Well, what a great week!
I reached the 6 week timeline for my splint – not a moment too soon as it was driving me nuts – and ripped the bandages and splint off with a cautious eagerness. I was a bit shocked when I saw my hand and wrist, as it looked all withered and full of 6 weeks’ worth of dead skin. And stiff! I could hardly move it, plus, when I tried to lift it off the table, I felt my hand bend down quickly and realised the muscles had lost a great deal of their ability to function. And I had absolutely no chance of bending my hand backwards. I guess being cooped up for all that time in one position took its toll.
Fortunately, the day after I’d had the splint put on in Kefalonia, Greece, I met another sailing woman who had also recently broken her wrist and had had her cast removed a week earlier. She told me that the hardest part of the recovery process for her was the feeling of stiffness and inability to move her hand. I’m glad I met her because I’ve never broken a bone before and didn’t know what to expect.
I think I was a bit impatient and had an expectation that if I exercised my hand and wrist over the day, that it would all spring back into amazing shape! All I managed to do was tire it and it looked a bit swollen the next day. One of our sailing buddies Linda was a nurse in a former life and she has strongly advised me to give my wrist much more rest, support it with a wrist brace and do only gentle exercises, then elevate it in a sling during the day.
I know that I need to be as patient with myself as I can be with others, and that overdoing things too soon will only slow down the full healing process. Baz is being very supportive and is also reinforcing that I must wear the wrist brace for a few weeks, especially when I’m sailing, and “not to overdo it!”
So step by step. That’s my lesson from this episode.
All is not lost
I told you last week about wondering where my phone was after it had the screen replaced and we were waiting to receive it via the mail from the guy in Fethiye, but it hadn’t arrived. We received an email reply to our query. The fellow has been on holiday and when he got back to his shop my phone had been returned to sender. He now has another address and there’s a fellow looking out for it at the receiving end. So next week, I should be writing to let you know the good news!
We ventured out in a little flotilla of three sailing boats yesterday and after four and a half hours of motor sailing (of course the wind was light and on the nose!) we are moored side to at a restaurant jetty in beautiful little spot behind Kekova island at Kaleköy. This old fishing village sits on a hill dominated by a Crusader fortress. From the top of the hill, you can see dotted through the aquamarine water are stone Lycian tombs which date back over 2000 years BC. Kaleköy is also the home to ancient Simena. This has been another Turkish delight, where the owner of the tiny ‘supermarket, when he saw my arm in a sling, offered to carry my share of the bags (Baz carried two) back to the boat!
It is a constant surprise to me that each place we visit is uniquely beautiful and fills the soul with sights of ancient buildings and the constancy of nature providing green covered hills, white and rust coloured rocks creating coves and bays where people have settled for centuries. Even in November, the water here is warm enough to swim in. In fact, now I have a removable wrist brace that may well be my next exercise after I finish this blog.
Until next time!
* Splash! *