Sandy,

I'm sorry to hear your news. Hang in there.

-- Lori

omDog! I do hope you will be okay. My girlfriend in Minnesota, a nurse in the special preemies' section of a children's hospital, fell about ten days ago (negligence on the part of the cleaning crew!!!) and broke her arm and wrist and is in a similar position to you. Poor dears...But, for you, with TWO?! EEEK! I cannot even imagine! No 'puting for you either, I guess...Whew...

I do hope you take it easy. Rest up and get some sunshine and try to enjoy just WATCHING the butterflies and wildlife for a change instead.

Sherry

Dear Sandy, I am so so sorry to hear about your accident..Seems like we r both sitting in the same boat..
I fractured my TIBIA,(leg) and am not supposed to work, but I am since I need the money..But I also cannot garden for a longer time now..at least the Butterflies are outside so I can enjoy them..
Sorry that you cannot go on your trip, I know you were looking forward to it..
Butterfly-Greetings and wishing you well...
Susanne(SUE)

Oh no, Sandy! That is awful--sorry about your trip. I hope you heal quickly and as pain-free as possible.

Make sure you take it easy. You have help, I hope??

Oh, owww!

Sympathies and prayers here. :(

Jeff

Oh dear, so sorry to hear about your wrists and that you can't go on your trip, or do much of anything else for that matter. You must be in shock and feel quite helpless! :(

I broke my left wrist 2 years ago - pretty bad break, and had surgery and metal hardware too - but at least had the right arm to use. It must be very difficult to have both wrists cast at the same time.

Hang in there and take good care of yourself! It's not easy, but they will get better. I've got very good range of motion and strength in the wrist now.

Sandy,
Saw your email first so replied to you there.
Larry

How horrible to break BOTH wrists, Sandy!
Talk about making life difficult!
And I know how excited you were about your upcoming trip.
I'm so sorry about all this. Keep us posted - I've been fortunate enough never to have broken a bone, so I have no idea how this will all progress.
We'll be thinking about you!
Sherry

Oh my, Sandy! I'm very sorry to hear about your unfortunate accident! I'm sure you're very disappointed that you can't make your trip now. Perhaps later? I don't have any words of advice since I never broke any of my body parts, but I do hope that you can be content to take it easy for as long as it takes your wrists to get better. I hope you have lots of butterflies in your garden to help cheer you up!
Cathy

Sandy;
That really sucks. My DH did broke both wrists as a child. Fell out of a tree. This is the same one who jumped in the pool to avoid the yellow jackets and dislocated a pinkie. Maybe you can tell a good story. You were chasing a rare elusive butterfly...I hope they gave you good drugs. How are you managing to type?

I hope you feel better and let us know what we can talk about to cheer you up.
-Elisabeth

typing's hard. i'll probably be a druggie when this is over. thanks for all the thoughts. bfs are eclosing in the kitchen and disappearing. hubby took most of them out and tur ed them loose. i know i'll make it, it just won't be fun. love you all.

Ouch ! You poor thing! With both wrists out of commission, I bet your list of things that you can't do is very long right now. Hope you are finding things that you CAN do though. Lots of good reading material on the internet at least. God bless.

Oh man, double ow! I'd go nuts w/o my hands. Hope you heal fast.

today i left the house to get a rootbeer float. we went outnthe backdoor. the butterflies are everywhere. i've never seen so many. the perennial heliotrope had over a dozen little guys including 3 dainty sulfurs, skippers, and a very large haairtreak. I released a female pv and a cloudless. life goes on. the cecropias are over 2 inches long and shed their gorgeous colors, they look like your pics, sherry. there ae sleepy oranges and cloudless sulfurs, variegateds and am ladies, pvs, bsw, and more. thee are hundreds of them. they don't seem to care that i'm laid up. maybe they're here to cheer me up.

I'm so glad to hear that you've got lots of butterflies, Sandy - at least that's something happy for you!
It must be bad luck time for us 60-year olds! I've been having trouble breathing, shortness of breath for about a month or so, and, to make a long story short, I wound up in the emergency room night before last getting treatments, which included a shot of cortisone (solumedrol?) in the IV - cortisone is the closest thing to a magic elixir on the planet! I saw my doctor in Biloxi yesterday, he gave me a prescription for Prednisone (cortisone also) plus an antibiotic, and I'm ALREADY doing much better. I noticed when I was filling out information for reimbursement from my insurance company for my doctor visit, that my doctor listed my diagnosis as COPD with asthma. When I worked in medical records years ago, COPD only involved chronic bronchitis and emphysema - I looked it up on the internet, and it seems that people who have asthma are 10 times more likely to develop COPD than others, so I guess my doctor thought it had gotten to that point. So now I'm in that unhappy realm of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - this all sucks doesn't it?
Sherry

yes!! i am sorry to hear about your breathing problems. i'm glad that prednisone helps.

sandy

Noooo, you guys have to get healthy the butterflies need you! We need you! Take a well deserved break (oops bad choice of words), enjoy the fruits and wings of your labors. Root beer floats sound yummy...That is what summer is for butterflies and ice cream. Maybe a fresh peach and vanilla ice cream...mmmmm...got to go get some ice cream now. Get well both of you.
-Elisabeh

Thanks, Sandy and Elisabeth!
I felt well enough to do some watering in my garden and in the raised beds by the house this evening - it wasn't too hot outside. Actually, I'm watering a lot of weeds in my garden, but it's too much to weed now. Before I went to the hospital, I thought I wasn't going to make it - I could only barely breathe in the bent over position.
I brought in some giant swallowtail eggs this evening, because it looks like something has been eating the insides out of some of the eggs. They're clear, like duds, but they've got holes on one side - I saw a strange looking bug with pincers, hmmmm.....
I also brought in some more gulf frits, now that the others have all pupated or emerged.
Sherry

Oh my goodness girls! I'm so sorry for your health issues.

