Home with Rob and the Giant Block of Foam

Rob in recovery We’re home from the hospital and I’ve already had to chase Rob away from the sink, where he was trying to do dishes with one hand.

The surgeon came to let me know that Rob was finished around 11:00 but I had to wait another half an hour or so before they took me up to see him. In the recovery room, they had a row of chairs that would have looked at home on the Enterprise, all occupied with men dressed just like Rob. The only variation was which arm had the giant block o’ foam strapped to it.

Rob at lunch After they released him, I helped him get his jacket on and we headed out to the pharmacy and then to lunch. At the moment he says that the pain isn’t any worse than during the worst days at the winery. Certainly, aside from the giant block of foam strapped to his arm, you’d have no idea that anything was wrong with him. He’s going back next Wednesday to have the stitches out, but is supposed to keep the GBoF attached to him for the next eight days. Also, no lifting of anything, but otherwise, he’s supposed to use the fingers to keep them mobile.

The GBoF should be interesting when he goes back to work…

And yes, we’ve already talked about what puppets I could make from it. It’s good dense foam. And in a giant block.

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26 thoughts on “Home with Rob and the Giant Block of Foam”

  1. V. happy that Rob is fine, Mary – although still v. disappointed that they didn’t give him one of those giant foam hands instead.

    If he feels bored with the giant foam arm look, you could always get some boxes and turn him into one of the robots from Flight of the Conchords’ music video The Humans Are Dead?

  2. Okay, at first glance I thought “all I can see is his fingertips. His arm is obscured by that stack of stuff.”

    Then I looked at the second picture, and AGAIN thought “why is Mary shooting such horrible pictures? I want the SUBJECT MATTER.”

    And then it dawned on me. That IS a giant block of foam. Wow.

    1. Ha! I had pretty much the same reaction when I saw him except wondering why the chair was so strange. Then I realized that the giant block o’ foam went with Rob, not the chair.

  3. Glad this has finally happened! And glad it seems to have gone well, of course.

    I’m thinking that GBoFs may be the future of fashion. In the future, everyone will walk around with giant blocks of foam attached to various parts of their body. Rob is a trendsetter!

  4. Well, clearly, foam is where the art is. Or you could say all’s well, with nerve ends well.

    But really, glad to hear the good news after all your travail, Mary.

  5. That is so not what I was expecting! I had a mental image of one of those harnesses they use to strap people’s arms to their torsos after a shoulder surgery or the like. Rob’s going to be able to start some very interesting conversations over the next eight days. 🙂

  6. Livia Llewellyn

    Ok, my first reaction to the foam was “puppet material”, but now that I’ve actually seen it, I think steampunking it would be much better. Rivets, gears, and a nice metallic finish. I mean, what Manhattanite wouldn’t want a giant robot arm? You’d always be first in line at the deli. 😀

  7. Does his arm have to be in the GBoF at all times? How is he going to sleep?

    Glad it all went well.

    I’m with Jed, Rob is a trendsetter. You will be seeing many GBoF used on the runways in Paris very soon!

  8. See, someone needs to build him a giant gundam suit to match the GBOF. He’s looking like boho Hellboy there. Someone with aliot of prop building experience needs to rock that gundam suit out and fast.

    Now who could that be…

  9. I suppose he could use it to whack kids while yelling ‘Get off my lawn!- assuming you have a lawn.

    Alternatively, I’m sure that the kitties will be happy to use it as a scratching post.

  10. Poor pet. He looks thoroughly disgusted.

    Glad all the waiting’s over and the healing’s beginning. And that you’ll have plenty of time to plan your artistic strategy for tackling the GBoF.

    I like the Steampunk Robot arm idea, myself.

  11. My first thought was that he was well on his way to a great cyborg costume, but I’m not the first to say such things. Still, creative minds could do much with the GBoF… Here’s wishing Rob a speedy recovery!

  12. Yes, definitely want to paint that red and pretend to be Hellboy.

    Alternately, carve it into an Extremity Health Totem.

    My dad had both hands done for carpal tunnel, and he didn’t get the Giant Block of Foam. He just got a little incision in his palm.

  13. Livia Llewellyn

    Actually, I’ve changed my mind. Stick a knife and some tentacles into that foam, get it to spurt a bit of webbing, and you’ve got a SciFi Channel Original Movie.

  14. The caption for the second, wistful photo of Rob is “Hmm, I wonder what Mary will create out of this”. Really, I laughed when I saw it… did the doctor choose this orthopedic device just to tempt you? Given your recent projects Mary, the sky is the limit… carve it into a limp sheep or dog, perhaps some sort of ferocious ferret wrapping around the fore arm, a winged dragon? The big black Frankenstein boot they gave David for his broken leg wasn’t nearly so inspiring…

    Oh, and of course, speedy recovery and all that!

  15. I’ll wager that sleeping with that goober strapped to your wing is about as joyful as having a body cast with an unscratchable itch.

    On the bright side, if he happens to blunder into any turbulent bodies of water over the next week, he’s got his own personal flotation device good to go. No worries there.

    In any event, glad to see this finally come to bear and here’s hoping his recovery happens at light speed and without incident.

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