After severing a radial nerve in her arm, a blogger describes her road to recovery.
Moving My Hand - Video
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Here's a video to show you where I am with my hand movement, as of January 11. I no longer have to wear the blue brace, but I hadn't stopped yet when I took this.
Hello everyone! Meet Turbo Arm! About a month ago my physical therapist made me this crazy custom brace, which I have taken to calling my turbo arm or bionic arm. The brace basically functions to pull the joint at the base of my finger up so I can extend my fingers and have more functionality. At first, I was hesitant to get the brace because it is rather giant and cost $300, but my physical therapist was insistent. I'm glad he was because I actually think the brace is awesome. I wear it between 2 and 4 hours a day (mostly at home or when I'm hidden away in my office) and it does help my hand function more like normal. Also, my physical therapist was telling me last Thursday that using the brace allows me to use my hand and fingers like I used to, which also prevents my brain from entirely remapping the use of my hand. Sounds kind of weird, but the nerve regrows so slowly that the brain can kind of forget how to use the hand like it did before. The brace will ho...
Hi All, It's been quite a while since I've posting, but I wanted to log on and share that my typing has continued to get better and better and I am now up to 94 word per minutes (unfortunately not perfectly accurate, but oh well). When I shared my score last year, I was in the 60's but my form was still a bit awkward. Well, not so much any more! My form is becoming more and more like it used to be and I am getting close to being just as comfortable typing as I used to be. Joy! I'll post another update soon about how everything else is going, but for now, I'll just say that things are going well!
I went to the doctor for my first post-op appointment yesterday and learned that I actually severed my radial nerve. I thought I had severed the median nerve because the symptoms in the hand are similar. The prognosis is mostly the same and the chance for full or good recovery are slim. That said, I did learn a few good things: - I didn't cut the sensory nerve, which is why I still have feeling in my hand and fingers. This is good on it's own, but it also means I won't face the pain problems related to cutting a sensory nerve. I will probably still have some weird pain, but it hopefully won't be unbearable. - My wound looks good and I am not showing any signs of infection. Excellent news indeed since my injury is so deep. Also, I read somewhere that the more extensive the physical damage to the rest of the tissue, the more difficult it is for the nerve to recover. I am not a doctor and I don't know if this is true, but this makes sense so I am happy that I am...
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