Very very briefly

How did it get to be this hour already? I'm really tired and should start getting ready for bed, but I just wanted to tell you this: compared to yesterday, my hand/thumb/wrist wasn't at all painful today.

How little pain I had today, in fact, made me realize how much I was in yesterday*, which I don't remember from November. It was so hard to concentrate on work yesterday as waves of pain washed over me, and I tried not to whimper too loudly. Today was just mild discomfort. Whew, what an improvement.

*I kind of thought I was being a wimp, actually. But maybe not!

Tomorrow, pictures! Of ... random things! How will you stand the excitement?

Quick Ouch Update

This is going to be short (and probably not so sweet, honestly). The irony of the tendinitis treatment is that, in the short term, the steroid shot brings far more constant pain than the tendinitis itself does. Trying to do things with my right wrist can be painful, while trying to do things using only the left is slow and frustrating.

Here's a partial list of things that are difficult, awkward, slow, and/or painful to do one-handed (and lefty at that):

• type
• blow my nose
• tie my shoes
• use Chapstick
• seal a zip-top bag
• wash my hands
• dry my hands
• shelling peas (oh noooo!)
  

Yes, I got another steroid shot this morning. The shot itself, while very painful, was not as agonizing as the first one (when I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold still any longer), but the rest of the day has been, ah, well. Waves of pain and no comfortable position to be found. Not fun, shall we say. But if it makes the pain go away, it's worth it.

Eventually.

**********
Quick hockey note: does Chris Bourque ever look like his father!

(It's from an article about his team winning the Calder Cup, which is nice. Good hockey genes in this kid.)

Finally, Finally Friday

Well, this week has been a hell of a downer, hasn't it. Let's find some good news, shall we? There isn't much, but there's a little bit, and what with the major sorrow of losing Harold, and the minor but definite annoyance of my period coming this week with (naturally) more cramps and backache than usual, I need to look at sunshine (metaphorically speaking). And I don't just mean that the Bruins managed to win last night (just barely, in the shootout, but it counts). (Can they make it 2 in a row tonight?) (Odds are they can't, but one lives in hope.)

The biggest one, and I've almost overlooked this with everything else, has to do with that whole issue with my hand/thumb and the tendinitis and the shot, remember?

It seems to be ... better. The shot may have ... helped. Last I remember, I twanged the tendon viciously once over the weekend, and minorly a couple of times. I can't remember hitting it wrong on Monday. Since then? Not too bad. I stopped wearing the splint. And it seems to be ... not hurting. I don't feel that I have quite the full range of motion, but just not having that sudden intense pain is ... nice.

I would be much more excited, would care much more, except that since Harold died, it's kind of hard to find anything else very important. I don't feel much about this news. It's more like, intellectually, I know it's a good thing. I don't really care ... but I know I probably will, someday.

There's knitting, too. Monday at stitch and bitch, I wound this Rhinebeck yarn, with cowls in my mind:


Last night I cast on, experimenting. We're supposed to have sun this weekend, so hopefully I can get a good shot in progress. It's going pretty well so far.

Looking forward, I see a 2-day work week followed by five count 'em five days off. (Taking Wednesday as a vacation day, then Thursday and Friday we get for Thanksgiving.) Whew! Is that ever going to feel good. (Then it's three weeks of work followed by Christmas already, ack/yay combined.)

And looking yet farther ahead, the hockey fans among you (hello? anyone?) will already know that Boston is the site of this season's NHL outside game, the Winter Classic, on New Year's Day. It is rumored/assumed that tickets will be both wicked expensive and way hard to get, which is why when I heard that the Bruins alumni were having a game there January 2nd, with extremely reasonable prices, I decided, count me in for that! So will I see you at Fenway Park six weeks from Saturday?

I'm not the only crazy one, you know: the tickets went on sale to the public today, but they were pre-offered to season ticket holders yesterday, and sold 12,000. So there's that.

I'm off to watch the game. Thank you all for the kind words and well-wishes. It all helps. Have a good weekend!

Still Congested, After All These Years

It's a new day in the thumb saga, because on Monday the doctor told me that it could take 3-10 days to determine if the shot helps (ten! whimper). So of course today, three days later, I am ... hopeful. Or certainly watchful. Wondering.

The bruise is fading, and there is a very slight bump where the shot went. It doesn't even look swollen or scary, just wrong, in the "I just know" way: something is different from the way it usually is. I had an experience of that many years ago, in fact, when I woke up one day to see that the bridge of my nose was swollen. Not "oh my god what's wrong with her" swollen, just wider than usual. For no discernible reason. It was very weird.

Anyway, I had the splint off today after washing my hands and moved the wrong way and ow, we are not healed yet. Waiting is hard, but at least the hope is still there.

In cold news (not the weather kind, the health kind), yes, I'm still congested. You were expecting that to change? And yes, I've tried decongestants, with no noticeable improvement. It does seem to be getting slowly better, emphasis on the slow part. Last night I didn't need a cough drop to get to sleep, or get back to sleep! This is super good news, as I loathe the mentholated cough drops, and granted they work, but it's hard to get to sleep while gagging on the flavor.

I'm sort of tempted to call the doctor's office and ask them if there's anything else I can DO about the congestion. I haven't yet, because I'm pretty sure the answer would be "give it time, rest, drink plenty of fluids, blah blah blah."

But I'm also a little scared that they would suggest ... a Neti pot, and I just can't. I can't. My squeamishness is large enough to need its own zip code (have you noticed that about me?), and if you use one and it's like a little miracle, more power to you, but I just ... can't. Ew. I get queasy just thinking about it.

