Happy New Year!
Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Christmas is always a pretty busy time of the year for me with extra shifts at work, extra cooking and activities with the kids. And this Christmas I also managed to do myself a small, but significant injury.
I am a mostly stay at home Mum. I do also work part time with the lovely team at Stevens Westcity and we had a combined Christmas work dinner with Farmers at The Vodka Room. Now while in my not so distant youth I partook in far more tipples than ever advised, since having children this has changed. While I am partial to one or two glasses of wine I have only exceeded three glasses* on two occasions post-pregnancy - the Christmas work dinner was the second of these occasions.
I had a most fabulous night! I was friendly to all, gave useful advice ('just be the boss Amos!'), and encouraged everyone to get up onto the dance floor and shake it. I even won the title of 'Best Dancer' (thus earning the nick-name at work of 'Dancing Queen') and scored me a movie gift card! And, I managed to be home by 1am as had work the next day.
Buuuut, the other side of that was that in earning my supreme dancer award, I had a couple of falls. I am not competent at walking in heeled shoes. I am less competent in dancing in heeled shoes, and I am even less capable again (it turns out) at hootchie dancing in heeled shoes when intoxicated. So I kinda fell over on my heels a few times. And while none of these were serious falls, because of my fabulously unco nature, one of those falls resulted in an unexpected injury.
At the time - in spite of my intoxicated state - I knew I had hurt myself. I had over-extended my thumb when putting my hand out to soften my fall and, having sprained a thumb before, this was precisely what I thought I had done. It was a bit sore, but not terrible, so I got back to the business of getting down.
One very expensive taxi ride later I got home, bored Murray with tales of drunken shenanigans, and fell into a fairly solid slumber.
But when I woke up and looked at my right hand I got a fright. Because it had swollen up like a turkey drumstick!
And I had to go to work. I really didn't want to be that person who doesn't go into work the day after the staff Christmas do... But I knew that if I'd seen this sort of swelling on anyone else I would make them go and get an x-ray. So I showed Murray and he said the same thing. So we reluctantly headed into Whitecross to get checked out.
A few hours later I had been triaged by a nurse, seen by a Dr and xrayed - and in spite of the scary face the nurse made when I saw her, my initial diagnosis was accurate - it was just a severely sprained thumb. Phew! I just had to wear a brace and rest it. And I was only one hour late into work.
And while it is not a serious injury, it does make some things seriously difficult to do, including (but not limited to):
Consequently, (unlike when I did my ankle) I pulled back all my usual plans for Christmas crafts and just stuck with the basics. Rather than baking a million things - I just made fudge and jam. And I outsourced the gingerbread baking to my Mum (who was legendarily helpful in the first annoying week of recovery). I still made our Christmas calendar - luckily typing requires little dexterity, so using the computer and editing images has been ok provided I do it in small blocks. And this meant I maintained my sanity for Christmas, which meant both me and my family could still enjoy it!
The other positive was that I have discovered that I am more ambidextrous than I previously realised. Shortly after arriving to work immediately following my trip to Whitecross, I realised that I had to do a promo changeover at the end of that shift. Part of this entails using a large special stick to remove, then replace signage which hangs from the ceiling. And I thought, oh fuck - how will I do this? I couldn't hold anything with my right hand at all. So before one of my colleagues left for the day I gave it a go left-handed - and realised that actually, it was simple because actually, for some reason I always change the signs over left handed and just use the right hand as a prop. Weird.
Then the next day I realised what a blow this would be to my newfound drawing practice. So I did what any determined and sensible person would do - I started drawing with my left hand.
This was my first drawing:
While it was difficult to do (brain make other hand do stuff not used to hard) and difficult to sit with, the different quality of the line was really interesting. I felt quite proud. I wish I could say I've done heaps of them, but at the moment there are only four drawings and one painting due to usual holiday time and energy constraints. But nonetheless, it's been really exciting and I will definitely do more.
The other thing is this:
Um, I have a tan. Impossible to tell usually given my pallor, but actually, like a watch tan, I have a brace tan to prove I could be even whiter***. Damn I'm hilarious!
So I feel like I've taken this injury in stride better than on previous occasions. I managed to only miss one hour of work (and only because of the wait times at Whitecross), and only had one extra day of childcare to help manage things for Christmas. I did have to beg a few rides to and from work as have only just started driving again (I'm only just able to properly grip things again without pain). So I'm feeling like the master of my injuries.
Which is good, because many people didn't even notice I was injured! When I saw my old boss and hassled him about not noticing, he said it was because he'd seen me in a brace so often when I used to work for him. Which made me realise that this was correct. I used to be in a similar brace very often in the past for my RSI a lot of the time. Which made me realise that my RSI has been really good the last few years. Which is awesome!
And that maybe all those previous times in the brace are why I can do so many things left handed and coped so well this time.
So yeah, turns out these days coping with injury is actually totally in my wheelhouse.
It's good to have skills.
* Please know this is no judgment on parents who do choose to partake in greater quantities. I just can't. I have anxiety and can be a bit hyper-vigilant when it comes to looking after my kids (hence needing to fly to another city to have a proper rest). Consequently, I don't like putting myself into the position of not being in a good state to look after them. Also, I have seen hungover parents of small kids and it looks like the least fun thing to do ever. Luckily for me, on this occasion I just had to go to work (far easier to do hung over than looking after small children).
** It took Murray about a week to realise how feral the kids had gotten and that he might need to learn how to brush their hair...
*** And makes me aware I need to apply way more sunblock.
Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Christmas is always a pretty busy time of the year for me with extra shifts at work, extra cooking and activities with the kids. And this Christmas I also managed to do myself a small, but significant injury.
