We are certainly having some perfect weather.
I am spending most waking moments outside, as usual.
I'm getting most of the necessary things done, but that's about it.
A few of the necessary things have been forced to
take a ticket and get in line.
I'm seriously considering looking for a little temporary help.
Just until the shoulder is sorted.
Much of my Daily Markmaking is taking place outdoors,
but that's nothing new.
Painting with my left hand, though...
that's pretty new.
Up until now I've done occasional ink sketches with my left hand only if a cat was sleeping on my right arm when I suddenly realized it was 11:45 PM and I hadn't done any Markmaking yet that day.
Here's a left-handed bowl of van Gogh's pears:
Now I'm actually trying to use my left hand for markmaking.
Behold my left-handed oak leaves:
While it can be fun experimenting, using my left hand all day every day can also feel a bit constraining. Yesterday I bucked that constraint by holding a pencil in my right hand (which was poking out of the sling), propping the sketchbook about two inches away, and moving only my fingers and occasionally the sketchbook.
The Sugar Maple sketch actually looks like the little Sugar Maple!
It was a great relief.
Ahhhhhhh.
I saw an orthopedic PA-C on Thursday, and was told I should start Physical Therapy in another week or so, after the inflammation has settled down. Eight weeks of PT may be enough to get me back to my pre-dislocation condition. If not, there may be a need for more testing to identify deeper damage.
It was not a very satisfactory appointment. Sometimes I think medical professionals are so bored by "typical" injuries that all they want to do is race through a series of standard sentences as quickly as possible and send a patient on to the next stop. I was determined to get answers to a few questions, and I did, but only because I ignored the PA's apparent haste to get out of the room. I also ignored his referring to me three times as "sweetheart," because I was laser-focused on getting information. If I see him again for the recommended 4-week follow-up, I can guarantee he will say it only once.
~~~~~
"Sweetheart?" Hmm, that would have been annoying. Yeah, medicine has become so industrialized that we've all just become numbers on an assembly line. I sincerely hope the physical therapy does the trick.
ReplyDeleteHaving to work left-handed though, seems like it would be a very useful exercise. Maybe it trains the brain to see a little differently. My daily markmaking is at my loom.
That first photo would make a lovely water color. I follow a blogger who is learning water color painting and I really enjoy her posts. Lots of chickens. Trampled By Geese.
Flashback! I knew a Trampled By Geese many years ago on Ravelry - maybe part of the Goat group. Is she a veterinarian? I'll have to visit her blog and see :)
DeleteYes, disrespectful of him. He needs to learn better.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're using your non dominant hand to draw and paint. One of my teachers used to say it's the eye that matters, not which hand, or foot for that matter, you use. I've had adult students be amazed at how well they can make art with the "other" hand.
This is a difficult time for you, and I think getting help is great, if you can.
I'm a little bit ahead of the game because I've been using my non-dominant hand a lot for many years; arthritis in both hands means trying to share the workload as much as possible. But there's a difference between choosing to use my non-dominant hand and having no choice BUT to use it, all the time, for everything, all by itself. Every little thing from putting away groceries to making toast to taking a pill to opening the mail becomes a decision and a project. But on we go :)
DeleteI can just imagine your frustration at having to use your left hand so much! I am a lefties, and so much of the world is right-focused so we are used to dealing with that. Right now I am hampered by having to use my cane with my left hand--- which means using my right for some things. But most lefties are semi-ambidextrous, simply because we have had to be.
ReplyDeleteGranny Marigold hurt her foot and is having to deal with that. You have a hurt shoulder. In many ways, both of you are more hampered by your injuries than I am with my knee. I should quit complaining! Sending hugs and positive vibes for healing, Quinn!
I don't think describing something is necessarily complaining about it, even if the description is about a painful or difficult situation. And I don't think anyone who knows us would accuse you or I of being whiners ;)
DeleteI am impressed with your left-handed efforts. I can barely hold a pen in my left hand, let alone do anything with it. Another magnificent day - I hope you're out enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteThese glorious days!!! Outside from dawn to dark. I asked my Occasional Helper to set up another chaise for me today - I had a one-armed wrestling match with a chaise the other day, and LOST, it was like a comedy routine - so now I have 3 different chaise spots for different times of day, and each one with a glorious view into the trees.
DeleteGlad you stuck with that PA like a leech till he provided answers. "Sweetheart"...hmmm.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you're coping well, and that your ambidexterity is working as needs must. The oak leaves are a bit more abstract than much of your mark-making - perhaps embrace that a bit. Hiring temporary help for the indispensable/ impossible tasks sounds like a wise plan, if you can swing it.
Hang in there!
Chris from Boise
Thanks, Chris - your advice about using my own judgement is certainly proving necessary: my PT assessment isn't going to happen until Nov 12. I'm going to do more research to try to be sure I don't cause more damage before then. Starting with designing a more comfortable sling...figured that out today!
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