I got a cast off Monday.
I got a cast on Monday.
Back in November, in two separate incidences, I had what I thought were sprains to each of my hands — to the right wrist and the left palm. But neither got completely better, so before Christmas I went to my Primary Care Physician, who agreed they were probably sprains, but said I should get x-rays just to be sure.
That was on a Friday, and the following Monday they called and said the left metacarpal was fractured and I should see a bone specialist. So I went in, he gave a cast for the left hand, and sent me for an MRI for the right, because he couldn’t quite tell on the x-ray if it was fractured as well.
So it took a week to get the MRI, and two weeks to get back to the doctor. Who confirmed today that the right is also fractured — in the scaphoid bone – a small but vital bone in the wrist about the size of a cashew.
The thing with this bone is it can be very hard to heal. I injured this one first, and it still hasn’t started healing (At least not as of the time of the MRI).
The other bone broke two weeks later and is already healed. I just need the physical therapy to restrengthen the muscles and restore any lost flexibility.
And yet, through it all, I have had enough finger freedom and dexterity to continue typing, piano and organ playing. The doctor said there isn’t anything much better than piano for therapy. So I guess I keep right on playing, even if the cast makes certain intervals less than optimal. That is what improvisation and substitution are for, after all.
At The Rainbow 
I had a episode with Stills disease in the 80’s which left very little motion in my right wrist, maybe 5 degrees of motion. In 2009, my surgeon did a scaphoid bone removal and also had to remove the pisiform bone, leaving only two bones on the lower row. These two were stapled to the center bones above for stability. I now have almost 40 degrees range of motion front to back, and nearly equal strength as I had before. The only reason I am mentioning this, is what is often thought to be essential can be done without. If at some point in life you find that osteoarthritis impairs this hand from your breaks, there are solutions if your future puts you in that situation.
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