New Cast, New Activities, New Difficulties

After I received so many responses on my first post about my wrist surgery, I decided it would be interesting to continue updating the Twins Daily community on my progress. Hopefully my journey provides everyone with a little insight into something different in the world of professional baseball.

Today is 13 days post op. My wife and I took a short jaunt down Highway 52 to the Mayo Clinic. On the docket was a switch from a splint to a hard cast.

We arrived at the 15th floor for my appointment. It's the kind of place that offers a surprise behind every door. Door A for pre op, door B for surgery, door C for casts-a super utility floor for a super utility guy. Makes me feel right at home.

I was extremely excited for the arrival of a real cast as it meant a return to exercise, and a possible return to video gaming.

The nurse came in and started cutting away, she got through all the fluff to reveal the forearm of a 7th grade boy. What happened?

You don't want to see what's under there

A new nurse named Bill entered with the PA who was present during my operation. She said Bill was the best at this-he had been doing it for 33 years. He was an experienced casting magician.

After my arm was cleaned and sanitized, he started the wrapping process, I swear I heard him call out a few spells under his breath. After sufficient pre-wrapping material, Bill started getting the hard plaster material wet. He used some more wizardry and the cast began hardening.

Going to need a silver sharpie so all my friends can sign it

When the PA returned I asked an important question regarding video games. She said one hour of Madden at a time would suffice.

Working out for the first time in a couple weeks felt great, even though I am still unable to use both arms. I thought it would only prevent me from doing bench press and push-ups. What I didn't imagine was difficulty...tying my shoes. I mean really, have you ever tried to tie your shoes with one hand? Do yourself a favor and do the one-handed shoe tying challenge today. It is incredible. I used my teeth and my other foot, and eventually got them tied loosely.

The next step to look forward in my recovery is when the hard cast comes off in four weeks.

I hope you enjoy a look inside my rehabilitation. While not one journey is the same, many ball players go through the process sometime in their career.

To follow my journey and the randomness the offseason often brings, check me out on Twitter- @apettersen1

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