Happy Birthday to me.

I'm certainly a happy gal!

I'm 41 today. Not too worried about getting older as long as I'm having fun and don't have to look back some day and wish I had done ______(fill in the blank from your own personal 'bucket list'). I'm definitely not going to let that happen.

Good news for my birthday! I went to the doctor this morning and got my stitches taken out. They took a set of x-rays and the doctor (Bowers, who is supposed to be an excellent orthopaedic surgeon) said it looked good. Here are a few of the x-rays showing my titanium plate and 9 screws (back and side shot):

I asked, "Does it look like it is healing right?" Of course, I expected him to say yes. I was looking at the x-rays with him and it looked good to me! He said, "Well, you really can't tell if it is healing just yet, since it has only been 2 weeks. I just want to make sure no screws have fallen out and everything is still in place." He told me this with a straight face and a little mischevious laugh. He said indeed that all the screws were right where they were supposed to be and it looked good.

Here are some pics before the stitches were taken out (Kenny took them for me):

After the stitches were taken out, my right arm looked so bruised and fragile (and skinnier!), that I was afraid to move it much. He put a few pieces of tape over the wound and then moved my wrist and fingers around to see if I was having any pain. It really didn't hurt much and he was pleased with how I was coming along. He suggested I periodically 'make a fist' to try to get some flexibility back. Here I am in the doc's office after the stitches were taken out and I've got quite a happy slappy look on my face:

And, some of the bestest news of all, look at what he is having me wear for the next 4 weeks:

I wasn't sure if he was going to give me the same splint I was wearing, or end up casting it. Looks like I got the best option - a lightweight, REMOVEABLE hand splint. I can remove it for showering, but I probably won't for another week. He said other than showering, I should keep it on at all times. I'm just happy that I can finally wash that arm!

And for the ultimate bestest news of all, he told me that I could run before the 4 weeks was up, although I probably should give it a few more weeks first. Wahoo!!!! No trails, of course. He said nothing where there could be a big risk of falling. So, I'll have to stick to roads for a while, but overall, it was fabulous to hear the great news. I'll just wait and see how I feel after two more weeks. My biggest concern has been and still is to ensure that my wrist heals up nicely.

Kenny took me to Einstein's bagels afterwards to celebrate, and I ate a most delicious cranberry bagel. Later on today, we'll make a ton of chile rellenos from the batch of roasted chilies that Kenny picked up in New Mexico last month. We freeze them when he brings them home and enjoy them all year long in everything.

Yep, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me indeed. :)