Cast off!

hurray! the cast came off today. they used a machine that looks like a car vacuum with a hose, but at the end of the hose is a round saw; it's really loud & sounds just like a table saw. it totally freaked me out but it's short & just cuts the cast, not me, though it tickles & vibrates. not my favorite part.

my arm is smaller but not by much; mainly it just feels very fragile and weak to me; i cradled it like a little injured bird between the cast & the splint. the bones are healing well and the incisions are closed and look fine. i'll have two long scars but at least my arm works.

i'm starting physical therapy as of thurs 2x week to build strength & try to regain finger dexterity, and to check out my knee which feels out of place, in eugene thankfully. i now have a "removable" splint (though it looks like a pain to unwrap & rewrap) that i have to wear except for bathing and pt for 2-3 weeks, then try to ween myself from it. i see the orthopedist again in a month for more x-rays. all good news but tonight my wrist is killing me. he said it's just stiff & sensitive from the cast having stabilized it but wow it hurts.

and i get the braces off on tues and will then have a retainer for some amount of time, to make sue the teeth stay in place.

i also started seeing a naturopath, since i don't have a primary care physician, to help me look holistically at my health & see what things i can do to help myself heal.

i'm trying to get back into work but it's so far been slow and a little interrupted with appointments, illness last week, trying to figure out which projects i can work on & in what capacity...

richard & i find out march 3rd if either or both of us are accepted by teach for america, then we have to decide if we really want to do it. i told one of my bosses, the one whom i'm close to. she said, accurately i think, that whether or not i get into or accept teach for america, it seems like i'm on a trajectory now that will lead me out of my current job. although that scares me, because in many ways it is a good & secure job with great people, i know that it doesn't satisfy me in the ways i want my work to satisfy me. i'm just not sure what i want the new thing to look like exactly, though i have some ideas.

and otherwise we're starting to look at cars & trucks for sale to replace richard's truck, and to eventually say good-bye to the subi.

finally, thank you for your love & support. i realize now more than ever how many wonderful people are in my life. thank you.