A few years ago I was playing that dangerous game called badminton with my daughters when I slipped in some wet grass and came up with a badly broken right wrist. I'm right-handed and I can tell you we take for granted the everyday things we do with our hands! Even though I had my uninjured left hand to use I found that I dropped food off my fork, hurt my mouth brushing my teeth with my left hand, and the unmentionable bathroom duties!!! Sandy - I can only imagine what you're dealing with!!!

My thoughts and prayers are with you - both! This too shall pass!

Sherrie

Yikes! What a bummer, MissSherry! Aging is a b**ch. I started yoga and it has definitely helped my arthritis and degenerative disease in my spine. :( I tell you, if it isn't one thing...My poor hubby is on his THIRD round of Coumadin (aka Warfarin-a blood thinner) because his A-fib is back. Doc is probably going to have to do another cardioversion (shock his heart) to get the heart back into beating the right rhythm again. I tell you, if it isn't one thing, it is something else nowadays. (eye roll)

Speaking of eyes, mine are so 'bad' that they can't correct my vision any longer with contacts OR glasses, if you can believe it. I was at the opthal. today and decided that the best I can do is what I've got with my contacts now, which aren't perfect but, hey, at least I can see! The gal who re-checked my vision said, "But you don't have astigmatism in your left eye and you have a contact for astigmatism right now in that eye!" and can you believe I can see GREAT with that lens? Go figure...I can read fine, too, without reading glasses, which just blows her mind, where I had to wear reading glasses when I wore the 'right' (ha!) lenses before, and I couldn't see worth a darned with those. *sigh* Age...what can you do, eh?

Oh no, Sherry! What can be more important than good vision?
I'm so sorry to hear it, but it's par for the course on the Butterfly Forum isn't it?
I'm fortunate to have good vision for a person my age. I could probably go without glasses altogether if not for reading - I can't read fine print, or even normal size print very well.
What would we do without our butterflies to make us happy?!
Sherry

Bummer Sandy! Both wrists are a pain. Hope you heal up ok.

Take care of yourself.

randy

Sherry: Sorry to hear about the COPD. I hope you have a doctor who is aggressive and smart. I'll pray for you.

Sandy: You'll be encouraged to know that I brought in 14 Monarch eggs today and will be trying out your paper bag technique this year. This year's butterfly drought is officially over!

Jeff

Oh no Sandy! Happy healing thots are flying ur way on the wings of GFs!

Susan

go for it jeff! glad youre seeing bfs.

thanx susan.

thee are hundreds of them. they don't seem to care that i'm laid up. maybe they're here to cheer me up.

That sounds amazing and must be a beautiful sight...let the butterflies on wing carry you away from your pain and infirmities for a time.

Re: your broken wrists - hope you don't mind some unsolicited advice! The goal is to stabalize bone and get out of cast/splints ASAP and get into therapy. Because the wrist joints will be "frozen" and there will be muscle atrophy from the immobility, you must slowly and steadily move and strengthen the joints. It can be painful and tedious sometimes. My OT recommended daily exercises and scar massage (might be awkward for you to do with both wrists recuperating at once). Do the exercises diligently although at times it will be hard and you won't feel like you are making progress! But you will get there!

Are you elevating your wrists above the heart as much as possible? Can you sleep with your forearms propped on pillows? It helps to wiggle and stretch your fingers, take regular walks, and keep your shoulders stretched out.

It is not easy I know. I broke my wrist falling off a ladder from a height of 15 feet and my back, neck and head (bad concussion) were pretty messed up. For awhile I could only sleep on my back with the wrist elevated. Judicious use of medication helped me a great deal with pain, sleeping, inflammation, and mood.

I hope you have a much faster recovery than estimated! I'm praying for you.
-Jmcat

Thnx, jmcat. I'm going in on Thursday as the splints are driving me crazy--itching. I can tell healing is happening as I can pick up a cup now and get water for myself. And a week ago, I would not hsve been able to take a picture with my camera. I really appreciate your prayers.

Sandy

Sandy;
Turns out you are in good company...Now if he broke his wrist, it can't be anything to do with all those blasphemous words you utter when something eats your caterpillars! Hope your feeling better. - Elisabeth

ROME Â Pope Benedict XVI fractured his right wrist in a fall Friday morning while on vacation in northern Italy, the Vatican said.

In a statement, the Vatican said that the 82-year-old pontiff had slipped in his room in the chalet where he is staying in the mountainous Valle dÂAosta region, but was well enough to eat breakfast and celebrate Mass before being taken by car to the local hospital.

thanx for the chuckle. he must have had a blowout fracture--like i had on my right wrist--it didn't hurt much. the other break hurt like he--.

i looked up blowout fracture and it refers to an ocular blow. the fracture in my rt arm did not separate the radial head--pieces just blew from center and had to be pinned--bones remained intact, it was more like cracking a nut,or a minor internal explosion or "blowout". MTYWTK, I'm sure.