The end is in sight

It's been a year now since I lost the use of my right hand. This was due to a damaged radial nerve in my elbow. How did that happen? I don't know, but it was pretty scary at the time.

My local hospital, The Royal Surrey County Hospital, acknowledged their lack of expertise with nerve issues and referred me on to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. I have been greatly reassured by their lack of invasive surgery, leaving it to my own body to heal itself.

In the meantime, I have become a left-hander, learning to write, paint, and clean my teeth with my non-dominant hand. It has been surprisingly easy to make this transition; the worst part was having little or no use of my right hand for an extended period.

One year on and I am almost back to normal (whatever that is!). My thumb is still rather numb and not working as it should, but I have confidence that that will resolve itself. I'm still doing most things left-handedly, but I have started to use my right hand much more. Grip has returned and I can now paint with my right hand again, although I still tend to use the left.

A bonus to come out of this episode is that I am now fairly ambidextrous, something to be grateful for in my book.

It's wonderful what our bodies can do to heal themselves.