Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I'm winding down the occupational/physical therapy for my right hand and wrist, after seeing the therapist last week and discussing how to do this. On a whim, I just tried the same range-of-motion exercises with my left hand. It's stiffer than my right hand, and I can't separate my left thumb and index finger as far, or curve the thumb and fingers as smoothly.

It looks like it would be a good idea to do those stretches and exercises with my left hand. Try once or twice a day? I'm reducing the right hand exercises from three times daily while I was seeing the therapist, to daily over the last week, and then to three times a week, "fading to zero" over three months.

I woke up very late yesterday and then did fewer of these stretches and exercises than usual.

Today, however, I was up at 8 (which is in the range of my current "normal" pattern), sat with my anti-SAD light (which tends not to happen if I sleep late), and have done wrist stretches and exercises.

I am doing well enough that it may be time to stop, or at least pause, the OT visits:

( boring numbers )

It has also been a few days since I used the brace on the right wrist at all, though I'm carrying it with me if I go out for longer than a walk to the supermarket, and having it in reach when I sleep.

I am still sleeping with the other wrist braced and propped up, because leaving that off for more than a couple of days leads to wrist or elbow pain. Sleeping with both wrists in those braces is like sleeping with fingerless gloves on, and can be warm enough to make it hard for me to fall asleep, even naked and without even a sheet to cover me. (Adrian's room is cooler, so sleeping with both braces on when I'm in that bedroom hasn't been a problem.

I tried sleeping without the brace on my right wrist last night, and I think it worked: my wrist didn't hurt when I woke up, and hasn't been noticeably tender during the day today.

The occupational therapist has been saying that getting me out of the brace is a goal. For me, that's secondary to being able to use the wrist (and hand, and arm) without pain, and to lift heavier things, like tall juice glasses, comfortably. If they go together, as they seem to, that's good, but the brace isn't the problem.

On the other hand, if I don't have braces on both wrists, I'll be less likely to overheat when I'm going to sleep: the wrist braces are like fingerless gloves. I've been sleeping with one on my left wrist for years, to avoid a recurrence of tennis elbow; I hadn't noticed it keeping me warm until I had them on both wrists at the same time.

I'm going to do this for a few more days and, if it continues to go well, try increasing the weight for one of the strengthening exercises.

ETA Friday morning: I woke up around 6 a.m. with my wrist hurting slightly, went to the bathroom, came back to bed, and put on both wrist braces. I may wear both braces tonight.

I mis-remembered the time of my occupational therapy appointment today, which I realized while waiting for a bus, because my eye doctor sent a confirmation message for my appointment Friday, for a different time than I remembered. I called a Lyft, which got me to the OT place at 2:02 for my 2:00 appointment, and the therapist told me to come into the appropriate room three minutes after that. So that could have been a lot worse. Also, the time the eye doctor sent the reminder for is more convenient than the time I had written down, so that part at least is all right.

In the last few days, my elbow has been bothering me when I did one of the OT exercises. I told the therapist this, and she asked whether it hurt when she poked a couple of spots, and then did ultrasound on that part of my arm. She explained that the muscle that we've been trying to relax and strengthen because of the wrist problem connects to the elbow. So the plan is that I will use only the one-pound weight for the wrist strengthening exercises; reduce the weights and/or tension that I'm using for the shoulder exercises; back off on hand-writing things, and maybe do less keyboarding; and wear the brace a bit more of the time. I am seeing her again in two weeks, and we'll re-evaluate then.

I walked to the farmers market after OT, and came home with apples, cucumbers, beets, a squash, and a few tomatoes. I had forgotten that we had a few cucumbers (from the supermarket) and beets. If I'd remembered, I'd have bought apple cider instead; as it is, Adrian is cheerfully making an apple and beet salad, which will be part of our dinner.

I had a nice chat on Zoom with my mother this afternoon, just because it's been a while. We talked about our various physiotherapy exercises (including what I'm now doing for my wrist, "occupational therapy" is physio for the hand, wrist, or forearm), and how well we're keeping up with those over time.

