Skip to main content

Triggered

Taking a picture of my working hand with my non-working hand results in a photo like this, but it will give you the general idea of how the hand looks right now. I've done a lot of research on what is going on with my perpetually-dislocating ring finger, and found a new and pretty painful nodule in my palm directly under it. That means it's probably stenosing tenosynovitis, or trigger finger, which is one of the more delightful complications of arthritis. Believe it or not, that's the good news.

I'm going to talk to my doctor about it to confirm that's the cause, but evidently there's not a lot that can be done without surgery, which I want to avoid because I don't heal well anymore (thank you, diabetes.) I also don't want to go back on the shots because of the side effects. Sleeping with my finger in a splint might help ease the tendon inflammation, as will massages. As I theorized I need to avoid using or stressing it.

Having to cope with life with only three working fingers at the moment could be depressing, but I'm going to look at it as a challenge. I can definitely try to get more use out of the non-working hand, so I'll start exercising that one every day and practice doing things with it. So far I can use eating utensils with my left hand, and loosely hold things. That's progress.

Comments

nightsmusic said…
Do the gloves, I can't remember what they're called...compression gloves help at all? Can you wear those during the day or overnight even? Has the doc given you exercises? Do you have exercise balls? You squeeze them several times a day, so many squeezes at a time. That seems to help a bit for me. And has the doc tried to drain that nodule? Maybe it's a cyst.
Anonymous said…
Try as I might I could not get blogger to recognize my ID on my phone.
I have no internet so I'm piggybacking on a grocery store's wifi.

Anyway, I was going to say that your hands are so much prettier than mine. Mine look like an old bricklayer hands. I think you're stuck with surgery for what you have, but I understand not getting it done.
the author said…
I have thought about getting the compression gloves, but I'm also worried about circulation with them, which is another issue for me now. I do have the exercise balls, but this is more like extreme tendonitis, so that will likely only make it worse. I can't afford the downtime that comes with a needle aspiration right now, but maybe this summer.
the author said…
Hang in there, pal. A couple years ago I started using Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Hand Cream, which is expensive, but actually does heal chapping and small cuts, and keeps my hands looking better.

Popular posts from this blog

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.

Goodwill Gamble #2 Arrives

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...