I'm in the midst off my auto accident story. Previously, on Blue's Accident Recap.

Part Two: Rehab
After weeks in a splint I went to physical therapy, or occupation therapy as they call it for upper-body injuries. At this point I had less than 90 degrees of motion in my arm. This was all in the middle of the normal range, so I couldn't straighten it entirely, nor could I bend it very far. I was told by my therapist that most people with my type of break never completely regain the ability to straighten their arm 100%. So doing so became my goal. I told her this was going to put us on the cover of the New England Journal of Medicine. In good news, I was told to do all the typing I could manage as therapy, so I was able to start updating with two hands again. This was still quite slow at first because a side-effect of my injuries was swelling in my left hand. Though it had no specific injuries, it remained stiff and sore, to the point where I could not even make a fist. I worked very hard, and slowly regained motion in my elbow. But my hand showed no improvement. Trying to play games illustrated the problem. My hand would end up extremely sore and partially numb after even short sessions. More depression. At this point I took up the meme gacha game Raid: Shadow Legends as a way of doing some one-handed gaming. Want a challenge? Get to the endgame on a P2W game without spending any money! In case the comments about rehab don't indicate it, I'm a bit of a grinder.

That therapy grind was twice a week for over six months, and the elbow steadily improved. My doctor eventually prescribed a round of oral steroids for my hand swelling. This worked incredibly well, and I was finally able to pry my wedding ring off my swollen finger. The bad news is some stiffness and swelling returned after I was done taking them. It was still an overall improvement, but it was like two steps forward, one step back. Over the course of my rehab I ended up taking two more courses of those steroids, with the same improvement followed by some backsliding, and I finally got to the point where I could make a fist again. I eventually stopped going to rehab when my determination started to backfire. I began showing first signs of tennis elbow from overwork. The treatment for that is the opposite of the treatment I was getting, so it was time to back off and let nature do the rest. And it did. Time may not heal all wounds, but the remainder of my recovery just required waiting. In the end I achieved my goal, and I can extend my left arm completely straight again. Strangely, the Journal of Medicine people have not contacted me about the cover yet.

Tomorrow: Part Three: Insurance

Therapeutic Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

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