I got mail saying that my health insurance company has approved four more occupational therapy sessions, between now and the end of December. Right now, it feels like that will be enough.

After talking with Mom I went for a walk with cattitude and adrian_turtle, since it was warm and sunny (for October, around 72F/22C).

I got mail saying that my health insurance company has approved four more occupational therapy sessions, between now and the end of December. Right now, it feels like that will be enough. I continue to improve, despite not having seen the therapist last week; not seeing her last week means I got no ultrasound or massage, as well as no changes to the exercises I was doing.

My left arm seems to have recovered, which I'm noting here because I noted when I'd resumed the exercises with the putty. I'll probably keep doing those a bit longer, just in case.

I've been noticing odd pain in my left arm while washing dishes, the last few days, and last night I got out the putty the occupational therapist in New York gave me when she was treating my tennis elbow, several years ago now. I'm finding the exercises easier than I expected, given how it felt when I started on them last time. This could mean I've caught the problem sooner, or it could mean that the pain, a couple of inches away from my elbow, has an unrelated cause.

I started noticing the pain around Oct. 1, restarted the exercises with the putty Oct. 4, and am noting this as something to mention to my doctor if it's still bothering me at the end of next week.

The therapist didn't give me any new exercises this week. She did ultrasound and massage, and said my arm muscles are feeling a bit looser (after several weeks of me doing the stretches daily) and we discussed whether using a square table rather than a curved desk or table would work better. I also asked about starting with the palm-up version of the first exercise, and she said sure, worth a try. I just did--with my arm on the square kitchen table, and using one of my new one-pound weights.

The therapist also wants me to start spending some time without the wrist brace, carefully, and when I'm doing things that shouldn't strain my wrist. My thought was, reading or conversation, nothing at the computer. I tried shopping at the Davis Square farmers market without the brace, and put it on after a few minutes--but that was stopping at a couple of different stands, and by the time I got to the produce vendor, I had a large loaf of bread and a small lime and blueberry cake, both from HiRise Bakery.

I couldn't bend my right wrist very far when I tried the exercise palm-up a little while ago, but was able to do ten reps, moving my wrist only a little. I then did 20 with my palm down, not moving my wrist and hand as far as I had been when was doing that exercise first. I then did ten reps of last week's new exercise, stopping at 10 because it was starting to hurt. (I have her OK/encouragement to do two sets a day, and work up to 20 reps at a time.)

This week's OT appointment was at 11, and I left here early enough to have time to walk a bit after getting off the 66 bus, sit a few minutes on Cambridge Common with a book, then take the 77 to Arlington Center, buy and drink hot chocolate, and catch the following bus a couple of stops and walk to the therapist's office without hurrying. After OT, I caught a 67 bus on Mass Ave., which surprised me, took it to Alewife, and then the red line to Davis.

Farmer's market haul: peaches, blueberries, blackberries, a cauliflower, bread, and cake. I selected four peaches, three that I think are barely ripe and one ripe enough that I paid for my produce, walked far enough to get out of people's way, and ate it. I also got a pint of peach ice cream, but JP Licks isn't in the farmers market, but a couple of blocks away.

Progress in occupational therapy: ultrasound and massage again, and the therapist taught me a strengthening exercise, which I will do cautiously, and stop if it hurts. We're skipping a week, so it made sense to say "this specific thing hurts right now, try again in a few days, stop if it hurts."

The exercise is called an "eccentric wrist extension." When I tried it in the therapist's office, palm down was fine, palm up hurt immediately. That's not a surprise--it bends my wrist in a way that has been most likely to hurt for the last few months. I'm starting with one pound; since I don't have a one-pound weight, she suggested a bag of split peas. I may use a water bottle, if we have one of a suitable shape for gripping for this exercise (we have a scale, so I can check the weight, rather than having to guess at how much water is needed).

