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February 16, 2016
Hi Everybody,
I\'m still living in my wheelchair & dealing with my fractured (but improving!) right foot. There are still a plate and a bunch of screws in my foot. I was supposed to have them removed on February 10th, but …
While I was in the hospital, I developed a blood clot. I was put on blood thinners temporarily, to take care of it. My primary care doctor insisted I had to finish the full round of b.t. medication that she\'d prescribed. The surgery could not happen while I was on them. So the removal of plate & screws got moved to mid March. I know it was for my own health & safety, but even so, my feelings about being wheelchair bound for yet another month were not exactly charitable. 
My right foot didn’t mind at all. It had very little work to do, since I have to keep my weight off of it. It barely hurts anymore. But my arms were another story.
I spend a lot of waking hours in my wheelchair. But each time I get out of bed, go to the bathroom, move to a (rented) lift chair in my living room, or go to church or the doctor\'s, I have to use a walker. I have to haul myself onto it with arm strength only. Then I hop on my left foot and swivel around until I get to where I need to go.
My arms were getting more & more sore. It got so bad that they were constantly in pain. Everything that I tried to do hurt. I couldn\'t even type on a computer keyboard... all I could do was watch TV. I could only do that if I worked the remote control with my left hand. So my husband took me to the doctor. I was diagnosed with tendonitus, in both arms, but especially my right arm.
So for 3 weeks I had home physical therapy. It consisted mostly of moist heat, ultra sound treatments, a couple of gentle isometric arm exercises, and stopping just about all of the activities (like Desktop Nexus!) that have kept my spirits up since this accident. Not fun! But finally, my sore arms started to feel a little better.
Then last Friday, the 12th, I got some of the best news I\'ve had since I\'ve been wheelchair bound. The surgeon who mended my foot gave me permission to use the heel (only) of my right foot. This meant I didn\'t have to haul myself up totally with my arms anymore!
On Sunday, I realized that the worst pain had started to let up. Each day I’m feeling a little more better. I still have to limit my arm activity. For example, I’m having to type this journal entry a paragraph or two at a time & take breaks. But it’s a great improvement from when I could barely type a sentence at a time.
One of the main things I want to do as my arms improve is to spend more time on DN. I hope you’ll soon be “seeing me around” more often. Sometimes though, I still get surprised by some pain and I have to back off whatever I’m doing immediately.
If you contact me and I’m not able to get back to you right away, it’s probably because of my arms. Don’t worry, I’ll get back with you eventually! Now that I’m homebound 95 percent of the time, I appreciate you all more than ever. Take care, and God bless you all!
Thankfully,
Elaine 
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