Friday, January 9, 2009

Don't Let Your Right Hand Know What Your Left Hand's Doing

There's a scripture in the Bible that says pretty much the same as my title. It means to not be too open about your business. Some things are better off kept private. We had a different interpretation of that scripture yesterday.

Dondra had surgery on both her left elbow and the base of her index finger on her left hand. Surgery went well, but the residual problem was troublesome for a few hours. They blocked a nerve in her shoulder in order to do the surgeries. Her arm from her shoulder down was completely dead until about 2:30 this morning, when the feeling began returning to her fingers. We had to laugh at some of the consequences of being dead-armed. She heard the dogs licking and licking and scolded them. "Girls! Girls! Whatever it is you're licking - stop it!" I glanced down and said, "Dondra, they're licking your hand." Once she was trying to prop her arm up on the pillow. It was dead weight, and, without her even being aware, the arm fell over and whopped her little 4 1/2 lb. dog across the head. She's casted from her shoulder to her fingers, so putting on eye make-up before we left the house this morning was quite a challenge. (And any of you who know Dondra well know she wouldn't be caught DEAD without her eye make-up.) Putting on undergarments is less than a cinch, and even taking care of her bathroom needs is a job, especially since she's left-handed.

Isn't it funny how we depend upon our different body parts to function properly, and we don't even realize how dependent we are? Just mash a finger, break a leg, or have to patch an eye for a while. You'll see. We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made (some more wonderfully than others).

By the way, Dondra is recovering well. She'll be in a cast for a couple weeks before returning to the doctor for an evaluation of her progress.

2 comments:

Blessed Mama said...

Oooo, that's a weird feeling, huh? Why did she need surgery? Hope she's recovering well!

granny2five said...

She had a tumor/cyst at the base of her index finger of her left hand that's been there a while but seemed to be getting larger. And her ring finger and pinkie had been going numb from some nerve damage in her left elbow. Now she's all better! The cast is already driving her nuts (goes from her shoulder to her fingers), but she's surviving. She's been with us for a few days - adapting.