I Guess That Would Make Me The "One-Armed Bandit"

I had my first follow-up from last week's wrist surgery with my hand doctor today. They actually did let me stay awake during the surgery, but I remember almost nothing about it. Sort of like freshman calculus except for the staying awake part.

I do know that they let me watch some of the arthroscopy, but I don't have the foggiest idea what I saw. Fortunately they gave me a picture that they took of the ligament damage. It probably won't find its way into the family scrapbook, but it's neat to have.

One thing I do remember is that I was pretty chatty throughout the whole surgery. Probably a combination of the nerves and the anesthetic. When the surgeon came out to talk to Danelle afterwards about how things went he mentioned to her I asked the same questions over and over. I asked him today if I'd said anything embarrassing, and he just smiled and replied, "The operating room is like Vegas -- what happens there, stays there." I'm sure that policy comes in handy for malpractice suits, but I still appreciated his discretion.

So now I have a spiffy hard cast protecting my wrist. Even got to choose the color. I would have picked green, but the only shade they had was a garish fluorescent one. Then I thought how much Taryn would like it if I went with pink, but Danelle wryly commented that it might not be the best choice if I get an interview. So I ended up with just a nondescript blue which has been considerably improved by Zak and Taryn's artwork.

I've actually never had to have a cast before. All my previous injuries have been sprains or strains or other things that don't need to be cast to heal. I do remember when I was a kid that our family dog, Meghan, hurt one of her front legs and had to have one. She couldn't really move the leg well, so she just sort of dragged it around. Eventually she figured out that when our cat was asleep if she walked over her just right the cast would smack her right in the head.

So Danelle better keep being nice to me. You never know what unfortunate mishaps could occur during the night when I'm leaning over to adjust the alarm clock, or something.