed.  I discussed it with my physical therapist, Olivia, and she doesn't think I am overdoing it.  This has resulted in a really strong recovery. My range of motion is currently about 80% of normal.  She thinks that I might not lose any range of motion, which makes me especially happy that I took the doctor's recommendation to not do surgery.  While that decision was partially driven by money, it is also true that I have not had to heal from the trauma of surgery, and so my recovery is faster.  I do use a hot pack after my PT sessions for pain management, and that does seem to help a lot.  I gather that there's no data that this is technically therapeutic, but I have suspicions that it actually is because it increases blood flow.  On the other hand, I also suspect that knitting is really good physical therapy, and I have zero cites on that, too.  (The shawl I started right after I broke my arm is almost done!)

My PT exercises now include weights.  Ok, one pound weights, to be precise, but I assume that we'll get to higher weights, soon.  I am contemplating buying small dumbbells, a set in 2, 3, and 5 pounds.  I wonder if this is just me engaging in retail therapy, or if they will be useful.  I see Olivia again on Monday, so I think I will delay the purchase until I have a chance to ask her.  She has said that although I will not need to do PT for the rest of my life, I will probably always be a little weak in my right arm, and it would be smart to keep up strength exercises for, well, the rest of my life.  

I am pain-free for large quantities of the day.  I have been able to reduce my use of ibuprofen, and today I have forgone it all together.  We'll see if how that goes, long term, but I have already done my first PT session, today, and am not in shocking amounts of pain.  So, it seems to be going very well.  

I can now do all sorts of things that I either couldn't do, or could only do with shocking amounts of pain.  I can wash my own hair, I can cut bread, I can put the bread into the oven, I can cut up cheese (I did cut myself doing this, because my knife skills are still recovering), I can pull up my pants, I can reach over my head, I can wash dishes, I can almost sleep on my right side, I can lift a gallon of water, I can scoop ice cream, I can change the sheets and make the bed, I can fill the humidifier in my CPAP (which is actually really difficult because the design of the humidifier chamber is stupid as fuck), I can drive to the grocery store (though turning corners I do a little differently because my arm doesn't quite work right), I can turn on Mr. Heater (the scary open-flame gas space heater on the wall in my living room), put my hair up in a very messy knot, and wash the bathroom fixtures.  This is an incomplete list, but they are all things that were out of reach a fortnight ago.

I have gone a couple of rounds with Ben, my recruiter from Aureus Medical Group, the people that placed me at the Cleveland Clinic.  He had said that Cleveland Clinic was vastly under-staffed and wanted me.  So I got a release to work letter that had a restriction of lifting no more than ten pounds.  It seemed to me that should have been fine, because the number of times in nine and a half years that I worked as a tech that I had to lift something greater than 10 pounds was, um, once.  After a week of making happy noises but no details, Ben said that Cleveland Clinic was so short-staffed that they could not take me unless I was at 100%.  We did some back and forth about what the fuck 100% means (this is not, actually, a medical term).  He finally said that I needed a release to work letter without restrictions.  I saw Olivia on Wednesday, and after a chat, she said that I could probably handle my job fine, and I should ask Dr. Hoyen if he agreed.

So, then I sent email to Dr. Hoyen (who has been my doc since I got out of the hospital, who recommended I not get surgery, and who has generally been quite good), asking if this was possible.  I detailed my logistical complexities, including the fact that my lease here is up on February 20th.  I need to either be working or moving home by that date.  I got back a note today saying that while he felt I could return to work, he would like me to limit my hours.  I have responded saying that they won't take me if I can't work full-time, and why does he think I need to limit my hours?  I await a response.

Once I know if I am going home or staying here, I can either go home with David, or release him into the wild.  I hope to know, soon.  If I can return to work, but cannot do so for a fortnight or so, there's still no reason he has to be here.  I can definitely shift for myself at this point.  I will miss him but I bet the cats would be happy to have him home.  

Pamela tells me that Ninja and Nuit, separately and together, attempted a mouse murder, last night, but failed.  I have yet to be updated on their prosecution of this project.  (Dunno what Lady Jane Grey was doing during this attempted homicide.  I should ask.)  

