A Year's Gone By

Here it is, a year after the beginning of this COVID pandemic, and it's taking a toll on so many things.  People who work from home might go for days without seeing another person, I know that's true in my mother's case.  Grandsons who live nearby don't just drop in because they're not sure who they've been in contact with and she's 83!  She's had her first vaccine, and gets the second one next week.   I'm happy for her, and am still waiting for my own.  

After falling, my arm is improving - very slowly - and I try to do what I can as often as I can.  The pain that radiates from the sprain can keep me awake at night, and sometimes I forget and use my arm in the wrong way and get sharp shooting pains. I'm doing what I can to exercise it back into shape. Yes, I'm being careful, never pushing to the point of pain, just to the edge and that makes me feel like I'm making progress.  Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.  We'll see. 

But I've come to the realization that even though I'm at work on a daily basis, I'm feeling the effects of this pandemic myself.  Some days, I don't feel like doing much more than sitting on the couch and binge-watching just about anything on Netflix or HULU.  My mind knows that this isn't a good thing, and sometimes I can shake it off and get a few things done, but ... not as often as I should.  Or could.  Like housework.  bleh Why do any when no one comes over to see the house?  Yes, *I* feel better about things when it's clean, but finding that motivation is really difficult these days! 

Finding motivation in the midst of anything these days hasn't become easy.   When you want to get together with friends, it's hard to know if something is going to be open, if things are going to be "normal" or if there's a risk.  I try to get together with Helen once a month for a meal and to catch up.  But it hasn't been easy!  We all get busy and time slips away from us. 

I just got done working a 12 day in a row stint at work.  Granted, I only worked 6 hour days, but still, it wasn't easy!  I was doing the work that the company provides 80 hours a week for, and I was trying to do it all in 40.  I'm very decisive when it comes to making the decisions I need to make at work, and I'm good at it, so that helps.  I can get a lot done when I work alone.  But it takes a toll.  Some days, I came home, jumped in a shower and hopped into bed by 5:30pm!   But with this long stretch behind me, and 3 days off in a row to rest up, I'm ready to get back to work.  I think.!

All Fall Down

Here it is Wednesday, ten days after I took a fall at work.  I was walking to check on one of the delivery trucks, and forgot about a step down, and the next thing I know, I'm falling on to my right side.  I remember thinking WTF? when I realized I was on the ground.  My next thought was "wow, I bounced".  I figured my right hip would be all bruised up, but it appears that my right arm took the fall.  I favored it for a couple hours then went to have it x-rayed.  After waiting nearly three hours, my arm isn't broken, just badly sprained. 

The doc wrapped it, and after two days, I couldn't use the arm. Everything needed to be done with my left hand, and I'm not very handy as a lefty!!  In the meantime, I took a quickie trip to mom's but I wasn't very helpful.  We ran a few errands, but my right hand couldn't squeeze the button to shift out of park in her car. But we learned to "double team" the task and got the errands completed!  I never check a bag on the flight, but this time I did because I couldn't lift it into the overhead bins with just one hand. 

Movement on my right arm has improved quite a bit, but the fine motor skills that are needed to tie shoes, brush my teeth, or put my hair in a ponytail aren't there yet.  I'm totally ready to be over this, but it will take time.  Ugh.  The Naproxen the doc prescribed works great at night, but I can't take it during the day.  

In the mean time, lots of rest and elevating it when I'm not trying to do something.  Or anything.