Faulty Manufacturing...

Sometimes I feel like my body is the result of a faulty manufacturing process.

I have always managed to damage various parts of my body much more easily than anyone else I know. And for as long as I can remember, the parts I damage never really seem to heal properly.

The good news is, now I have a great health care team, and any new injuries or pains that come up are treating promptly, and I seem to recover relatively quickly. The thing is, that doesn’t help the recurring, old injuries that seem to have been around forever.

13 years ago, I had an accident at work, when I was working in a grocery store deli department. I took a nasty fall and broke my right wrist. Or didn’t break it. Or did. Maybe I didn’t. The doctors never could decide. The cast went on, and came off, and went on, and came off. And there was x-ray after x-ray, and physical therapy, and bone scans, and doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment. It was never-ending… it went on for years!!

Eventually, I settled down in a to new job, and a new routine, and figured out how to live with the annoyance of regular wrist pain.  I adapted. A typing teacher would probably freak if they saw the way I type. I relearned how to hold a pen, and adapted my writing style. I tend to favour my right hand, and avoid using it too much because it gets sore and tired, but it just become a fact of life!

Until recently that is.

Back in March I took a couple falls within weeks of each other. The first one was when I tripped rushing up the stairs to my front door, and the second was when I was out running the trails of Royal Roads University with my running group. I saw a doctor, and he told me to splint my wrist, and ‘take it easy’.

Okay… that’s easier said than done in my line of work in mid-March when things are just starting to gear up for the busiest 6 weeks of the year. So I kinda just put it off and ignored it, and didn’t bother seeking additional medical attention because I just didn’t have time.

Yeah, that was not the smartest idea. It just got worse. And eventually, by the end of April I was waking up in the middle of the night because the pain was so bad, then when I woke up in the morning, my wrist was completely seized up.  It has to be one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. Every morning, when I woke up, I would have to manually manipulate my wrist with the other hand, until it slowly started to loosen up and move.

Eventually, I had had enough, and I left work and headed to the doctor…  after an exam, & an x-ray she had no diagnosis for me, so she ordered a CT Scan and told me to see my family doctor when the results came in. So I did.  Apparently it says that I have a ‘bony abnormality’ on my scaphoid.

Okay, so what does that mean???

Well, that means my doctor referred me to a hand therapy specialist, who I finally saw yesterday.

I swear, specialists speak a whole different language… but he was cute, so I forgave him.

Anyway… the bad news is… my wrist is messed up. He said I have scapholunate instability and tendonitis. Basically, fancy words for ‘a whole lotta pain’.

So what now??

Now I am stuck in this lovely wrist splint. 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, until further notice.

I have exercises to do on a daily basis. I have to go back in 4 weeks to decide what to do next!!!  The therapist mentioned a surgical solution to the problem, as well as a naturopathic solution. Both have their pros and cons. Surgery is more likely to be successful, but is more invasive and has a longer recovery time. The naturopathic approach is less specific, and not guaranteed to produce results.  The surgery will be a long way off because of waiting lists to see a specialist & get a surgery date. The naturopathic approach could help, and could help sooner.

I guess I have lots to think about, but for now, I just need to resist the urge to tear this thing off and throw it out of the window!!!

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