I hope this note elicits some useful advice but also that it serves as an inspiration to others
This morning when I started my morning abolutions with determination to act as a two-handed person I picked up my toothbrush and was struck by the new ability to hold it firmly in the right hand in what felt like the correct grip !
That was when my hand was down by the taps.
As I raised it to my mouth to use then the same old challenges emerged.
My grip loosened, I tilted my head down instead of continue to raise my hand up, There was neither strength nor coordination
But being able to grip it when I picked it up was definitely a new advancement.
One that is clearly on the path to capability that has not yet arrived in full.
Later when showering and using my customary daily exercise component of washing my left armpit with my right handā¦ while the little finger curled in in a way that I still have not mastered preventing and the other fingers did a poor job of dexterously holding the soap I did actually feel that there was more strength
I could actually rub the soap against me with appropriate pressure. Something that has been building over recent weeks. Today felt like another level of competency was attained
Iām wondering how much of this capability is because over the last week or so I have been digging the soil out of a compost bin That has done its purpose & bagging the soil for easier transport around the garden .
A few bags on various days (probably about 12 so far with another 10 or more to go - as Iāve filled each rubble bag half full I have spent the 20 or 30 seconds it takes to wrap one corner and my fingers of the right hand into something approximating a grip. Then I grasped the other corner with my left hand lifted the bag and moved it out of the way. Frequently halfway I have to stop and spend the 20 to 30 seconds again restoring the grip
Itās an action that I vary for different tasks but by making the right hand participant and by giving it challenges there were initially way beyond its capability My toothbrush now rises from the taps where the orientation of my arm is the same as the bags of soil - but it loses the grip in the same way I can put my hand flat on my head to wash my hair but I cannot yet put it flat on my cheek to wash my face.
Has anybody come across any elements of exercise or any discussion with physios about how capability of movement in the hand (and Iāll guess the foot) is dependant on orientation of the whole arm (leg)
If so what can you share That might help all of our struggles with recovering dexterity throughout the range of movement enabled by other joints.
As a final illustration of this: I have a basket for my pills on the kitchen table. For some months I have kept it at arms length. Initially I couldnāt extend my arm then I could extend my arm but not bring my fingers to form a pinching grip to pick it up at full extension - today I could reach out fully pick it up place it in front of me and let go of it!!
Progress is so slow There are so many nuanced factors interacting - But it is there and Iām coming on if not in leaps and bounds then in twitches and jerks
Caio
Simon