(no subject)

Pain in two fingers of one hand - it just doesn't go away. They are the two fingers I 'totalled' when I was about 13, chasing a boy at a skating rink (it was 'couples only' and he took off on me, forcing me to follow him and try to catch up or we'd be thrown off the rink until the next song). He made it to the side and grabbed the steel pipe that was the rail, swinging under it without losing momentum and kept going down the speed lanes. I misjudged and rammed my fingers directly into the rail. At the moment, all that was on my mind was irritation that I'd lost speed. I did catch him. We laughed like loons.

Later on the had swelled up like a big balloon and I couldn't use it at all. After a few days my mom, who'd thought that I'd sprained something and "using it is the best medicine' so she assigned me extra chores; weeding, laundry, that sort of thing, anyway she took me to the doctor's office and an exray confirmed that I'd shattered the proximal phalanges in two fingers and broken (as well as twisted out of postion) the two metacarpals below them. Oops. Setting them after nearly five days of using them while broken was not comfortable. But I talked the doctor into a 'temporary' cast, which I then removed three weeks later in order to play the lead in a school musical. (I did put it back on after each show, but still - stupid!)

As it turned out, they didn't heal quite right and I knew there was no one to blame but myself. I stopped playing the guitar - bridging was impossible for me and I had little strength in the fourth finger. But on the average, it wasn't very noticeable through the years.

Now those two fingers hurt in the joints - fingers and in my palm. Most likely, if I paid attention to the barometer, I could track an alignment between the movement of one and the pain in the others. So I've sent off a request for an appointment with our doctor to get a check on them and confirm my suspicion of arthritis. It does run in my family, at least in the hands and knees, and I certainly have done enough to 'deserve' it at my age. Thank goodness it isn't my dominate hand!

All Right, I'm Getting Old

Pain in two fingers of one hand - it just doesn't go away. They are the two fingers I 'totalled' when I was about 13, chasing a boy at a skating rink (it was 'couples only' and he took off on me, forcing me to follow him and try to catch up or we'd be thrown off the rink until the next song). He made it to the side and grabbed the steel pipe that was the rail, swinging under it without losing momentum and kept going down the speed lanes. I misjudged and rammed my fingers directly into the rail. At the moment, all that was on my mind was irritation that I'd lost speed. I did catch him. We laughed like loons.

Later on the hand swelled up like a big balloon and I couldn't use it at all. And oh, man, did it hurt and throb! After a few days my mom, who'd thought that I'd sprained something saying "using it is the best medicine' so she assigned me extra chores; weeding, laundry, that sort of thing, anyway, she took me to the doctor's office and an x-ray confirmed that I'd shattered the proximal phalanges in two fingers and broken (as well as twisted out of postion) three metacarpals below them. Oops. Setting them after nearly five days of attempting to use them while broken was not comfortable. But I talked the doctor into a 'temporary' cast which I then removed three weeks later in order to play the lead in a school musical. (I did put it back on after each show, but still - stupid!)

As it turned out they didn't heal quite right and I knew there was no one to blame but myself. I stopped playing the guitar - bridging was impossible for me and I had little strength in the fourth finger for chording. But on the average it wasn't very noticeable through the years.

Now those two fingers hurt in the joints - in the fingers and in my palm. Most likely, if I paid attention to the barometer, I could track an alignment between the movement of one and the pain in the others. So I've sent off a request for an appointment with our doctor to get a check on them and confirm my suspicion of arthritis. It does run in my family, at least in the hands and knees, and I certainly have done enough to 'deserve' it at my age. Thank goodness it isn't my dominate hand!