No surgery for me!

I had my followup visit this afternoon with the orthopedic surgeon for my broken wrist (the bone was the scaphoid for those of you medical folks, which I guess doesn't always heal right because the blood flows "backwards" to the bone which causes poor blood flow to it, something that is needed to help bones heal). We were informed when I first went in and got it casted that they wanted me to come back in 4 weeks to get it x-rayed again to see how it was healing, and there would be one of two results:

1. The wrist was healing well and I would get another cast for another 4 weeks before it was completely healed (they told me this was the more likely result due to the fact the fracture was not displaced and I was still relatively young, but....)
2. The wrist was not healing right and I would need surgery on it, followed by 10 weeks in a cast and then some physical therapy to finish it off.

Needless to say, with Colleen due in about 5 1/2 weeks, we were praying hard for option 1. So they cut the cast off (with in essence a mini circular saw with no guard! I'm sure it's a standard procedure, but it was a little unnerving, since all that stood between my flesh and the cast was a thin layer of cotton), then I got another x-ray, and then we waited for the doctor to return with the results. We weren't waiting on pins and needles or anything, as it was going to heal one way or the other, so we weren't treating it as some sort of life altering diagnosis, but it still would be an inconvience (and an extra burden for Colleen) to have a one handed husband for several weeks after the baby arrived.

So when the doctor came in and proclaimed that everything was looking good, Colleen and I turned to each other and let out a "yes!" in unison. I think the doctor thought we were saying "yes" because we thought I wouldn't need to go back in a cast (we were obviously saying "yes" because we knew that meant I wouldn't need surgery), so he responded by saying "well, unfortunately you're still going to have be in a cast for another 3 weeks," to which we again responded, "yes, three weeks!" (as we had been told it would be another 4 weeks). I know it's only 1 week, but with as close as we were cutting it for baby #3, we would take all the time we could get. So anyway, he felt it was healing well enough that I should just need another 3 weeks instead of 4.

So I'm outfitted with another cast, blue this time (courtesy of a request from Katelyn, after I nixed her initial pink request), and come May 14, hopefully I will get this cast off for good. There will be some exercises I need to do to limber the muscles back up obviously, as when I tried to move it today with the cast off, the muscles were quite stiff, tight, and sore, not to mention my arm was noticeably smaller than before. I guess it doesn't take long for inactivity in muscles to show its effects.

So anyway, I am eagerly awaiting the full use of my right hand again. It will only be 8+ weeks total, which in reality is really more of a minor inconvenience than anything compared to much more long term health issues some people have to deal with, but it will be nice to be healthy again, as much for Colleen's sake as mine.