Meanwhile, my brain has decided to gift me with anxiety dreams, thank you, brain.  I had a very detailed one in which I was trying to check into the RadishTree for a single night as a way to relax, but when I got there, they were holding Norwescon there.  Why was Norwescon in the RadishTree?  We may never know.  It was a crowded convention and no one was wearing a mask, and I kept on finding that I had removed my mask and having to put it back on, and the auxiliary con-suite was in the suite i had rented, and then things devolved into a very bad spy movie with hidden rooms, an underground lagoon, and in addition to worrying about COVID I had to worry about being shot or poisoned.  Thank you, brain!  

Still, things are definitely looking up.  

Love to you all from Cleveland.

Comments

[pameladean]

I'm really happy to see this detailed report of largely good news, but sorry about all the back and forth. On the other hand, you don't want to mess up your arm when things are going so well.

Lady did also attempt mouse murder. She shot both front paws under the dresser, where Ninja had chased the mouse, and kept watch for about fifteen minutes, until Nuit scared her off. She also very nearly got it when it became tangled in the blanket that I put in her office chair, which had fallen partly onto the floor. She probably doesn't need the blanket, but on a cold day I put blankets all over the place for the cats, reserving one for my use.

Anyway, Lady stared at the blanket, with the mouse in it, and figured out how to move the folds to get at the mouse; but she wasn't quite fast enough. It is a very fast mouse. Ninja harried it back and forth across the width of the room three times, so I saw how fast it was.

I think they have a good chance of getting it eventually, but they had not done so as of about four this afternoon.

They were also not on high alert, so it must have gone back where it came from.

P.

[lydy]

Lady is actually pretty clever with topology and such. She actually knows how to open a door that opens inward, a thing many cats can't seem to understand. I am sorry that the mouse did not create solidarity amongst the female felines. Cats.

[pameladean]

Nu is anti-solidarity.

Saffron can open a door that opens inwards, but Cassie either can't or just prefers to yell til somebody else -- sometimes Saffron -- comes along and does it.

P.

[gerisullivan]

I love visible progress, and, wow, are you making it. That list of things you can do now that were out of reach a fortnight ago is a delight.

Sorry the Cleveland Clinic job is back and forth followed by more back and forth. Hope it all resolves in the direction you'd most like, and soon. And may your brain cooperate by moving on from anxiety dreams to the more comforting, entertaining kind.

Onward! To whatever comes next!

[lydy]

Hey! Maybe _you_ know why they were hosting a Norwescon in Minneapolis!

[naomikritzer]

My sister came by my house today and we had a brief (outdoor, masked) chat. (We pool errands, and Abi had asked me to pick up 1/2 pound of smoked turkey along with the other stuff I was getting from Hy-Vee today, and she has a baked goods subscription from Common Roots and she and my brother-in-law had offered to share the quickbread with me and my father. Abi was going to Dad's house next, to get the stuff he'd picked up for her on his trip to Costco.) Anyway, we discussed pandemic dreams and Abi told me that her first pandemic stress dream had involved driving out to OmegaCon, then realizing when she was almost there that she hadn't brought a mask, and then -- instead of finding a mask -- just going on into the con, discovering that no one else was wearing one either, getting mildly frantic, but not doing anything sensible like leaving.

I haven't had a con-focused pandemic dream yet but I've had several "wait, why did I decide to come into this crowded indoor location without a mask?!?" dreams.

[bibliofile]

Hooray for such excellent progress in your recovery! That's just so awesome.

I hope that the job things gets sorted out RSN. Paid work does help one's budget so.

[ckd]

Norwescon has been held in the Doubletree-that-used-to-be-a-Red-Lion (Liontree?) for a while, so maybe the Doubletrees were seeing double, or doubling down, or something like that?

[green_knight]

I'm glad to hear that things are progressing nicely, and hope the job thing will be sorted out.

[thewayne]

I am so glad to hear all this improvement! I wasn't sure if you were still in Ohio or if you'd gone home, nice to know that there's still hope for the job at Cleveland Clinic.

I hope it turns into you do have a job at Cleveland Clinic!

And that dream sounds like the making of a great fanfic. :-)

[aedifica]

Your list of things you can now do reminds me of when I had frozen shoulder for about a year, a couple of years ago. For me it was that I can sleep on my left side again, put my bra on the way I like to do it instead of the way that feels awkward for me, etc. I'm glad you can once again do so many of the things that one takes for granted!