Top 10 Things You Can’t Do With a Gimpy Wrist

It has been three months since my clumsy fall outside Lira’s school that caused me to break my wrist in two places. After two surgeries, five weeks with a cast and a few sessions of physical therapy (thank you, MedStar NRH!), I wish I could report that I’m back to normal… but I’m not.

I had no idea my wrist would be so stiff and need so much work. To give you an idea, I can turn my right wrist 90 degrees (as in, palm facing up) and my left wrist 35 degrees. That may sound awful (and it is), but it’s actually a big improvement from 12 degrees, which is where I started.

You don’t realize how much you use your left wrist until you can’t. Each day, I notice another thing that I can’t do, and all I can do is laugh about it.

Here are the top 10 things I can’t do with my gimpy wrist:

1. Carry a pizza. I use the palm of my right hand with the back of my left hand, and it’s quite the balancing act.
2. Open a jar of pickles, olives or pasta sauce. On those days that I try to make dinner before Dave gets home from work (and let’s be honest, they aren’t often), certain things are no longer on the menu.
3. Cut corn on the cob. Are we noticing a theme? Either I only use my left wrist for food-related tasks or all I do is eat. Take a guess which one it is.
4. Pick up my Kitchen Aid mixer.Another food tragedy, but this one is serious. Dave recently bought me a tangerine Kitchen Aid mixer as a late Christmas present and I can’t move it from one part of the kitchen to another. This may seem minor, but since it’s my favorite new toy and I’m testing to find exactly where I want it, it’s quite upsetting (do I want to mix my peanut butter cookies by the window or facing the dining room table??)

   

5. Fix my hair. Did you know that you use two hands to dry, curl or straighten hair? I didn’t either! But, trust me, you do. And for those of you who’ve noticed me looking less coiffed lately, this is why. I even chopped off 5 inches in an attempt to make it more manageable. No such luck.
6. Wash my face. You know how you use your hands as a cup to splash water on your face? Since I can’t turn my left hand over, I do this one handed. And let me tell you, it does not look like a Noxema commercial– more like a flash flood around my sink.
7. Hook and unhook a bra. Don’t get excited now (ha). Dave apparently learned to do this somewhere along the way (college?), and has been quite helpful in this regard.
8. Lock the front door. Don’t tell the hoodlums outside (I doubt they read my blog), but this is quite the struggle. I have to put down my purse and everything else I’m carrying to use both hands to turn the lock.
9. Carry Zana. Why do you need to carry a 2-year-old, you ask? Because she has a tendency to bolt into traffic and that’s the only wait to restrain her. I’m thinking of getting a leash. Not really. Ok, maybe.
10. Zumba properly. I went back to Zumba last night after a 3 month hiatus and was reminded that twirling and twisting your wrist is one of the sexy parts of dancing. That, and the booty popping, which I (obviously) excel at. I had to pop my booty extra hard to help to detract from my very un-sexy wrist movements, but I think I succeeded.

You know what else isn’t that awesome? Typing. I do it all day long and my physical therapist pointed out to me today that I have been holding my elbow out into the air and looking ridiculous to overcompensate. I wonder what other crazy things I’ve been doing that I haven’t even noticed…