Sunday, August 9, 2015

W.W.L.D

What Would Lindsay Do?


This week, I went to bed with a slight pain in my wrist. I had only done what I do everyday... written orders and typed on the computer at work and then doodled when I woke up and doodled when I got home. That's what I do... everyday. And then, in the middle of the night... the pain grew and grew and grew. So, at 4am when I could no longer stand it, I called the nurse line and made an appointment with a doctor for 11am. At 5am, i woke the hubs and told him that I need to get to ER. I think I have broken my wrist. Mind you, he had just had a small surgery the day before and was not in tiptop shape himself. But I couldn't hold a pen, let alone, a steering wheel!!!

He obliged, as sweetly as he always does... I think he saw the pain in my face and knew that I wasn't kidding. A half hour and one taco bell crunchwrap later ( for the driver ) we were at the ER - with NO WAIT LINE!!! Doctor came right in and I was ready for the X-Ray. Which never came!!! Instead after asking me a few doctorly questions, he pushed down on the flat back side of my wrist. You know, the fleshy part. I screamed and stood up and then dropped to the ground in pain. He smiled. Kept it up for a moment in a few different ways and then looked at me and said
CARPAL TUNNEL!!!!

I felt like he had just given me a death sentance....
IN MY RIGHT HAND!
what are you kidding? 
do you know who i am?
do you know what i do?
do you know how far i have come this year to get to this place?

I felt like my life was over.
My hubs just looked at me and shook his head.
He knew. He really got it.
I have not been seen without a pen in my hand for weeks, months. An recently, I am constructing two or three pieces a day. I have personal deadlines and work deadlines and I LOVE a good deadline. Being a listmaker... if you give me a task and tell me it needs to be done in 3 minutes, by God... it will be.

So, now what?
He said, no use for 2 weeks -
wear that God Awful splint and maybe it the pain goes away,
i can control it with a splint every now and then
or
SURGERY!!!!!!!!

what, are you kidding me?
what would you do if someone said you couldn't do what you love to do anymore? I have no clue what to do for 2 weeks. Might as well throw me in jail. 

but instead...
a calm has come over me.
I have sat. I have read, I have done some one handed cleaning and some supervising of cleaning, I left the house during the day with my hubs to attend a car show ( i never go out in the day these days... too many deadlines! ), I watched a movie with NOTHING in my hand and today.... I think a hammock and a good book is in store for me.






if I have learned something from this... it is above here.
Let yourself rest.
I am still going a bit nuts, but i get it.
and in case you need to know...
YES
i did hen pick this post with ONE HAND!

happy sunday...
be a good member of the human race.



16 comments:

Createology said...

Lindsay Dear I can hear the conflict in your typed words...Work / Rest
This too shall pass. No one will forget you and your incredible art Miss Creator of Cuteness so let the resting heal your pain and deadlines will be met once again. You are amazing my friend! Serene Sunday...

Marylinn Kelly said...

Rest is about learning to be more gentle with ourselves. Not an easy lesson or we'd have been doing it all along. It can be hard in the moment to see the gift of what appears to be a setback, but I know it is there, it always is. Heal well. The world will be waiting. xo

Scatterjoy! said...

oh jeez! I'm so sorry Lindsay! This is a sign to take care of yourself...and remember, you are still cute and creative my friend! Use this time wisely, HALLMARK Movies, or you could try The Golden Girls! hee! hee!

LChippy76 said...

Keep taking care of Yourself!
Giving yourself time to heal...which I know is hard!
Looks like You have a Great start at doing just that!
You have LOTS of Family/Friends for Support!
((( HUGS ))) 💖💝💜 Linda Lechnir Chidster

LChippy76 said...

Keep taking care of Yourself!
Giving yourself time to heal...which I know is hard!
Looks like You have a Great start at doing just that!
You have LOTS of Family/Friends for Support!
((( HUGS ))) 💖💝💜 Linda Lechnir Chidster

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I hopped here from Sherry Ellison's blog post mentioning you. I suffered Carpel Tunnel back in '99. Mine came on much like yours, without warning. I was lucky because it was my left hand. I wore that brace too. I suggest that even when you can take it off during the day, you continue to wear it at night for a while. You may want to learn to use the mouse on your desktop with your left hand. You would be surprised how much rest that will give your right hand and it's really easy to conquer. I didn't notice where you live, but if you are in the U.S., be sure to mention this to your employer and have them make a Worker's Compensation report. They will send you to a specialist that will give you more and better instructions than what you got at the ER. It was the best thing I did and helped me to a speedy recovery. When you catch CT early, you usually don't need surgery anymore. Good Luck.