I am a mostly stay at home Mum. I do also work part time with the lovely team at Stevens Westcity and we had a combined Christmas work dinner with Farmers at The Vodka Room. Now while in my not so distant youth I partook in far more tipples than ever advised, since having children this has changed. While I am partial to one or two glasses of wine I have only exceeded three glasses* on two occasions post-pregnancy - the Christmas work dinner was the second of these occasions.
I'm a winner! Wish I had a trophy though...
Buuuut, the other side of that was that in earning my supreme dancer award, I had a couple of falls. I am not competent at walking in heeled shoes. I am less competent in dancing in heeled shoes, and I am even less capable again (it turns out) at hootchie dancing in heeled shoes when intoxicated. So I kinda fell over on my heels a few times. And while none of these were serious falls, because of my fabulously unco nature, one of those falls resulted in an unexpected injury.
At the time - in spite of my intoxicated state - I knew I had hurt myself. I had over-extended my thumb when putting my hand out to soften my fall and, having sprained a thumb before, this was precisely what I thought I had done. It was a bit sore, but not terrible, so I got back to the business of getting down.
One very expensive taxi ride later I got home, bored Murray with tales of drunken shenanigans, and fell into a fairly solid slumber.
But when I woke up and looked at my right hand I got a fright. Because it had swollen up like a turkey drumstick!And I had to go to work. I really didn't want to be that person who doesn't go into work the day after the staff Christmas do... But I knew that if I'd seen this sort of swelling on anyone else I would make them go and get an x-ray. So I showed Murray and he said the same thing. So we reluctantly headed into Whitecross to get checked out.
A few hours later I had been triaged by a nurse, seen by a Dr and xrayed - and in spite of the scary face the nurse made when I saw her, my initial diagnosis was accurate - it was just a severely sprained thumb. Phew! I just had to wear a brace and rest it. And I was only one hour late into work.
And while it is not a serious injury, it does make some things seriously difficult to do, including (but not limited to):
- Driving
- Carrying small children Couldn't write, but could still catch a baby bird...
- Brushing your teeth
- Brushing your hair
- Brushing your kids teeth and hair**
- Putting cloth nappies on wriggly toddlers
- Cleaning toilets
- Hanging out washing (possible, but slow cos must do left handed)
- Washing cutlery or really dirty dishes
- Chopping vegetables
- Pouring pints
- Opening tins
- Opening drinks
- Opening doors
- Eating without looking like a cave person
- Writing
- Drawing
- Wrapping Christmas presents
- Putting together kitset furniture
- Making jam
- Wiping your bum
- Opening (and inserting) tampons...
- Not smashing things (at home and at work...)
Consequently, (unlike when I did my ankle) I pulled back all my usual plans for Christmas crafts and just stuck with the basics. Rather than baking a million things - I just made fudge and jam. And I outsourced the gingerbread baking to my Mum (who was legendarily helpful in the first annoying week of recovery). I still made our Christmas calendar - luckily typing requires little dexterity, so using the computer and editing images has been ok provided I do it in small blocks. And this meant I maintained my sanity for Christmas, which meant both me and my family could still enjoy it!
The other positive was that I have discovered that I am more ambidextrous than I previously realised. Shortly after arriving to work immediately following my trip to Whitecross, I realised that I had to do a promo changeover at the end of that shift. Part of this entails using a large special stick to remove, then replace signage which hangs from the ceiling. And I thought, oh fuck - how will I do this? I couldn't hold anything with my right hand at all. So before one of my colleagues left for the day I gave it a go left-handed - and realised that actually, it was simple because actually, for some reason I always change the signs over left handed and just use the right hand as a prop. Weird.
Then the next day I realised what a blow this would be to my newfound drawing practice. So I did what any determined and sensible person would do - I started drawing with my left hand.This was my first drawing:
The other thing is this:
Um, I have a tan. Impossible to tell usually given my pallor, but actually, like a watch tan, I have a brace tan to prove I could be even whiter***. Damn I'm hilarious!
So I feel like I've taken this injury in stride better than on previous occasions. I managed to only miss one hour of work (and only because of the wait times at Whitecross), and only had one extra day of childcare to help manage things for Christmas. I did have to beg a few rides to and from work as have only just started driving again (I'm only just able to properly grip things again without pain). So I'm feeling like the master of my injuries.
Which is good, because many people didn't even notice I was injured! When I saw my old boss and hassled him about not noticing, he said it was because he'd seen me in a brace so often when I used to work for him. Which made me realise that this was correct. I used to be in a similar brace very often in the past for my RSI a lot of the time. Which made me realise that my RSI has been really good the last few years. Which is awesome!
And that maybe all those previous times in the brace are why I can do so many things left handed and coped so well this time.
So yeah, turns out these days coping with injury is actually totally in my wheelhouse.
It's good to have skills.
Drawing skills, dancing skills, bird catching skills, falling skills... Skilled.
* Please know this is no judgment on parents who do choose to partake in greater quantities. I just can't. I have anxiety and can be a bit hyper-vigilant when it comes to looking after my kids (hence needing to fly to another city to have a proper rest). Consequently, I don't like putting myself into the position of not being in a good state to look after them. Also, I have seen hungover parents of small kids and it looks like the least fun thing to do ever. Luckily for me, on this occasion I just had to go to work (far easier to do hung over than looking after small children).
** It took Murray about a week to realise how feral the kids had gotten and that he might need to learn how to brush their hair...
*** And makes me aware I need to apply way more sunblock.
