Stitches came out last Friday, and the cast has thankfully been replaced with a removable splint. Yay, washing. When I was there, I got the skinny -- the ligament had torn from the head of the metacarpal bone, he reattached it and anchored it down and then put in the pin to immobilize the joint. He said that I was fortunate that they got it aligned on the first try. Let's just say I was shocked that it could take more than one try, especially given that I recognized that the reason for the non-trivial amount of pain I've been experiencing was due to the drilling to get the pin in. Had it taken three or four tries... oy, I don't even want to think about that.
So, the pin comes out in three weeks (I've already scheduled the appointment) and then I should be in the splint for another two weeks before I start rehab. (The doctor said that the joint needed to be immobilized for six weeks.)
Anyway, washing. I've since gone on two short runs and snuck in a handful of points at the tournament this past weekend. Shh, don't tell. I feel a little guilty "not behaving," but I think I was pretty careful, and didn't do anything too crazy. The doctor did say to treat it like a cast, and I'm quite certain I would have played with a cast... (if it weren't for the gunk buildup) Yes, yes -- all rationalizations, I know. But it was good to move around, and even play a bit, although it really wasn't enough to get me out of my funk. I maybe broke through for a short bit on Sunday, where I actually felt like I was contributing, but it's otherwise been mostly funkity-funk city.
But at least I'm feeling a bit more functional. Sadly, the left hand is pretty close to useless in its current state. I can't really hold things very well with it, turn doorknobs, hold a phone. I have difficulty tying shoelaces, and my one attempt so far at doing the dishes is making me lean strongly in the direction of eating out for the next 4 weeks.
In other news, trying to work from home a bit more. Seems to be working out alright. With gas prices edging awfully close to three bucks a gallon, that 44 mile round trip commute starts adding up.
Interesting experience trying to problem-solve this week. Reminds me of something... At the moment I seem to be having a lot of difficulty doing abstract problem-solving when I'm sitting at the computer trying to write code. Or at least it doesn't seem particularly effective.
I've been wrestling with a particular scenario I'm trying to test for, and I've spent the better part of two days just going in circles -- looking at existing code, reading specs, gathering info -- and so far I've only been able to crank out maybe two lines of code without a decent sense of how to structure things. So at the end of the day, I set things aside and head out to meet some friends for dinner, and not a minute after getting in the car, data structures and process flows come front-and-center and I can't understand why I hadn't thought of such simple and obvious things. Certainly not a complete solution, but a helluva lot more to work with than what I'd written up to that point.
Full of these concepts and ideas when I get back home, I sit down at the computer ready to code up the rough structure and maybe scratch out a few thoughts on paper, and... Dude, WTF?! I write down five or six lines of notes in my notebook and cross out just as many.
Bah.
Step away from the computer. Retreat to the couch in the darkened living room.
The cats join me.
Slowly, the ideas seep back in.
Once I get enough pieces, I sit back at the computer and get as much in as a can.
Damn that's annoying.
Time to call it a night, and hope for better luck tomorrow.
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