immobility 101

At the end of my pregnancy and up until now, I've had some serious problems with my left wrist. Ugh, it is just terrible. I thought I slept on it wrong, and somehow sprained it or, heavens, broke it in the middle of the night or something. I was convinced amputation was the only acceptable treatment, until I saw a doctor recently. By the way, she was a totally awesome doctor and if anyone needs a primary care physician I'd recommend her highly.

So, I was most impressed since I was sure she wouldn't be able to help me, and I only made an appointment with her to get a referral to an orthopedic specialist who practices in the same office. But, to my great happiness, she knew exactly what was wrong with me and could help. I have a form of tendonitis, whatever that means, called DeQuervain tenosynovitis. Yeah. It's an overuse injury that affects the tendon that connects to the thumb. If you make a hitchhiker thumb, that is the tendon you use.

To illustrate, these are a couple things I cannot do without writhing in complete pain:

• Tuck my shirt into my pants


• Put on my seat belt


• Use a round brush while blow drying my hair


• Pour milk
• Get something out of my jacket pocket

The list goes on. It also hurts to hold my baby (sob!).

To help me get better, I am primarily wearing a thumb/wrist brace and taking ibuprofen. If that doesn't work, I get cortisone shots that have a tendency to bleach the skin (meaning, my wrist and arm will tan but one spot will always be white. Weird.)

The brace is OK, but it's kind of a pain:

• I tried buttering a piece of bread and got butter all over it.


• I brushed my cat and got cat hair all over it.


• I wash my hands and it gets all wet.

What a mess. The funny thing about this brace is that I kind of feel like Batman or something when I'm wearing it... like there should be a button I can push and out comes a wire with a ninja star attached to it and I can swing from building to building. You know. Or maybe I'm thinking of Power Rangers?

I saw one of my friends recently and we were catching up, and it turns out she recently broke her right hand and had a cast for 6 weeks. Whoa! She had the use of only her ring finger and pinkie finger. What a PAIN. She could barely write or type. It was just awful to hear all about it. At least I can take my brace off if I'm trying to swaddle Wesley and get frustrated trying to maneuver my hands to get the job done. (Even though that is counterproductive and I shouldn't do it.)

I can't help but be grateful for the bodies we have been given. They're so functional. I seriously take for granted being able to put on my seat belt or hold my baby. When it hurts, you really notice how often you use a part of your body. It's wild to think about. I'm also thankful for medical technology and that they know so much these days and can fix us when we're sick.

So wish me luck as I try to be diligent about this wrist brace thing. I love it, I hate it.