Never Forget!

Never forget how uncomfortable it was in the cast. In hot humid Singapore, the cast was like wearing a winter coat in the summer. I felt warm all the time. And sweating was not good. If my leg was sweating, then the sweat would remain in there as "foreign matter" and in a few hours make it itch. With the cast, I could not stretch the muscles. I could not touch, feel or massage my aching leg. I could not clean it, wash it. I was not supposed to poke at my leg to relieve the itching, but I did. My dad got an ultra long back scratcher and straightened it out. And a bamboo cane as well which got into the hard-to-reach corners.

I was afraid that the warmth would make my leg hair grow (some stupid guy told me that), so I tried to keep cool all the time. The other "rumour" was that it grew because it was dark and because of the rubbing alcohol that they used just before putting the cast on. (The hair did not grow in there, my leg was the same when I removed the cast. Only a few days later when everything settled, then the new hair started sprouting. ugh. The "sock" which was the initial / inner layer of the cast they pulled over my leg made my hair grow upwards such that when the cast was removed, the hair stood out for about three weeks. It's only just begun to settle down now.)

Never forget how difficult it was to sit, eat, bathe. Everything that was normally taken for granted was a little challenge. As I had to use crutches to get around, I could not even grab a cup of water on my own.

Bathing was an interesting challenge. Actually, I think not bathing was even more of a challenge. Taking a shower is a mundane activity that most take for granted. What if now you could not stand on both feet and you must keep one foot dry at all costs. So it was a tedious hassle to take a shower and I didn't until I absolutely had to.