One Arm Crafting

It's been awhile I know.  A little bit of surgery has slowed me down a bit.

Several months ago, I tore my rotator cuff.  I know exactly when I did it.  I needed to have a good stretch.  Like always, I raised my arms above my head; I have a bad neck, so I protected it, and my right shoulder took the brunt.  I felt something tear, and had a horrible burning sensation in my shoulder.

For 3 months, I prayed the pain would get better, but it didn't.  So, in September, I had shoulder surgery.  The surgeon found a tear in the tendon, a couple of bone spurs that had been shredding the tendon (so that was probably why it tore easily), bursitis , and a partial frozen shoulder.  He put in an anchor in to help support the rotator cuff tendon.   I have to say, it's way more than I expected as far as pain and rehab. Of course it had to be my right shoulder and I am right handed.  You don't know how much you use your shoulder, until you lose the use of it.  I've worn a sling for 7 weeks, and am still in physical therapy ,2 times a week.

I have really had to rely on help from others.  Like, rolling my hair.  My husband is now a pro at it and I am confident he will be able to do it ,if and when the need for me to go in a nursing home.  Starting the car has to be left handed , so does shifting in reverse.  You have to learn to drive with one hand, and u-turns are out of the question.  Getting dressed is fun.  Try pulling up tight jeans with one hand.  More than once I have been stuck in a shirt, because I can't pull my arm out of the sleeve.

My nail girl has learned how to lift my arm up so she can have access to my hand, so she can do my nails. (There are some things that are worth the pain:)

One by one, I have been able to conquer each of the above little triumphs.  That's how I know I'm progressing.  I am not a patient "patient" and want to fast forward this rehab, and I've tried but that little "warning light" called pain stops you in your tracks.

The sling was so boring looking, so of course I had to bling it up.   The therapist had a good laugh. The sling not only helps support your shoulder, but also has an invisible sign that says "don't even think about giving me a hug!"

I know this is such a trivial set back compared to so many other things that could go wrong, and trust me,  I thank God for this to be something that can be fixed and not life threatening.

I have slowly started back crafting , so here are some random projects I have done.

These are a couple of Halloween cards I made.  I made boxes to match to put some goodies in.

I've had to make several sympathy cards in the past few weeks.

Prima is one of my favorite crafting companies and they had shown several cards they had made, so I had to make my version of them.

And the last one was a layered card.

Hopefully, in the near future,  I can get back  to crafting like I used to in between physical therapy and the holidays.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and know that we are all blessed.

Hugs (with only one arm) :)

Cindy