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That's better than I had expected, given the reduced agility of my right hand (and the ergonomics of sitting on a couch typing on a laptop).

While doing my finger folding tendon exercises today there was a snap inside my forearm and crunchy kind of sound as something got unstuck. It hurt like hell, and I momentarily paniced before I realised that the finger I was exercising at the moment had actually folded as it should and nothing had actually snapped. Phew.

My forearm still aches a bit.

Had an appointment with my hand surgeon this morning. He didn't think there was anything more they could do because the current state is good enough to live with, so it's not worth the risk of another operation to cut the injured tendon free of the surrounding tissue it has grown stuck into.

So, I'm on my own from now on. Check back in 1½ years for a final verdict if I a) get around to figure out how to report the injury to the insurance company, and b) still have the company paid accident insurance by then. I wonder if they keep pending insurance claims, or if I'm fucked if my employment were to be terminated.

I had another followup appointment with the hand therapist at 08:00 this morning. The last two weeks has been too lazy on the rehab exercise side and the swelling should have gone down more than it has. Got some tips on how to help the body move excess fluids out of the hand, by stroking the outside of the hand and forearm from fingertips down to the elbow. Apparently the lymphatic vessels run close under the skin on the outside of the hand and the stroking helps return lymph fluid to the core.

New exercise program is four times per day of five to ten repetitions of nine different movements:
· Let hand hang palm down over the edge of a table, and flex wrist backwards and forwards.
· Lay hand palm down on table, and flex wrist sideways.
· Put elbow down on table and twist hand left and right.
· Flex only the outer joint of each finger. Straighten fully and relax.
· Flex mid and outer joints of all fingers, aiming to touch the base of each finger with its tip. Straighten fully and relax.
· Flex only the mid joint of each finger, holding the other fingers straight. Straighten fully and relax.
· Flex knuckle and mid joints of all fingers, aiming to touch the base of the hand with finger tips. Straighten fully and relax.
· Roll fingers up into a closed fist. Straighten fully and relax.
· Touch each fingertip with tip of thumb, as to pick up a needle. Then touch the palm of of the hand with tip of thumb. Straighten hand fully and relax.

Now I can touch the palm of my hand with three fingers. Only one more to go!

I can touch the base of my thumb with my index finger! It hurts like hell to straighten the fingers afterwards but I guess it's worth some pain to get my hand back into usable shape.

I had an appointment for following up the healing progress. Everything is as expected, which is good. I'll continue with rehab exercises for the next 6-8 weeks before the next visit to the doctor to assess the progress. Agility will slowly get better with time and using the hand as much as possible will make things better faster stronger. The nerve damage also seems to be healing, but this may take as much as a year before we know how good or bad it will be. The doctor poked my fingers with a needle and actually found a live nerve connection in the midst of void. The rehab exercises are down to twice a day with focus on pushing the flex ability to eventually being able to touch the palm of my hand with all fingers.

By now the severed tendon should have healed completely, 8 long weeks after the injury, so now I'm allowed to do anything I can do and probably should be practicing everything I can't do. The hand is still not very useful, with limited agility and strength. Wrist flexed fully backwards with fingers folded can be seen to the right and wrist flexed fully forwards with fingers straightened to the left. Not very good compared to a normal hand. But still, it's much better than when I first got the hand out of the plaster some weeks ago.

Only half a week left until the tendon is fully healed, but a long way to go before this hand is usable for anything complicated. New skills to practice:
* All personal hygiene and grooming
* Opening/closing water taps
* Holding a cup of coffee or a full glass
* Cutting meat (yay!)
* Using scissors
* Doing dishes (except for heavy objects)
* Playing the piano
* Crocheting, knitting, embroidering
* Driving a car
* Weeding flower-beds
* Picking up objects weighing ½ kg

I may now (since yesterday) start to practice doing more things with both hands, including:
* Washing myself and combing my hair
* Shaving with electric or non-electric razor
* Light desk duties, holding a phone handset
* Eating with knife and fork (except for cutting meat)
* Wiping the kitchen sink
* Using a computer
* Picking up objects weighing 1 hg

Today was the day I've been waiting for: The ritual cutting of the bandages. I kept the plaster splint as a souvenir, hanging by its fingertips from the top shelf of my media rack. You can see it trying to reach the enlightenment of the sacred chao on the picture.

I also got new orders on what do do and what to don't with my shiny new poorly tuned flesh-and-bone prosthetic hand. Keep doing wrist exercises once a day and the four times per day exercise to practice flexing each finger joint.

I may and should also do the day-to-day tasks including or similar to:
* Carefully washing my face or other hand
* Light helping manouvres while getting dressed
* Lifting papers, changing page of a book, light handwriting
* Helping the cats pick withered leaves from house plants
* Holding light objects like a CD or a sandwich
* Putting on make-up (you'd like that picture, wouldn't you?)

Other exciting tasks will be unlocked within a week.