I had a very disappointing OT session this afternoon.
Last week when she found I'd once assessed people of all ages for all sorts of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues, she went on at great length about her son's ADHD. That wasn't so bad when she was merely cutting off the original cast and fitting my brace, though it was mildly annoying.
Today she jabbered about her house, which she and her husband bought years ago from a local psychiatrist we both knew slightly 25 years ago. I managed to fit in a few of my "thumb" questions, and she gave brief answers. But mostly she disparaged me because the top of the palm of the fingerless glove I wear under the brace had once been dirty! She said I mustn't use that hand at all.
Well, she told me last time and again this time that I can move my fingers and thumb in any manner I wish within the confines of the brace, as long as I don’t lift anything heavy. I’ve hewed to that. She had
not said not to use the hand at all.
When I mentioned that my hand often aches, she criticized me for “doing too much,” and ignored me when I said it aches now and then no matter how little I do. I can move my fingers, which after all are inevitably attached to every other part of my hand including the thumb. Sometimes moving my fingers seems to tug on something that doesn't want to be tugged. I never know until at least half an hour later. Then I try to figure out what it was, and I don't do it again.
She insisted that I must not do anything that hurts, but immediately gave me some exercises—which hurt—and said to do them despite that.
She demonstrated these on her own thumb. I can never learn that way. I must practice using my own hand. When I began practicing them on my own, and asked if I was doing them correctly, she barely glanced at me. She'd spent so much time talking about her house and that psychiatrist that she was now in a great hurry to retrieve a photocopied exercise sheet full of very poorly done drawings of hands. These will be extremely little use as I try to figure out how to hold my surgical joint in place while very slightly moving the top joint of my thumb (as far as I can tell, that's the point of the exercises).
At least she tossed me two more of those fingerless gloves, which unravel fast, and gave me nearly three feet of the Velcro strapping I need to keep the brace on. Of course she also chastised me for wearing out the first Velcro strap (they get fuzzy), citing that as proof that I do too much.
I like to keep that glove clean and dry, so whenever it might get damp I remove it and replace the brace. When I'm done brushing my teeth or using my right hand to move a sprinkler, I remove the brace, put on a fresh glove, and put the brace back on. How can that be blameworthy? Her jabbering had taken so much of our time that I had no chance to explain this. I'm not actually sure I want to!
Randy thinks I should ask to work with a different OT; but next week I’m simply going to keep redirecting this one. And yes, I will try to do even less with my surgical hand that I've been doing. For example, typing hurts slightly, even though I use only fingers...
After I've calmed down a bit more, I'll see if I have a list of questions to post here. Otherwise, I'll just keep doing the best I can.
United Kingdom
We'll clap for you!! What a wonderful report. Thank you for all the details and especially for the great photos. I can't wait to hear more good reports like this. I think you're wise not to push things like your surgeon's other patient. That person may regret going back to full work so fast.
