Thursday, January 5, 2017

One last sock

Let's give my addictive green socks their moment in the spotlight...


... since it will be a while before the alpaca ones are done. And they are SO close to done! I could have finished them in one dedicated evening two nights ago and nearly did, but opted to do some housekeeping instead. And the very next morning I fell on the sidewalk and came home (after eight hours in the emergency room having tons of tests) with this little beauty:

They call this a splint??

Life lesson: never put off till tomorrow the knitting you want to do today. (though I am grateful, now, for all the neatly folded laundry I put away instead.)

Here is what happened. I saw from my handy Transit app that I had time to get to my preferred bus stop if I hurried, so I broke into a jog, and after about a block I lost my balance and face planted. Okay, I did try to correct my downward spiral to retain some measure of dignity, but nine more wide strides only made me fall harder... and in hindsight, if I had aimed left straight off I would have rolled onto a grassy lawn. By the time I did go down my only other option was cement steps. Ah, vanity.

Let's look at green socks, instead... two shades of green for the envy I feel for last week's me.


When I got to Emergency and explained what had happened, the intake nurse was very concerned about why I fell. I knew I hadn't tripped, and there was no ice to slip on, and I had been listing a little to the right in the first block and only corrected my direction with difficulty.  So... all the focus went to tests for stroke (I had my first EKG!) while I carried around an increasingly swollen hand and one of several bags of ice that various people kindly got for me.

Can I digress, and comment on how wonderful human nature is? Smile at someone as you pass them on the sidewalk and they turn back to see if you're okay when you collide with the ground some time later (how loud was I, I wonder?) And if you fix it so a mom can sit next to her son, she'll stop by an hour later to see if you need fresh ice.  Even the cardiac guy next to me, after watching me struggle to reposition my ice bag effectively, offered me tips on how to get faster help for a fracture (go to a walk in clinic.) 

Turns out that even after hours of pain and nothing to eat or drink and, eventually, fear from looking at my own increasingly disfigured hand, all my vitals came out totally average. No sign of stroke. Never have I been so happy to be clumsy!

But... I broke the baby finger of my left hand AND the ring finger beside it.


In good news:

I was clever enough to take off my wedding ring a few minutes after I fell, when the swelling first started.

I am right handed.

I managed not to swear during the excruciating pain from each of the eight needles it took to freeze my fingers before they were reset. The doctor gave me permission but I was very aware of the seriously ill man nearby whose family had gathered and were preparing for the worst.  I mean, it was just pain.

The plastic surgeon had a cancellation, and can see me tomorrow morning, so I'll know soon whether I have to endure more needles and/or surgery.

It is possible to knit with one hand using straight needles, and given that these bones take 4-6 weeks to heal, it may come to that. I will just REALLY miss my sock needles!!


I think this is all I can type with one hand today so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go think about what an incapacitated crafty sort can write blog posts about during recovery.

Have a great weekend, and remember - no putting-off of knitting! Because you never know when the road will rise up to meet you, and not in that Irish Blessing sort of way...



6 comments:

Sharon said...

Mary, so sorry about your fall but happy there was no sign of a stroke. I love to read your blog and hear about all your adventures with your reno. I am also a sock knitter. Hope you are feeling better soon.

Darlene said...

Sorry for you but for a cast you must have broken something else. On a funnier note, I fell walking in the street to get the mail. Completely broke my knee in half. Screwed it back together and now I have an immobilizer...10% mobility. Funnier still was I broke the same knee 18 years ago.





Barb Fullerton said...

You can knit with one hand???? Wow! Impressive! Sorry about your fall but good to know everything is normal re: other tests. I love what you said about human nature. So true. And it was your human nature that brought out the goodness in them.

Mary Keenan said...

Thanks so much, guys :^)
Barb, I haven't knit with one hand myself but there are Youtube videos of people holding one straight needle under their arm or between their knees and holding the other in one hand! so inspiring.
Darlene - OMIGOSH!!! cannot even imagine. Are you able to manage with just 10%?
Sharon I am so glad you like the reno adventure posts because I will have limited topic options for a few weeks and that is one, ha

Laurinda said...

I so sorry about your fall {{HUGS}} That was great thinking, pulling your ring off early! It's amazing the work-arounds we figure out when we really want to do something, no matter what :-D
Also, if you can get that splint off, I really recommend exfoliating that hand & arm every week

Mary Keenan said...

MAN I wish I could get this thing off, Laurinda! I will have to do a big spa treatment when I do. Three weeks less 3.5 days and counting...