Anyway, I felt a little closer to my usual self today, which gives me hope that things could be improving. I'm never going to be the Energizer Bunny, but give me the stamina to do laundry this weekend, all right? I don't think I'm asking too much.

Update Update

Health Update
Still congested. Still coughing (having to pop a mentholated cough drop in the Starbucks line is really wrong). Still kind of tired, and totally really utterly sick of being sick. Day eleven!

Thumb Update
Still sore. Has a bruise, roughly an inch long and sort of arrowhead-shaped, at the base of the thumb. Really ready for that shot to work. Because it will work! The power of positive thinking will make it so!

Work Update
Um. I quote from the Miss Conduct chat last week; I think this says all I should say about work:

"Don't burn a bridge, even one that leads to the Isle of Idiot."

Evening Plans
Dinner is in the oven (chicken, which will accompany rice pilaf and peas). The Bruins game is on (they won on Saturday, playing their best solid game of the season; can they make it two in a row?). Have a pretty picture, and a nice evening.

The Mostly Bulleted Update

• I'm feeling better, but still congested. When the nurse called me in today and I had to actually talk, repeatedly, I Could Not stop coughing. To the point where she asked if I needed water. I'm really glad to feel some better, but on Day Ten, the idea of life without congestion is intriguing.
• The doctor's examination hurt. I know it had to, since he had to see where the hand hurts, but ow.
• The shot Really hurt. Again, naturally, since in order for it to solve the problem (and apparently it's 9 chances out of 10 that it will) the shot has to go in the owie part, but still. OW!
• They gave me a more serious splint that will better immobilize the thumb, since the shot will take a few days to sink in. Temperamentally, the new guy is less "maybe you shouldn't move too much that way", and more "YOU WILL NOT MOVE!" It really keeps me from moving my thumb, and I can hardly move my wrist either. Which, I know, is the point, but still. Awkward!

Old one:

New one:

• You know what's awkward with this splint? Blowing my nose. Good thing I don't have to do that much. (Fun fact: on Saturday, I started applying Vaseline lotion around my nose, where the skin was peeling off. Also, yesterday, I bought more tissues with lotion. Between the two, my nose is doing much better, though objectively, I don't like the feel of those tissues. My nose does, though!)
• Also awkward? Using a staple remover. Guess what I needed to do all day long?
• It's also difficult to find a comfortable resting position for the arm in the splint. I'm hoping this is underlying discomfort from the actual shot, and will resolve in time. In the meantime, I spent most of the day with it at my side, but sticking forward as if I was about to shake everyone's hand. Which could not be farther from my plans.

The staple-removing project has me quite bored, but also irritated (see, I can multi-task). It involves scanning stacks of old records, so what I'm spending most of my time doing is: un-staple pages, take them to copier, scan them, return to desk, open e-mail, open pdf, check pages, save pdf, re-staple pages. Repeat.* Sometimes the copier breaks a batch into 2 groups, and I have to insert pages to get them into one document. Riveting, right?

*When I was a kid, there was a sign on our fridge that said, "For this I spent four years in college?" I didn't get it then.

Yet hear me complain when the copier suddenly throws me a curve, and takes my 8-page batch and e-mails me a TIFF of the first page, instead of a PDF of all 8 pages. WTF?

Also, when you are using the scanner All Day Long, you get angry out of all proportion at the people who take print-outs from the tray and leave what isn't theirs on top of the printer, instead of putting the paper in the hanging basket six inches from the top of the printer. Thank you for leaving that special task for me!

Oh, one more bullet point:

• He wants me to come back in six weeks. Know when that is? Christmas week! Sorry for the scare, but can you believe that?

Let's end on a happier note than that. Have a toe pic!

Grump Update

I still feel sick. Congested, really tired. My boss asked why I don't go to the doctor, but I'm sure all he would say is rest and drink fluids. I'm doing that. Stupid cold.

My thumb/hand/wrist still hurts. I just tweaked it and had to sit down for a minute. Stupid tendinitis. (I get the steroid shot Monday. Please let that help.) The list of things that are awkward, difficult, or virtually impossible to do with one hand grows daily. Just for fun, try brushing your hair left-handed tonight. Or your teeth. Try to pull on a shirt without moving your thumb or wrist, or letting any weight pull on that arm. Try to pull a glove on your other hand without using that thumb. Try to wash your left arm with your left arm, next time you shower. It's a new game! It's fun!

The Bruins are not doing so well. They keep ... losing. It's not really fun to watch. They're losing tonight, and the only goal so far was scored by a former Bruin. They just can't score (they've been shut out in their last two, and half of this one so far). And David Krejci has swine flu. Really.

On the (faint) bright side, tomorrow is Friday already! Funny how spending so much time in a fog moves the week along. Plus--it's time for ice cream! I bet that will help the coughing. And if not, well, it will make me feel better.

Yes, tendinitis, of a sort

So apparently what I have is "de Quervain's tenosynovitis"; you can read about it via the Mayo Clinic (picked at random for being reputable) here.

As I have already tried the ibuprofen and splint route, the doctor is moving me on to the next step, which is going to an orthopedist for a steroid shot, which he said helps in "most" cases.

Unfortunately for me, he raised my expectations by saying that the ortho would probably be able to see me within a week. When I called for an appointment, the first one they had was in two and a half weeks. Which isn't really that long (although, ouch), but I've said it before, the key to happiness is lowered expectations.

I'm off to watch the rest of the Bruins game, with a new book from the library, and then go to sleep in the glowing knowledge of sleeping in, and enjoying day one of a three-day weekend. I plan to post more about Rhinebeck tomorrow, but until I do, have a good one!