I am still waiting for my first dose of the oral MS med. In the meantime, I am wrestling with a splint on my valuable, only-working left hand.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a hor…er, thumb!
I am still waiting for my first dose of the oral MS med and the requisite 6-hour observation immediately after. In the meantime, I am wrestling with a splint on my valuable, only-working left hand.
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At the beginning of this episode, I started to get pain in my left wrist. After I complained several times to OH, he finally got me to make an appointment with The Quarterback. (I tend to down-play any health anomaly at first aand maintain that doctors are too important to be bothered. Notice anything about that? Avoidance = Denial!) Fearing carpal-tunnel, I was relieved to hear her tell me it was tendonitis. She wrote me out aprescription for 6-weeks of hand-therapy and another for extra-strength ibuprofen. |  |
The next day, we drove up the freeway a few exits and pulled into the parking lot of a local gym. The hand therapy office was upstairs.
I was still in my wheelchair so I had called ahead to ask about accommodation. I was assured that I could use the elevator in the gym.
But instead, when we got there, we were confronted with the first of two “lifts” to get to the top floor. This was “the elevator.” I wheeled into the first, which was only big enough for me and my chair.
Once OH had made sure that my brakes were locked, I pushed the button to raise the platform while he climbed up the handful of stairs and met me at the lobby level.
I rolled out of the cage and OH wheeled me over to the taller lift, and we repeated the procedure.
It was sooo slow and shook violently as I reached the top. I was annoyed by that but OH told me later that waiting for me and suddenly seeing that, “took 10 years” off his life. [Awww, so sweet!]
He pushed me into the therapy suite and we were directed to the small office at the back. By this point, I was not impressed at all and muttered to OH that in my opinion, I only needed to come this one time, and then could do the exercises or whatever by myself.
He told me to reserve judgment and we entered the office. And met the two very trained and super friendly therapists. I will keep the appointments.
I learned that the tendon that runs from the middle of my thumb to my elbow had become swollen and inflamed. Amazingly, the tip of my thumb, and the rest of my fingers are controlled by other tendons. The therapy consists of gentle stretching and heated massage.
Then my hand was traced and the markings were transferred to heavy plastic, cut out and warmed in water until it was pliable.
Finally, I was instructed to rest my elbow on the table in front of me and hold up my palm, bend my finger to my thumb in an “ok” sign, where the warm plastic was wrapped around my thumb and wrist.
The plastic hardened, straps were affixed, and I’ve been instructed to not take it off for six weeks, except for temporarily, to gently wash, stretch, and massage.