After OT, I wanted a cup of tea, so I walked to Kickstand Cafe, which has outdoor tables, and closes at 3. I arrived at 2:50, and decided to get a pastry to go with my tea, and sit outside. It had rained while I was doing OT, but it looked like a few of the chairs were mostly dry. An employee saw me, came over, and dried a chair for me. As soon as I had put put milk and sugar in my tea, the wind shook a tre and dumped water on me. When I asked if there were napkins, the man brought me some, and offered to put up an umbrella, and then dried another chair and table. That close to closing time, I had figured I was talking my chances with rain and damp tables, but I had been tempted by a pastry, and it was warm enough (84°F/(29 C) that I didn't mind getting wet.

When I bought my tea and snack, I asked if they serve the lunch part of the menu in the morning; the cashier assured me that everything is available all day. My next few OT appointments are at either 10:30 or 11, when it should be cooler than in the afternoon, and I might want soup or a salad before rather than after OT.

Getting to OT was annoying -- the 66 bus we were planning to take to Harvard was canceled, and the following bus wouldn't have gotten me to OT, or cattitude to the dentist, on time. We got Lyfts, and I got a driver who takes covid safety seriously: he arrived with the windows wide open, and when I asked him to put on a mask he did so. And then we talked about the precautions we are each taking, the difficulties of dealing with people who aren't being careful, and also that yes people sometimes forget to mask, but there's a difference between "oops" while putting on a mask when reminded, and refusing to put on a mask "because it's not required." If I'd known I would have to take a Lyft, I could have gotten it from home, rather than from a 66 bus stop. Alternatively, if I'd known there would be bus delays, I could have left earlier, and had lunch in Arlington.

Today's occupational therapy went pretty well, I think. Based on what I told her, and how I reacted to some of the ultrasound and massage, the therapist didn't start on strengthening the wrist. Instead, I have two more range-of-motion exercises.

Rescheduling this appointment from 2 p.m. Wednesday to noon today worked better than I'd hoped. At the time, I was just thinking that noon was likely to be a bit cooler and less uncomfortable than 2 p.m.

What we got was a day's break from the humidity and the heat advisory. Yes, a hot, sunny day, but one on which I was comfortable walking from the office on Mill Street to the Kickstand Cafe (not quite half a mile, and flat, but I wouldn't have done it yesterday). Kickstand Cafe has a nice large patio, with tables and chairs, and most of the tables were shaded by umbrellas.

I had a beet salad with goat cheese and arugula, and iced tea, followed by Toscanini's strawberry ice cream. I stopped on the way home at the farmers market, and bought raspberries and Diva cucumbers. By the time I got off the train in Brighton, it was uncomfortably hot, but that may have been me getting worn out rather than anything about the air temperature.

I am supposed to do ten each of two exercises, three to five times a day. Today I did them either three or four times. I am sure of three times; I may have done them once in the morning, before we headed out to walk a bit, buy ice cream at JP Licks, and return home before it got too hot for my comfort.

The trip was downhill from our place to green line C, which is shuttle buses instead of trolleys this week, and that bus to Coolidge Corner. adrian_turtle returned a library book, while cattitude and I waited inside Brookline Booksmith to save me some walking in the sunshine. I didn't really browse books, because even paperbacks are heavy; I did look at a display of chocolate bars, where the words "Rainier cherry" caught my eye, so we now have a "Rainier cherry dark chocolate truffle bar."

We had lunch at Rami's, which Adrian and Cattitude have been referring to as "the shwarma place"; I had a flaky mushroom pastry (boureka), and a falafel ball because I felt the need of protein. After eating, we went to JP Licks and I got a pint of cucumber ice cream and a pint of black raspberry.

I still like the cucumber ice cream, but not as much as I did a few years ago. I don't know if that's a change in the recipe, or in my tastes. I expect to enjoy this pint, but not to hurry back for another before the end of July. Cucumber is a monthly special flavor, though I remember one year they had it in July and August. Some of the specials are seasonal in terms of what ripens when; some have other associations with the time of year, like candy cane in December holiday associations (candy cane) or odd tie-ins. Another of this month's specials is "King Tut," flavored with turmeric and coriander, which does not tempt me.

The unpacking continues, and we are trying not to wear ourselves out in the process.