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Week 1 (Day 1) - The first day

Getting up was so painful, it took quite a few attempts and a fair amount of tears to achieve it. Every time I moved to sitting, or to standing, my whole upper arm would spasm and the pain was so awful it wasn't possible to do anything except clutch my arm and cry. Eventually managed to get up and get some clothes on. I could only manage a t-shirt if it had a big enough neck to pull up over my legs, and couldn't begin to get my left arm into it, it just had to hang off my right shoulder and tuck under my left arm. I couldn't even contemplate a bra.

Brushing teeth was tricky - I could only use an electric toothbrush as any back and forwards movement, even with my right arm, set off more spasms, and I couldn't lean forward over the sink, that was unbearable. So had to rinse using a cup of water.  I couldn't get the lid off the toothpaste either, as it needed to be unscrewed, which I didn't have hands for. 

Getting downstairs was also hard, my balance had gone, and when heading downstairs the handrail is on the left in this house, so I couldn't use it. It took me over 5 minutes to get down the stairs. 

That was to become another theme with this injury - everything just took so long. For the first month just getting up, washed (to whatever extent possible), dressed (again, to whatever extent possible), and downstairs took over 90 minutes. And a lot of crying. Dehydration could become an issue! 

My sister had been busy contacting family the day before, and my mother was due to arrive for a week to look after me, and my aunt had had to go to the dog boarding place as they weren't answering their phones to get my mother's dog booked in for that week. She arrived around midday, and was able to sort out a lot of things for me, including feeding the poor cat - I couldn't bend down to his bowls. 

The pain levels today were high, and codeine wasn't touching it at all. I couldn't face the thought of getting in the car and going to the local hospital, I couldn't have taken the pain of the trip. 

I had lost my appetite, and obviously alcohol was out of the question, so mostly I just drank mineral water and tea. I couldn't open the bottles of mineral water, as my right hand couldn't twist and my left hand was useless, so mum had to do that. I also couldn't stay in one position for more than 15-20 minutes, or the spasms would start again. Of course, moving also caused them, so there wasn't really much in it, but I remember feeling a particular urgency to have to move quite constantly. 

Sleep was worse than the day before, the swelling and bruising had started to come out, and my right hand was getting more painful as well.  The sling, which I was under orders not to remove ever, had shifted so both ends were down around my wrist, but I wouldn't let it be moved, it was too painful. 

The day went in a haze of pain and codeine. 

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