valkryor | Post-50 Blues

Welp, it's official: I have arthritis. It's in the basal joint of my thumb and whilst my right thumb was the one imaged/diagnosed, my left is also showing similar early symptoms. I am not surprised, and yet this is a terrible party to want an invite to. :P

I saw an orthopaedic surgeon on Tuesday and walked out with a $130 brace and the option of $60 steroid shots. I was also informed of surgery, but removing one of the bones in my hand to alleviate the pain seems more than a little bit extreme to me at the moment. If my right was not my dominant hand, I would be a little less leery about that final solution, as removing a bone, even a small one, gives "crap shot" energy.

Sure, it could make everything less painful, but at the possible cost of functionality? No, thank you.

So, brace it is for the time being. It does what it needs to do, although I do take it off to sleep, cook, use the facilities, and so on. Yes, it can get wet, and yes, it's antimicrobial, but it doesn't feel very sanitary to leave it on when I'm handling raw chicken or cleaning the catbox.