Finding yourself without the use of one of your hands is an interesting thing. Everyone would find it challenging - buttering bread, doing up jeans (getting dressed at all!), putting your hair in a ponytail, washing one hand, hanging clothes on the line, writing - give some of these activities a go without one of your hands and you are suddenly very grateful for the regular use of two hands!
For me, a person who fills her days cooking, crafting, gardening, caring for animals, driving to do the shopping, teaching dance classes and doing housework, I'm finding the time without a hand not only very frustrating, but boring too - I sat and watched tv all day for two days! People who know me would understand how weird that is and how uncomfortable if felt for me.
Thankfully, my surgery was planned and elective, so we were prepared. The week before, I put in hours of work filling our freezers with meals, bread and snacks. I wrote a menu plan filled with meals that used those foods and/or could be prepared by Stu and the boys. I arranged people to care for us when we needed it and drivers to get me where I needed to be. I taught my family how to do some of the jobs I have to do each day for when I couldn't do them and I completed the making of gifts and urgent gardening tasks before my surgery. We were prepared, so we've been able to keep going living our chosen way even while I'm partially out of action.
There will need to be some sacrifices soon though. Our freezers could only fit so much bread, and with the incision being on my palm, kneading dough is out of the question, so the lovely sourdough I've been making won't feature again until I'm fully healed. But I've temporarily gone back to using my bread maker to do the hard work and am still able to make our bread.
The biggest thing for me has been asking for help - I'm usually so independent that to ask people to do lots of little things for me feels wrong, and I've avoided it too many times and ended up paying for it with a very sore hand afterwards..... a lesson in asking for help and remembering that I'm not invincible.
Do you have trouble asking for help too?
The biggest thing for me has been asking for help - I'm usually so independent that to ask people to do lots of little things for me feels wrong, and I've avoided it too many times and ended up paying for it with a very sore hand afterwards..... a lesson in asking for help and remembering that I'm not invincible.
Do you have trouble asking for help too?
I had my right hand operated on last October and couldn't use it for 6 weeks, you don't realise just how much you do with your hands until you can't use them. You are right, it is very hard to ask for other peoples help when you are so use to doing everything yourself not to mention the boredom of not being able to do anything.
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