Cast-off

“Wait and see” was what both the doctor and the rehab therapists were saying about the Slacktivixen’s arm. They disagreed a bit about how long to wait and see, with the doctor wanting a bit more time in the cast.

I sided with the doctor on that one, annoying my wife over the past month by babbling a bit too much about Jimmy Rollins’ hamstring and the potential risk of trying to rush back to work too quickly. (We have a solid working arrangement in which I worry more about her health than she does and she, in turn, worries more about my health than I do. Grown-up responsibility by proxy.)

But the therapists were really pleased with her progress and after her range of motion greatly improved they said four weeks was long enough. So last week she took off the cast and went back to work and we all crossed our fingers and said a prayer. And …

And she’s good. Not quite 100-percent good, but taking it easy (she’s had months of practice at not over-working that arm) and getting back to full health. The cast has now been cast aside and the potential need for surgery is off the table. This is amazing and wonderful news.

We’re immensely grateful to the doctor and those terrific therapists. Those folks know their stuff. But we’re also immensely grateful to all of you. We couldn’t have gotten through my wife’s rehab without the generous help so many of you provided us back in December, allowing her to take all that time away from work without missing bills or payments or meals.

Thank you again, thank you all so much for that.

The circumstances were sub-optimal, but it was nice getting to spend a bit more time with the ‘vixen over the past few weeks. During that time I learned something about her that neither I nor our girls had previously known: My wife can recite all of the presidents, in order. (Well, the first 44 anyway — she refuses to name the next one.)

She didn’t learn this through a song or some clever mnemonic. She just learned it in school and it stuck.

This is already proving convenient for me as a faster-and-funnier-than-Google reference. I’m always fuzzy on the whole string between Jackson and Lincoln and then the bit between Grant and McKinley. (“Fillmore, Pierce or Pierce, Fillmore?” is now a thing I’ve said to my wife.)

Anyway, thank you all again for your generosity and support. It means the world to me and to my wife and the girls. Thank you.