Is Right Really Right?

This isn't some political posting, to inspire people to get off your tush and vote. It's a post to inspire all of us "right-handed" people to have more compassion for our friends who use the wrong hand to function in today's world. (But if you want to vote on Tuesday, that's OK too.)

On Thursday, Oct. 30 I had tendon repair surgery on my right elbow, and in a short 2 hours I became a Lefty. Now please understand that I have it better than most switching people. I have now become ONE OF MY OWN! In other words I finally belong! Dave, Abbi, and Kevin are all Lefties, and with my 2 older Righties away at college, I had become the only right-minded-person around this place. So now we are all reveling in the notion that we can all do things the same because of our likeness. Little do the others realize what a true handicap I'm living with. About the only benefit I can think of at the moment is that it doesn't matter where we sit around a table. No more do I have to fight for a seat on an end, so that I don't have to do elbow battles while eating dinner.

Here's some thought-provoking questions for all you one-handed single-minded people.

~ How do you open sweetner packets with one hand?

~ How do you brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand?

~ How do you roll over in bed (or out of bed) with only one arm?

~ How long would it take you to do a post with one hand?

My surgery re-cap is this ... the tendon repair was sucessful with a titanium screw holding it all in place on my elbow bone, the cyst removal from my wrist was a sucess, and I'm alive in spite of my breathing stopping two different times during surgery. According to the anesthesiologist, he had a difficult time getting me to sleep. He had tried three different tubes, and my vocal cords clamped down on each one refusing them. I'm assuming those are the times when I stopped breathing. I'm also quite sure this is why I have a monstrous sore throat and neck/back pain. I hate to even think of what happens to a person when these types of situations arise.

My right arm is in a 1/2 cast for 10 days until I see the Doctor and he takes the stitches out. He said at that point he would decide how soon I start therapy. The 1/2 cast really limits my movement, but I truly am glad for that. I literally can't touch anything with my right fingers without pain shooting into my elbow. No kleenex (wiping noses and other body parts), no using pens or pencils, no speedy typing on my laptop (this entire post was done with my left index finger hitting letters and my left thumb hitting the space bar), no opening pill bottles (they're all sitting open on the counter), and I confess I've even had to use my left hand to wipe away some tears. Yesterday was that day. It was a pretty rough day!

But today is a new day, and things are feeling much better, both physically and emotionally. I am excited for my hubby to bring mashed potatoes home from a Thanksgiving Dinner at church. I am happy for Alli who gets to go to the Colts game with her boyfriend for her birthday. Soon I hope I will get to see my smiling Mitch for a few minutes (don't get to see near enough of him). And I also hope Dave will take me for a drive up to the lake today - just to get out of the house and a quick Diet Coke stop!

I have many things to be thankful for ...

A Sunday School Class who will be feeding us for several weeks.

A wonderful younger friend who will come each morning to help get the kids to school, then stay to do laundry or whatever, for as long as I need her.

My wonderful sister "nurse Julie",who stops in often to check on me, puts ice packs on my neck, props up my arm, calls the pharmacist to see what drugs I can take, ect...

My amazing husband who just loves me regardless! He's learning how I like to have the kitchen tidied up in just the right way. (Are any of you other women that picky about your kitchen counter?)

More of my loving family (Mom and others) who will be home from Australia & New Zealand on Tuesday, finally! I'm praying for safe travels for all of you! Can't wait to see you!

All of my Blogging friends who have asked and who care ... keep praying for a speedy healing!

So here's my place on the sofa, watching the world go by ... at least my windows are clean!

ARE YOU SURE RIGHT IS RIGHT?

I'm leaving you with more random pics of recent happenings ....

I had the privelege of being Jadyn's Grandma for Grandparents Day at her school. What fun, and I'm pretty sure I love her almost like a Grandma!
The next two pictures are of my wonderful neice and her awesome little family! Thanks for trick or treating at our place. I hope you let Cooper have some of that candy I put in his bucket.


My friend's son borrowed Uno and the Hot Dog costume, and the Burger hat to go trick or treating! It didn't last long ... Uno was not impressed!
October 31, Alli's 21st birthday! Here's the adult enjoying her birthday dinner with her boyfriend, Kyle. We went to my Amish friends' home, and she cooked Mitch's 4-H chickens, mashed potatoes, noodles, corn, on and on .... There were a total of 20 college kids, and Dave & I and Abbi. It was wonderful. because I didn't have to do a thing, and Alli loved it!

Alli opening her presents from Abbi. A necklace from TTV and a vb jacket.

The Nesting Instinct

In 3 short weeks I will be having surgery on my right elbow and right wrist. Dave has referred to my frenzied activities as "The Nesting Instinct". I just refer to it as a very important To Do List!

I have a major tear on a tendon, that the Dr. said he will just pull it all together and screw it to my bone. Sounds easy enough! And I have a cyst on my wrist that they'll remove. Do you really think I will be pain free after all that??? I certainly hope so, because I have had pain and limited use in my right arm since I had surgery on my left shoulder in January of 2007! They tell me it was overuse of my right arm while I was recuperating from that shoulder surgery. So to avoid overuse of my left arm, while I'm recovering from my impending surgery (6-8 weeks of immobilization) I have a gigantic "to do list" that I intend to finish before surgery. Then I can just sit around and be waited on hand and foot, right?

So my list really isn't that long, just some important things that tend to hang around like a "pop-up" on the computer! Unless I deal with the item it just sticks in my head!

1. Clean flower beds and garden COMPLETE

2. DeClutter and organize a canning/storage room in the basement COMPLETE

3. Sort my clothes, store summer stuff and get rid of anything I haven't worn for 1 year COMPLETE as of last night at 10:30
disclaimer - I kept some of my summer stuff out, because Dave & I are heading south for 6 days in a couple of weeks :)

4. Trim shrubs

5. Hang Christmas lights on outside trees - I always do this early while it's still warmish and I don't have to freeze my fingers off, then all I do after Thanksgiving is plug them in.

6. Tear apart and reorganize my own personal scrapbooking/collecting/ misc. room that's way in the back corner of the house. Oh so easy to ignore ... until I'm staring surgery in the face!

7. Make an Australia Vacation Photo Album - we've only been home 10 months, what's the hurry?

8. Finish up the volleyball season - last game is October 16th.

9. Finish Christmas Shopping - I've got 1/2 of my shopping done.

I can't come up with a 10th, but if you think of anything I should be adding please let me know!