I'M FREE!!!

Yesterday was the day that I've been waiting for - Cast Removal Day. I had to book the day off with all my parents, but I was still doing before and after school. Of course, it was the usual hurry up and wait at the hospital, what with waiting to register, then waiting to be called in to have the cast removed, which wasn't too long, and so on. The removal process was literally less than a minute. The guy took the saw thing, and zip - down one side, then zip- down the other side, then he used scissors to cut through the batting and snap, off it came with a shower of dead skin flakes.
Ew, yeah, I know.
Then he shooed me off to x-ray.
At first, my arm felt very naked and vulnerable. I immediately wanted to protect it, instead of revelling in the freedom. While sitting and waiting for my x-ray, I experimented gently with how far one way or another I could bend my wrist. It's not too bad, actually. I think the fact that I used my hand so much for the 6.5 weeks, plus the fact that I could and did wiggle my arm around inside the cast helped. I can bend my wrist back farther than I can forward, but even today it is more flexible and less sore than yesterday afternoon. Yesterday there were a few times that I got a sharp stabbing pain shooting down my arm when I positioned my thumb a certain way. I haven't had that today, or maybe I just haven't put my thumb in that position.
But I expected all this stuff; the dead skin, the weird feeling, the weakness/stiffness. What I didn't expect was how sensitive my skin is now where the cast covered it. It's strange. If I stroke my wrist or arm, it's so sensitive that it borders on irritating. And my palm is sensing things differently than my other palm. That's the weirdest part. I put my hand down on my bare knee, which is a tad stubbly since being shaved about a week ago. With my left hand (cast one), it felt very pokey and rough. With my right, it just felt a little stubbly, but not very. I put my left hand down on the computer desk here, and the temperature felt so cold I thought it was wet. I put my right hand down, and it just felt cool, not cold. Fascinating.
It shows as adults how desensitized our skin and expecially our hands are. I wonder how much more sensitive a newborn baby's skin feels? No wonder they cry about everything! The softest blanket to us, could feel rough and chafing to them.
Anyhow, I was happy to be finally free and able to put my winter jacket back together (I'd had to pull the liner out and use one of DH's sweatshirts because the liner's arm wouldn't fit over the cast.) I also got to finally put a glove on my left hand! After seeing the Dr., who congratulated me on healing so well (whatever, like I did that on purpose!) I was sent to a nearby building to purchase a brace, just like one you'd wear for roller blading. So I'll be wearing that for skiing, and I wore it last night to bed because I was afraid I'd wrench my wrist in my sleep or something.
Speaking of skiing, I was really hoping to go this weekend, since I can wear my coat properly, and mitts and everything. Now of course I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.
Of course.
The universe hates me.
I haven't had a cold AT ALL this winter!! Definitely not since I got the cast on. I couldn't have come down with a cold last weekend, when it was like hell had frozen over temperatures and we had nothing to do but hang out inside the house all weekend! Oh nooooo, of course not. So I am taking aconite (a homeopathic remedy), drinking green tea with ginseng, and I might even consider taking some of that nasty cold-fx that makes me feel nauseous and gives me heartburn.
DAMN!