Wednesday, June 24, 2009 -
It is a bright sunny morning and the air is still. After taking care of my morning routine, I stepped into the sun room, set my coffee down and prepare to put out the treats for my chipmunk friends. I glance at the outside temperature, having already concluded that I don’t need a fire, and am surprised that with the weather station now in the sun, it is reading 74 degrees. I am delighted and hope to get some outside work done today.
I slept well enough; only waking when I would accidentally hit my wrapped wound, which only happened a couple of times during the night. The gauze wrap has loosened and is now in the crook of my arm, leaving the wound unprotected. I need to remember to tape one end to my arm so that won’t happen. I analyze the open wound and from experience, I know that it is too late to re-stitch it, so the course of action is to keep it clean and covered until it scabs over.
The doctor and I discussed, in some detail, what I could do to deal with a wound like this if I can’t get care. Because it is a fairly large opening, super glue shouldn’t be used as it might trap harmful bacteria inside and cause it to get infected. Using a butterfly Band-Aid and keeping it clean and covered was her preference. I said, “What? I can’t just use some thread and sew it up.” She looked at me as if I was . . . well, you know. I told her of other bad cuts I’ve had and just butterfly and nursed back to health, and she agreed that it would be the best thing to do. The only reason stitches are preferred is to keep the wound closed and not cause a large scar. At this point in my life, I don’t think one more scar on my arm is any big deal, so I’ll just nurse it along.
It doesn’t hurt at all, but I flinch every time I forget about it and quickly reach for something. I can feel the skin being pulled and separating a little more. The Band-Aid I used for the butterfly has a material base and stretches more than I like, but it is the best I have. It dawned on me that the doctor erred in her approach to making the incision the way she did. She cut across the grain of my arm, instead of with the grain. Think about it, if she had made the almond shape cut so that the ends were up and down my arm, instead of side to side, less stress would have been applied to the area, thereby allowing it to heal without stress. I am almost positive that it wouldn’t have pulled open if the incision had been a180 degrees from the way it is. It just makes sense to me, but then who am I, it is just my body she was cutting on.
I started to do some work outside, but was reminded of the injury every time I needed to reach or pick something up, so I stopped and spent most of the afternoon doing research on the computer and writing. I haven’t even cleaned the cabin or put things from the motor home away yet, but there is always tomorrow and I am pretty sure it will all be there when I get around to it. I managed to play with Zack, using the same throwing techniques I used when I had my elbow problems. I use a twist of my body and wrist action to send the disc flying almost as far as doing it the regular way. It doesn’t make me extend my arm and stretch the injured area.
Well, it is 5 O’clock and Hughes hasn’t slowed me down yet, so maybe the email that I was able to finally send yesterday got through to them and they’ve done something about it. I am going to play with Zack again and then feed him, hoping he will be content with three play periods today and let me rest in peace. I will then shower, fix my dinner, and relax in my easy chair for the remainder of my awake hours.

The pictures are of 1) the wildflowers on the Divide that caused me to pull my wound open, 2) My American Gulch as I was driving home yesterday 3 ) Evening Grosbeaks at feeder.