Month: June 2006

I’m here in the computer lab and I have about 15 minutes to spare before I have to walk over to the bus-stop to take the bus to the Northwood Hand Center for my 3x a week hand therapy. I actually brought along some work that I was planning to do but as always as soon as I’m in front of an internet-able computer I tend to surf and time just flies.

What happens during a therapy session? Sort of like a manicure, though I have not had one, I’ll first place my hand between 2 heating pads to warm up the hand to increase blood circulation. Later I’ll do some thumb exercises and then the therapist will put some lotion on my thumb and give my thumb a massage. And once in a while she’ll get some measurements such as circumference of the thumb, the maximum angle that I can bend my thumb without pain etc. Unfortunately, it takes over an hour to get to the center by bus. So for a 30 minute session, I have to allocate 5 1/2 hours of my time. My appointment is at 2.30pm, I have to take the 1pm bus and I’ll be back at the bus-stop at 5.30pm. And then I have to take campus van back home and finally step foot into the apartment at 6.25pm.

Long day of traveling ahead.

 

Wound Management gear

My thumb is much better. The stitches have been removed. The wound has closed up. The pin is in place to support the fractured thumb for at least 4 weeks. Thumb therapy begins. Thumb therapy involves thumb massage and thumb exercises. I don’t need most of the gear anymore, and they were not cheap. If only there’s a free teleportation device that I could send this stuff immediately to some other place or person. I know someone who could use some of these right now 🙂

MacBook vs Dinosaur Toshiba

At last I finally bought a computer of my own. The 1999 toshiba served me very slowly but considerably well, like an old and faithful servant. Now that I see the comparison, the display is really quite dim but I guess I got used to it. I wonder if it contains any more life left in it to survive another hand-over…
The packaging that comes with the MacBook is very canggih. Even the styrofoam packaging is a work of art. And the apple remote is definitely cool. Now I can finally borrow DVDs from the library and watch them.
Now that I owned a MacBook, I can start MacTalk with my bros. Did I mention that I got an iPod nano for free because of Apple’s college student promotion? 🙂

In some of my previous posts I mentioned signing up for intramural softball and how I was looking forward to experiencing organized sport in the US and sort of reliving the memories of rounders days in SGGS… well, my softball season is over.

I dislocated my right thumb, fractured the bone, and suffered a deep cut in that area when I stuck out my right hand to try and stop a softball. A stupid move, not stopping to remember that a softball is not soft.

I spent almost three hours in the ER. Received several injections, x-rays, bones pulled back together, sutures, and a splint.

That was 3 days ago, I’m much better now but still need many more follow-up sessions at the hand center before I’ll be able to fully use the thumb again.

As for experiencing organized sport in the US, I was looking forward to some fun easygoing softball, not realizing that Americans take their sports seriously. The team was playing to win, and a total beginner in the team is more of a burden than anything. In a way, I’m glad I’m out. It would have been very stressful to play that intensely.

So, I guess I’ll concentrate on running the 5-K and thumb physiotherapy during the summer.