Well, my new splint sticks out like a sore thumb…around it, actually!
This splint is for my medial colateral metacarpalphalangeal ligament, which is severely sprained. What does that mean in English? Well, that means that I can’t move my thumb without a lot of pain and tearing an injured ligament up, and I have to wear this splint for 6 weeks. At least I can take it off to bathe! I just have to bathe very carefully. So I’m back to tying my shoes with only one thumb available for use, pulling up my pants and tightening my belt with only one hand, tucking my shirt in with one hand, digging in my left pocket with my right hand, you know, the usual… I’m also back to square ZERO when it comes to climbing. So I’m going to work on cardio and weight loss until I get this splint off and can do some rehabilitation with my thumb and wrist. The good news is that I can type and I can write and I can still do some limited hydrotherapy for my wrist and the distal thumb joint on my left hand.
Now, I want to make it clear here that I’m not complaining, because I’m not. My scaphoid fracture is almost completely healed without surgery, which is a true miracle performed by God Himself. Even my Bishop, a hand surgeon, calls it a miracle. Furthermore, my atheist psychiatrist calls it a miracle! So I have a ligament that needs to heal, now. That takes time. I know that. When you have PTSD, the last thing you feel like you have is time. For me, every moment without climbing is a moment I have to spend suffering the full effects of chronic and severe PTSD. I can’t, of course, climb with this injury or this splint. I have to allow this to heal properly for it to heal as quickly as it is able. That’s a hard pill to swallow for me, and I have to admit that I was devastated on Friday when the orthopedic fellow said that I’d have to be in this splint for 6 weeks. Add it to my running tab… I want to climb so badly. I can, in the meantime, plan some climbing trips, though! I can also draw out some gym routes I’d like to see set on the walls of my local climbing gym, whether they want to use them or not. I can plan my rehabilitation, as the orthopedic PA isn’t going to refer me to physical therapy because he says they ratchet back and forth on things too hard and may damage that scaphoid. He must have full confidence in me that I can regain function on my own, especially as many times as I told him I need to be able to climb! Hopefully it’s smooth sailing with no complications after 01 Mar 2019!
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 