My First Cast

At my follow-up appointment this past Thursday, they took off my splint. It was really weird seeing my hand all shriveled up like that. I felt like an old woman. It was also the first time that I had seen my pinkie since the surgery, and it was a bit of a shock. There were three stitches along one side of the finger, and the pin was sticking out of the other side (it's in my finger at an angle). It was just a little disconcerting seeing my pinkie look like that, so I just avoided looking at it.

I was a real wimp when the nurse came to take out my stitches. I didn't really know what to expect, since I'd never had stitches before. I thought it would hurt a lot, and that they might give me some kind of painkiller. So when the nurse just sat down next to me and announced that she was going to pull them out, I got really nervous. I hated the idea of her just snipping them and yanking them out, and I was certain that it would hurt more than she said it would (she compared it to the sting of a bug bite). But of course, the nurse was right, and it really didn't hurt too much.

After the stitches were taken out, I had a cast put on. Since it's my first (and hopefully last), I decided to get a fun blue one instead of boring white. I didn't know, however, that the white bandages underneath would show, or I would have gone with white on top.

But the cast has grown on me. Jeff and my girls (my students) have decorated it. And it is definitely better than the large and bulky splints that I've had on for the past few weeks. I have more mobility and am even able to write with my right hand again - it's awkward, but doable.

I will have the cast on until the end of October: only 3 weeks, which isn't bad. Then they'll take the pin out and I'll slowly begin using my pinkie again.