Why Breaking a Leg Doesn't Improve Whistling

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 4:44 pm

Forgive the forthcoming pout...

My hands HURT. They hurt worse than my leg did/does. Arthritis is one thing, but the crutches are killing me. Its amazing that I can hold a whistle, and the playing is clumsy and utterly depressing.

Being on ones back in a chair with legs up is not conducive to good breath control.

Percocet is not conducive to concentration.

Tyghre, however, is a gem. He's taking me to session tonight, whether or not I play, and will toddle me home when it gets to be too much.

Thank you. . .and now back to your regularly scheduled jocularity.

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 5:05 pm

Sorry to hear of your continuing suffering Tyghress. But it may be very good that your hands hurt, if it means you are using your crutches correctly.

I don't know what type of crutches you have, but if they're the high kind with a bar on top that go almost up to your armpits (look like something from World War I, standard issue in hospitals up here), whatever you do DON'T take any of the weight on your armpits. You could damage the "brachial plexus" or bundle of nerves that run under the shoulder. I suspect that using this kind of crutches incorrectly may have played a role in totally screwing up my shoulder.

The bars at the top are supposed to rest against your rib cage as a stabilizer and you have to take all the weight on your hands. In more enlightened parts of the world (yours maybe?) they give you crutches that just have a sort of grip for the back of your upper arm.

Don't wish to be depressing, but I wish someone had told me this 10 years ago. Anyway since your hands are killing you you're probably doing it right.

AnnaDMartinez · Post by **AnnaDMartinez** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 5:20 pm

I think you know when I say "Ah, *&%#, Tyg." you know exactly what I mean. I'm sorry. Drag!

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 6:59 pm

They won't lend you a wheelchair? Or are there too many staircases in your life for that to be feasible?

Blackbird · Post by **Blackbird** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 11:12 pm

Probably the last thing you want right now is advice - but here's some anyway.

Just be careful not to push yourself too much. When recovering from something traumatic, the body needs loads of rest. It might just be a good time to lie on the couch and listen to CD's for a while. Or send that tame feline of yours to the video store for some good movies. How about "How to Make an American Quilt", or "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou". Or "The Secret of Roan Inish" for some nice Irish music.

I think I feel a new thread coming on.

Giving advice is always kind of pushy - sorry. But I know how hard it can be to just give yourself time and space to heal. It might be worth it in the end, though.

JohnPalmer · Post by **JohnPalmer** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 12:13 am

Sorry to hear about your leg. I remember when I broke my tib-fib, while skiing. I can still hear the sound. But during the first two or three weeks, whenever it started to hurt, I found that by getting up and cruching around the house for a few minutes really helped the circulation, and the pain would go away, for at least a while. Anyway, I hope your healing is fast. By the way, if you feel like telling, how'd you break it? And when you're feeling better, I'll tell you about how I used to ride my bike with a full-length cast on my leg. JP

Glengary · Post by **Glengary** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 2:09 am

Hang in there T!!!
If you celebrate Easter, remember to hard boil those eggs first!
We're rooting for you.

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 7:44 am

Thanks to all for the support. I was so gone by the end of yesterday that I begged off session (again) and went to bed around 6:00 pm.

Steve, yep, I'm crutching appropriately. Proof is the two patches of cloth burn 4" below my armpits on either side. Sorry about your nerve damage!

Avanutria, I refuse a wheelchair. I'm going on vacation in 50 days, and need to have the stamina and toughness to get from here to there, get around museums and displays, etc. Yesterday I started at a gym, and though we didn't do anything cariovascular yet, we worked every muscle in my body that WASN'T in my left leg. I will build myself up. I'm up to doing 4 sets (12 steps each) of stairs a day, and will try a walk around the block today. But those little electric carts in the grocery store? what a relief!

Blackbird, I don't believe I've said hello to you yet. Welcome to the board! I'm certainly open to advice, especially well-meaning advice. Despite what it appears from the previous paragraph, I'm general a sedantary sort of Cat, and could too easily lay down on that couch and not get up. I've never in my life had an exercise regime, other than getting out and riding my horse 4 times a week. With that sidelined until I'm back from vacation, I must do SOMETHING to toughen up! Tyghre still refuses to let me park myself in pubs in Ireland while he gallavants around, and I agree.

But I do like your taste in movies!

John, I find that when my leg/foot start cramping, I get good relief from laying on my back and raising it above my head. Do you remember the Monopods from CS Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader? I laugh thinking of it! The gym thinks they can get a pedal off one of their bikes so that I can monopedal and get a bit of CV workout. Frankly, being on a real bike scares me right now!
I broke the leg while trying to mount my horse bareback from an unstable bucket. Somewhere further down in the topic list I have a 'How I spent St.Patricks' Day' thread that gives the gory details.

Again, thanks all. Lets see how I do getting to Sunday session. I won't have the stress of work to contend with. Would someone play Banish Misfortune for me?

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 7:51 am

On 2002-03-28 08:44, tyghress wrote:
The gym thinks they can get a pedal off one of their bikes so that I can monopedal and get a bit of CV workout. Frankly, being on a real bike scares me right now!

Puts me in mind of the time I was cycling to work, and was overtaken by a man with a wooden leg! His left leg was just bumping up and down against the pedal on that side of his bike.

And there was I thinking I was getting all cardiovascularly fit by cycling - he was fitter in one leg than I was in both of mine put together! Next thing I'll be overtaken by a man carrying a bucket of ducks.
_________________
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Martin Milner on 2002-03-28 08:52 ]</font>

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:15 am

Hi Tyghress,
I had to work late, but ran over to City Steam after nine, hoping to catch you there. I am glad you slept, though, that is probably the best for you. I think you'll already feel much better in a week, and by then your hands will be calloused.

Let me know if Tyghre still requires gentle or not so gentle persuation to let you hang out in Irish pubs while he scrambles over the Rocks of Bawn.

WhistlerWannaBe · Post by **WhistlerWannaBe** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:19 am

Do you suppose this whole foot/leg injury thing has anything to do with the crystal people?

Last night I was putting a big piece of wood in the furnace (big, old, farm house, you know) and I dropped it on my foot! OUCH!

It seems this type of injury is not new to C&F subscribers....I wondered if it is some type of initiation into the society?

Take care, Tyg!

Deb

gogo · Post by **gogo** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 9:55 am

On 2002-03-28 08:51, Martin Milner wrote:
Puts me in mind of the time I was cycling to work, and was overtaken by a man with a wooden leg! His left leg was just bumping up and down against the pedal on that side of his bike.

And there was I thinking I was getting all cardiovascularly fit by cycling - he was fitter in one leg than I was in both of mine put together! Next thing I'll be overtaken by a man carrying a bucket of ducks.

And Martin, your story reminds me of the first time I ran (and I use the word very loosely) in the local "fun run" here. It's known for people running in wild costumes, or just putting on some sort of show for the spectators.

I didn't mind so much when I was passed by women pushing babies in strollers, and I thought I could take it when a man wearing a straight skirt passed me. It was when I was passed by a woman playing a trumpet that I knew it was time to give it up.

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 10:09 am

Puts me in mind of the time I was cycling to work, and was overtaken by a man with a wooden leg!

People get the same feeling when they go to Ireland with their Silkstones, Copelands, etc.

curioso · Post by **curioso** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 1:50 pm

If you haven't already, go to a pharmacy and get the optional crutchpads, especially for the crutch handles. The pads are rubbery and make it much easier on your hands and armpits...