Involuntary southpaw
About a month ago, I developed some pain in my right wrist. Being the idiot that I am, I ignored it and figured it would eventually go away. I painted my darkroom primarily with my left hand, and started using it for things like opening doors and beer bottles (you know, the important stuff).
Then, Sunday, I noticed a bump on my right wrist. Okay, so now maybe that needs some attention.
Yesterday I visited my primary care physician, who diagnosed a ganglian cyst, which sounds much worse than it is. Typically you stick a needle in it and drain off the fluid and go about your business, maybe with a wrist immobilizer for a couple two three days. I did some research and it turns out in the olden days they'd just thump 'em real hard with a bible to get rid of 'em (which is why they're sometimes still called bible bumps), but people stopped doing that when they figured out they might actually be causing more injury (ya think?!).
The doc numbed the skin and brought out a needle. I'm not afraid of needles, being a long-time blood donor, but it's not something I generally enjoy watching. I turned my head away and studied the black and white print of a tree on the far wall.
I then felt the most excruciating pain of my life, barring the time I had dry socket. It was instant, searing pain. I started crying without being able to help it, which is an odd feeling. The tears just poured out, and I'm pretty sure the part of my body that didn't have a needle sticking out of it jumped about three feet. The doctor said, "Oooooo."
Not exactly inspiring confidence.
After a few seconds of mind-numbing pain, he withdrew the needle. "Um, yeah. I couldn't get anything. You're gonna have to go see an orthopedic surgeon."
%^$@. I feel like I just got out of the freakin' boot and now I gotta go back.
So off I went today to the ortho, who diagnosed the same thing as the primary, only he was smart enough to not anger it by poking it with a big, fat needle. That's the second step if step one doesn't work.
What's step one, you ask? Well, yours truly is now sporting a black wrist immobilizer and takes Naproxen twice daily, with food. Fun.
The immobilizer is more of a pain in the ass than anything. It's hard to type. I keep hitting wrong buttons on the keyboard and bringing up the Mac's search option, or highlighting and then erasing much of what I've just written. I also just brought up the source code for the blog inadvertently, which is interesting, a little scary, and not at all what I meant to do. All this stuff that keeps happening while I'm trying to type is highly infuriating and not conducive to my mental well-being. I'm mousing with my left hand now, which is easier than I expected, but slow, which is also infuriating to someone who is used to working quickly on a computer.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm gonna have to lay off typing on the blog a whole lot for the next couple weeks. I'm to limit my computer usage, which is hilarious given that 99.9% of my day job involves working on the computer, and once I get home then I have to do homework for school, on the computer. Something's gotta give, and unfortunately the two things I can give up right now are photography and blogging. You know, the two fun things on the computer.
Okay, I've almost just lost my entire post for the gajillionth time, giving me yet another heart attack, so I'm gonna sign off now. If I feel up to it, I'll try to throw something up. If you find you really need some of my wit and wisdom (or whatever the hell it is I post here), gimme a call. I'll use my left hand to answer the phone.
Then, Sunday, I noticed a bump on my right wrist. Okay, so now maybe that needs some attention.
Yesterday I visited my primary care physician, who diagnosed a ganglian cyst, which sounds much worse than it is. Typically you stick a needle in it and drain off the fluid and go about your business, maybe with a wrist immobilizer for a couple two three days. I did some research and it turns out in the olden days they'd just thump 'em real hard with a bible to get rid of 'em (which is why they're sometimes still called bible bumps), but people stopped doing that when they figured out they might actually be causing more injury (ya think?!).
The doc numbed the skin and brought out a needle. I'm not afraid of needles, being a long-time blood donor, but it's not something I generally enjoy watching. I turned my head away and studied the black and white print of a tree on the far wall.
I then felt the most excruciating pain of my life, barring the time I had dry socket. It was instant, searing pain. I started crying without being able to help it, which is an odd feeling. The tears just poured out, and I'm pretty sure the part of my body that didn't have a needle sticking out of it jumped about three feet. The doctor said, "Oooooo."
Not exactly inspiring confidence.
After a few seconds of mind-numbing pain, he withdrew the needle. "Um, yeah. I couldn't get anything. You're gonna have to go see an orthopedic surgeon."
%^$@. I feel like I just got out of the freakin' boot and now I gotta go back.
So off I went today to the ortho, who diagnosed the same thing as the primary, only he was smart enough to not anger it by poking it with a big, fat needle. That's the second step if step one doesn't work.
What's step one, you ask? Well, yours truly is now sporting a black wrist immobilizer and takes Naproxen twice daily, with food. Fun.
The immobilizer is more of a pain in the ass than anything. It's hard to type. I keep hitting wrong buttons on the keyboard and bringing up the Mac's search option, or highlighting and then erasing much of what I've just written. I also just brought up the source code for the blog inadvertently, which is interesting, a little scary, and not at all what I meant to do. All this stuff that keeps happening while I'm trying to type is highly infuriating and not conducive to my mental well-being. I'm mousing with my left hand now, which is easier than I expected, but slow, which is also infuriating to someone who is used to working quickly on a computer.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm gonna have to lay off typing on the blog a whole lot for the next couple weeks. I'm to limit my computer usage, which is hilarious given that 99.9% of my day job involves working on the computer, and once I get home then I have to do homework for school, on the computer. Something's gotta give, and unfortunately the two things I can give up right now are photography and blogging. You know, the two fun things on the computer.
Okay, I've almost just lost my entire post for the gajillionth time, giving me yet another heart attack, so I'm gonna sign off now. If I feel up to it, I'll try to throw something up. If you find you really need some of my wit and wisdom (or whatever the hell it is I post here), gimme a call. I'll use my left hand to answer the phone.
posted by Amy at 8:29 PM
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