Claudia said...

Doesn't it suck to learn how frail we can be? I'm dealing with some stuff that has knocked me down of late, too. Yes, the moral of the story is to learn to be kinder to ourselves and that sometimes we just have to miss deadlines. And, btw, nice typing with the left hand, slowed you down, nary a typo in sight :-). Rest that hand Lindsay, dear. This is only a temporary setback, it WILL get better.

Jennia Hart said...

Love your description of the doctor performing that defining task. With my doctor it was trying to touch my thumb up to my wrist which ended with a cry of pain. Tickets so darn happy when they diagnosed something, I think they forget about how it affects the patient. Rest relax breath... breathe, meditate and let yourself be taken care of, A LOT. You will survive. You are strong. Your recent sketches are so beautiful. You are so talented Lindsay. I wish you the best on this journey.

Surviving back surgery #1 in April 2015,
Jennia

Jennia Hart said...

Love your description of the doctor performing that defining task. With my doctor it was trying to touch my thumb up to my wrist which ended with a cry of pain. Tickets so darn happy when they diagnosed something, I think they forget about how it affects the patient. Rest relax breath... breathe, meditate and let yourself be taken care of, A LOT. You will survive. You are strong. Your recent sketches are so beautiful. You are so talented Lindsay. I wish you the best on this journey.

Surviving back surgery #1 in April 2015,
Jennia

Jennia Hart said...

Love your description of the doctor performing that defining task. With my doctor it was trying to touch my thumb up to my wrist which ended with a cry of pain. Tickets so darn happy when they diagnosed something, I think they forget about how it affects the patient. Rest relax breath... breathe, meditate and let yourself be taken care of, A LOT. You will survive. You are strong. Your recent sketches are so beautiful. You are so talented Lindsay. I wish you the best on this journey.

Surviving back surgery #1 in April 2015,
Jennia

Jennia Hart said...

Love your description of the doctor performing that defining task. With my doctor it was trying to touch my thumb up to my wrist which ended with a cry of pain. Tickets so darn happy when they diagnosed something, I think they forget about how it affects the patient. Rest relax breath... breathe, meditate and let yourself be taken care of, A LOT. You will survive. You are strong. Your recent sketches are so beautiful. You are so talented Lindsay. I wish you the best on this journey.

Surviving back surgery #1 in April 2015,
Jennia

Joy said...

Oh, Lindsay, I know how you feel. I took some tests last December and they said my right hand is severe CT and my left is mild. They recommended surgery. I even picked up the lethal pain pills they prescribed for after surgery. But then I got Chicken Pox (that's another story) so I postponed surgery. I still need to reschedule which I probably will soon. My wrists and hands were doing fine until I went bowling a couple of weeks ago. Bad idea, now my right thumb is really sore. I never had severe pain that woke me up at night or anything like that so I didn't think it was that bad. Now, I'm trying to practice to do things with my left hand so it won't be so hard after surgery. You and me, we'll get through this, we're creative!Hugs!

jordanbev5@yahoo.com said...

God bless you in this situation! Thank you for your package you sent to me after finding out. I am one of the winners on FB you chose and I've colored one of your amazing drawings and put it on my blog. Here: http://beverlyjordan.blogspot.com/2015/09/adult-coloring-is-fun-with-lindsay.html

Steph, PaperCrafter's Corner said...

Oh no, you poor thing! I hope your hand/wrist/forearm are soon feeling better after a bit of rest. I'll keep you in my thoughts. Love your coloring book work, thanks to the share from Beverly J. above!

Steph

Joy said...

How are you doing, Lindsay?

Anonymous said...

hi Lindsay!
just landing here from PaperCrafter's Corner after reading Steph's comment on your arm and hand splint.
i do hope things are getting better and that you are indeed resting - it's absolutely mandatory.
i've lived with CT and 'associated friends' for +20 years - my first doctor was an orthopedist (fortunately, he didn't perform like yours!), my latest, years ago, was a neurologist.
to date, i've managed things without any surgery and i do not intend to change my mind - feel free to contact me for any input on this very painful matter.
and yes, i love your work too!

the best,
beatriz_souza

traducoestranslations@gmail.com - lettrera@gmail.com