自由の日

Yea.. finally the long wait is over!

I am free! My cast is removed!

The process is a little scary though. The nurse first loosened the tapes at the end. Then, the doctor drew 2 red lines on my cast. The machine they use to cut my cast look like a mini circular saw. They touch it with their fingers to explain and show me that it is not moving when it is switched on, though it has a loud "brr brr" sound which sounds very much like one. It actually cuts with heat. Next, the nurse pried open the casts, and cut the bandage below with a huge scissors.

And yea... I am free!

But not exactly. I will be visiting the hospital again next Friday. And the doctor has advised me not to use my right (injured) hand too much for the next 3 weeks.

Currently, I feel very fragile and naked without my cast actually. It feels very weak, when I try to use my right hand, and I can't bend the right wrist yet, as it hurts.

But, give it another month, I think I can slowly do more normal stuff, and then slowly build up the strength. Guess, I will need to rely on my left hand still.

To end off, here's a comparison of my 2 hands, after the removal of the cast. It is slimmer now! Can you identify it? :P

How to Survive with A Left-Hand

Decided to do this post after a suggestion from my ex-colleague :)

But a disclaimer first.. no man is an island. I am definitely unable to survive in a foreign land alone with my default hand in cast. Today is day 2 and my kind neighbour has been ferrying me around to hospitals and helping to translate doctor's words into simpler Japanese so that I can understand. And many other kind souls like my supervisor who helped me wash my cup, or cut pictures for my test paper.

From today onwards, I will meet more of such kind souls. :)

But here is the journey when I close the door and faces the four walls with a right-hand in cast alone. Hope it will offer some help to others in the same situation as me.

How to Shower/ Wash Hair

First find a plastic bag. I will secure it with a rubberband. You can use cellophane wraps too. And then, just shower or wash slowly.

How to Cook

I tried cooking yesterday. Boiling food is manageable, and easier to clean as oil is not used and it is not messy. I boiled corn and quail eggs and then add seasoning such as pepper, dark soya sauce and sesame oil. It's pretty yummy!

[added on 19 October 2010]

Tried cooking another dish today. I boiled pork slices, corn and sliced spring onion (you can buy ready-sliced ones from the supermart), and then topped it with satay sauce. Another yummilicous dish.



How to Work in School

I was pretty lucky, as this is the mid-test week, so I only have 1 day of lessons this week. From next week onwards, I will resume lessons, and likely be able to write a bit then. As much as possible I will use words and gestures to carry out my lessons.

Off classes, whenever possible, I will type, instead of write. Or stamp :) My supervisor found a set of stamps and inkpad, which I could use for my test papers.



How to Stay Genki

"Think of your favourite things, when you are in pain." This is the advice a sweet student gave me.

Indeed, skyping with my family, and staying connected with friends at home, definitely helped a lot. Alleviates the looming loneliness and prevents me from falling into the self-pitying trap.

Yup, so that's all for the first installment. I will slowly update again, as I strive on this journey.

[updated on 17 October 2010]

I'm Heading Out, Which Bag is Better?

Definitely a backpack. Or a cross-sling bag. I use a backpack, as it can carry more stuff, and it keeps my hands free. I used to carry a sling bag, but it causes some coordination problem with just one working left hand.

I have a FRACTURE?! in my right wrist?!

During my Toi weekend getaway to visit Serene, another Singaporean ALT, I accidentally tripped over a step, and by reflex, my stronger hand- the right hand, broke the fall. Momentarily my hand could not feel anything, but after that pain came. And I assumed it was just a sprain.

The next day, Serene brought me to a drugstore to buy wrist guard and スップ.　(suppu, adhesive cold bandages to cool down the swelling) We continued with our trip and even had a crazy shopping day at Gotenba.

When I was back, my Japanese neighbour advised me to see a doctor. As today is 体育日 (ironical, isn't it... it is the Health and Sports Day today...), a public holiday, clinics were not opened, so we went to a big hospital instead.

Before setting off, my neighbour had already enquired with the hospital. Hence they were expecting me when I reached.

After filling up some forms, I was given a identification band and sent to the A&E Department.




QQ in QQ department.. 救急 sounds like QQ in Japanese.

It was crowded... altogether we spent 5 hours at the hospital, and I had 2 X-rays and 1 CT scan done, to confirm that my sprain is more serious than it appears to be. It is a slight fracture.

All the while, I couldn't really understand what the doctor was saying when he explained my condition. I was trying to catch the keyword, 捻挫 (nenza, sprain), but he said 骨折　(kossetsu, fracture) instead. =_=" It finally dawned upon me that I had a fracture, when he started wrapping my arm in a cast!



Yah.. so here I am, typing one letter by one letter with my clumsy left hand to blog this entry. Under doctor's orders, not to use my right hand for a week, not even writing.

I really feel bad for my bowling team. They even named the team after me, Team Q. :( I don't think I can bowl on the 25th for the competition. It has to be in cast for another 3 weeks.

Anyway, I am still in the state of disbelief. A day before, I had managed to carry all my luggage and cheap deals from Gotenba, and even rode the bicycle back from the station. But, I am really grateful, that I discovered it early under my neighbour's insistence, else it could be aggravated, looking at how I treat it the day before.

But, now I have to learn how to live with just my left hand. And.. I am a right-hander.. and worse, alone. :X