I am still hampered by a locked rotator cuff. I have seen my
doctor, and have been enrolled in physio, booked for an ultrasound (In mid February,
the best our beleaguered health system could produce) and treated with both
sympathy and some laughter as I struggle with coats, purses, shoe bags and
other necessary paraphernalia, including a cane. I need at least three arms
when they are all working. This is, of course, January in eastern Ontario, when
a heavy coat, boots and (do you have gloves, mother?) other shields against the
cold are, as the French would put it, de rigeur. Or, I think that is how it is
spelled. The bot is not buying it.
So, I have been reading, starting a sort-out and paring down of my office ‘stuff’, and generally not doing very much of anything. Yesterday was a blue sky day, but cold. Today has been much milder (my gloves and hat are in the car, dear) and cloudy with a few dispirited sprinkles of snow. As of now, 4:30 p.m., the light is almost gone and there are gray clouds against a pale, pale blue sky. The long evenings of winter can be dispiriting for lovers of light and sun, but at least sunset is beautiful.
Our gravel road has been scraped and
sanded within an inch of its winding life so driving was not as bad as I had
expected. I can get my right hand up onto the steering wheel, so driving is
fairly easy. What is not easy is reaching the button, on the right-hand side of
the steering wheel, of course, that turns the car on and off. I was doing that, clumsily, with my left hand early last week, but can now lift the right arm by its elbow
and push it up to reach the button.
The world is designed for right-handed people, as all of us
who are lefties know, but the disparity really comes to one’s attention when
the right arm does not work at all. Our new refrigerator has a lovely push-button
arrangement to dispense cold water. It is positioned on the left-hand side of
the machine, just inside the door. Impossible to use to fill a water glass
except with the right hand. Well, it can be done with the left hand if the left
arm is not holding the door open at the same time. Shouldering the door instead sort of works and Mary the human pretzel has
mastered this operation.
Note, new refrigerator. It is lovely. It has a two door cold
storage top and a freezer drawer that pulls out, complete with ice machine. It
has lights. It has glass shelves. JG went to the store to buy a less expensive
model, saw this one, and we are luxuriating in its features. I will no longer
drop heavy cold frozen food on my feet when digging in the freezer. Also, we
have a new washer, since the drum on our previous machine subsided into the
body with loud groans. The new machine is supposed to be the simplest the store
sold, (I shopped for that appliance) but its directions for use, presently
spread out on my desk, include a notation on a steam cycle and other goodies.
Oh, yes, of course the pull-out that one fills with soap is located at the top
left corner, assuming that the user will reach with the right hand to lift the
(oversized) laundry soap container.
Well, new frig, new washer, but, alas, no way to source and attach
a new arm. Too bad, eh?
Hope you get some good news for your arm. My left shoulder isn't cooperating, so I've adapted until I can get back to the doc. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeletePhysio today so more movement. Hope yours will be moving smoothly soon ... we need you typing posts.
DeleteI've had my rotator cuff issue for quite some time. Therapy and cortisone have improved the problem but not eliminated it, but I can deal with it better now. I have now experienced some of the left-handed problems, and I now also have a cuff issue on the left side, but it isn't as bad as the right was although it is almost as bad as the right now is.
ReplyDeleteThoroughly exasperating when the body breaks down. If it were a car, you would trade it. A washer, replace it. I have been following your struggles to sleep and am now having sort of the same. Oh joy.
DeletePlease be so careful driving!
ReplyDeleteTruly, Nance, driving is not made difficult. The arm will not lift from the shoulder, but it moves laterally so steering is not a problem. Honest. I will not go in heavy traffic, just in case, but remember I am drivng on back roads and in a small town. Slow and lots of lights and stop signs.
DeleteI just found a comment from you in spam, so it's now published and I am returning your visit. I sympathise with your right arm problems but must admit that I laughed, too. "(do you have gloves, mother?)" The child is father (mother) to the man (woman) and it is sweet but ever so slightly irritating to be treated like a rather dim seven-year-old! Ah, but they mean well, and we are grateful . . . aren't we?
ReplyDeleteApologies for whatever I did that hit the spam file. I am not the swiftest brain around. Yeah, we are grateful. The alternative would be no tulips and butter tarts. Although I did Speak to the YD yesterday because she was. Not. Listening. To. Me. She acknowledged and apologized. Her teen self would have done neither. Maturity, glorious maturity.
DeleteYou are doing well to be able to drive as you do. I hope the roads don’t pose any serious dangers for you in the next few months. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI am mostly on back roads and local roads. And in a small town where the traffic moves slowly and is not even rush hour. Even the high school students look one way before stomping out onto the street. So, I feel confident. I will not drive in the city until I get movement reliably up and down in the arm.
DeleteOh dear! Being a lefty myself I understand your frustration. Most of us end up semi-ambidexterous out of sheer necessity. But now you are even more hampered.
ReplyDeleteI have avoided the fancier fridges, just too complicated for my simple brain. My son had one and the icemaker tube in back leaked. They had no idea, until it had ruined their floor by water getting under the tiles. Also ruined the ceiling downstairs. Heck of a mess, and they had just renovated that kitchen too. I know it was a rare occurrence, but I just know something like that would happen to us.
We had that leak problem with the dishwasher. But luckily it got enough worse that we found it before the subfloor was affected. JG put a new hose and stopper in for the ice maker before we plugged in the new frig.
DeleteGlad to meet a fellow leftie. It is lucky I am, as it is the right arm I stupidly bunged up. Hey, are you glad you are in your right mind?Awful joke, but it is almost bedtime.