Life Without My Right Hand
A scaphoid fracture of my right hand sent me to the orthopedics' office a couple weeks ago. Since I am right handed, life in a thumb spica cast has proven challenging. As expected, many daily activities are difficult if not impossible: styling my hair, typing on the computer, writing (I didn't realize how much I write during a day), washing dishes, controlling the mouse, cutting food and applying make up.
I realized there are some things we do with our right hands regardless of which hand is dominant. I've found myself wishing for a car with a push button ignition. Initially, I had to walk around to the passenger side to start the car with my left hand. The gear shift wasn't much easier. Shaking hands is awkward.
There have been some activities that were easier than I expected: bathing, shaving my legs, eating (once my food it cut) and tying bows. Fortunately my teen daughter started shaving this year and has been my left underarm shaver. She's positively giddy with excitement over this new responsibility. Some daily activities were unexpectedly difficult: flossing, brushing my teeth, my magnetic closure purse, folding clothes, hanging clothes and pulling pants up and down.
The two biggest surprises came with driving and using the phone. Even though I am right-hand dominant, I steer almost exclusively with my left hand. That's making life a lot easier and safer. I discovered I hold the telephone in my right hand. So phone conversations have been on speaker phone, short and to the point, or just avoided completely.
Two of the biggest adjustments have been asking for help and living life on other people's time schedules. One of the blessings has been a new appreciation for my husband and children who have risen to the occasion by cooking, doing housework and even typing these blogs.