Howard Falkinburg

A blog about my rehabilitation and recovery from a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed with quadriplegia.


Updates

Here are a few updates to keep you up to speed. My move to Sojourners has been delayed to mid-June due to supply and chain issues. The room needs maintenance done but the hardware store lacks supplies. I toured the room and it’s larger than my current one, particularly the bathroom. The window view is not great. There is a brick wall outside the window but I will put up a birdfeeder my cousin Arthur got for me.

My PT started the serial casting process on my left wrist and the last three fingers. I have an ulnar deviation, which means my hand is pulled to the left because of the tone. My three fingers are curled up. Serial casting is a process of gradually straightening a joint by replacing the cast every few days while gradually straightening the joint.

As the photos show, the process of serial casting is interesting. Andy, my PT, covers the arm with a stockinette sleeve. A wooden dowel is placed under my three fingers to stretch them. He wraps the arm and hand with gauze then fiberglass as the outer shell. Andy then trims and pads the edges to eliminate sharp edges. Driving is cumbersome with the cast but I haven’t crashed yet!



6 responses to “Updates”

  1. That serial casting does sound impressive! Good luck on that! I’ll be calling soon to set up a visit.

    1. I look forward to that!

  2. You continue to inspire me. I know that I will not understand and your descriptions show me the tedious and painstaking process involved. Thank you for keeping me informed about these things.

    1. Thanks, Sally. I miss the conversations we had on our commutes to Cedar Springs.

  3. Howard, Thanks for the update. Hope the cast isn’t too uncomfortable. We are looking forward to seeing you next week in GR. By the way, I am not seeing the photos you reference in the post.

    1. Yes, I forgot to download the photos. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I’ll work on that later this weekend or tomorrow. Look forward to next Saturday to see you!

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About Me

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am LMSW and spinal cord injury survivor. . Another.

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