Hands

I've always had a fondness for hands. They can sometimes be pleasantly attractive. I remember I would sometimes look at my mom's hands and notice the skin, shiny and a little taut... and I would think, "what pretty hands."

Sometimes, my mom would make it to where you couldn't notice anything except her fingers. The middle ones in particular. She's very feisty. When she was younger, one of her middle fingers got caught shut on a car door. The healed tip had an odd little shape to it. This was one of the things I feared I would miss the most as she lay in bed, not yet awake from her medicinal coma in the hospital as her fingers turned to black and were withering away like leaves that had fallen from a tree.

I asked my step dad if it was weird that I occassionally have a hard time remembering my mother the way she once was... it seems so long ago. He said in agreement, "yeah, it does seem like a long time ago."

The wound care team decided it was time to leave her hands exposed; the skin, though still a little scabby with edges peeling off, has healed on both hands and has a normal tint. The plastic surgeon who worked on her hands once mentioned he was a "hands man," that was his specialty- indeed. Her right hand in particular still has it's old shape, minus the fingers. And as strange as it sounds, I think it's quite pretty despite everything it's been through. She was able to keep the skin originally on her palm so it looks the same as before. The back of her hand has skin borrowed from her back. Her left hand is a little smaller because she lost a few knuckles starting from where her pinky once was, and the skin on the palm is partially borrowed. Both thumbs are wrapped up to protect them... they still have a little ways to go because the tips are now gone, but she does have the knuckles to bend and straighten them. She calls them her "dancing thumbs".

The wound care doctor gave her clearance to bear weight on her right hand, and her occupational therapist (OT) has been working on strengthening her shoulders and arms to where she can become more independent. She gave her a Velcro cuff that wraps around her hand, and small items like a spoon, fork, toothbrush, etc. fits into a slit on the cuff. The first time I saw my mom use it, her task was to scoop up dry lentil beans and empty them into a bowl. Her OT joked that she would have to count them all! Yesterday, I walked into her room at lunch time and she had just finished feeding herself for the first time! She did a great job, really... her only mess was two beans (pinto, cooked) that had dropped onto her lap.

Once a week, her care staff meets to review her progress. During the most recent meeting, everyone agreed she has been healing much faster than anyone could have anticipated. She might be released in as early as two weeks (which is now about a week and a half away) and transfer to rehab for an additional two weeks of therapy, then may be cleared to return home.

When she comes back home, she'll be wheelchair bound because her hands and legs won't be ready for prosthesis just yet- it may be a few months before that process begins. But at rehab she should learn how to transfer herself from a wheelchair to her bed or bathtub bench... we just have to make sure everything is ready at home for her return. Talk about a nightmare, clearing out the clutter and preparing to rennovate the house so that she can once again function at home. My step-dad and little brother are stuck with that task.

I might be a little unbiased because it's not mine to deal with, but really, it's a good problem to have.