Hand exercises

I don't go to the cinema very often. In fact, I think I've only been four times in the past decade! I'm more likely to wait a few months and then rent the movie when it comes out on DVD. But Ada, Gabriela and I went to the movies on Friday night - to see something that was not at all typical of the films I usually watch.

It happened like this. Late one Saturday evening, a couple of weeks ago, they showed an old film on TV: the Karate Kid. It had kind of a 1980s feel about it, and it was funny to see teenage actors that we'd only previously seen in grown up roles in the 1990s. When we heard that the same movie had been remade this year, Ada said she'd like to take Gabriela and me to see it on the opening night - last Friday. I'm not usually a fan of martial arts, but this was a family film and so we decided to go along and make it a family outing.

This new version of the movie was a bit more action-packed (polite way of saying more violent) than the old one and, still sitting with my hand in a splint, I almost winced in pain as the actors did their exercises and used the side of their hand to wallop each other. Like the old movie, though, the new version of the film brought the same messages about playing fair and accepting others who are different from ourselves, and we all enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, after four weeks of immobilisation, I'm now allowed to remove the splint and begin doing exercises to strengthen the ligament and rehabilitate my thumb. At the moment, it's still really painful, and I can't bend it back or forward as much as normal (in the above photo, the injured thumb is the one at the back) but my physiotherapist friend has shown me some exercises to do, and I'm trusting things will begin to improve soon.