the right to bear arms

So, Noah has a list going of circumstances under which he will buy a gun and drive to DC--things like, the government says they're postponing elections until this crisis is over, things like that.

I don't like guns so much, and I'm not up for that long of a drive, but ...

What's your list like?

my job tried to hurt me

*i believe my worker's compensation claim has been approved

*OT says, 6 months until i am all better

*OT also says, you have cubital tunnel (elbow) and nerve pinching there, not damage

*OT also has me in two custom splints for wrists, elbow gel pad tube socks, currently some kineisiotape for my right wrist going up my forearm, and two stretches to do ... arm straight out in front, hand flexes up; arm straight out with elbow to floor, hand goes back/down ... with a terrifyingly tiny range of motion

*also, i believe my worker's compensation claim has been approved

*also, my work restrictions will probably be revised on monday morning; i'm betting the doctor will say, three days off, then you can work only 6 hours a day -- because when i'm not working or doing anything at all, i'm in pain, but less, and when i work over six hours, i'm in way more pain

*i have decided that pain, in this case for me, is an accurate ethical barometer: i am in pain, so what i am doing is bad; i am not in pain, so what i am doing is good

*my company's short-term disability insurance policy says, if you have to stop working, we'll pay you something, but if you leave in the next six months, you have to pay it all back. umm ... uncomfortable conversation possibly in my future

*noah has interviews on the way, wahoo!

Wrong Again

The EMG and nerve conduction tests say ... I do NOT have carpal tunnel syndrome. Or at least I have no nerve damage. The doctor said I might have had mild carpal tunnel when I started wearing the splints three weeks ago and that it's had time to recover since then. Whichever it is, I am SO HAPPY to not have nerve damage because ... nerve damage doesn't get better. You can't regrow nerves or heal them, just kind of cope with them. And nerve damage is in my family, of course: paternal grandfather with myasthenia gravis; mom with spinal cord injury and now MS ... I can stay off the list for now.

I do have bilateral wrist and elbow tendinitis, though. The doctor was like, this is rare. You're still 25? So ... I'll stop typing soon ...

Doctor's orders for the weekend: don't do anything. I think yarn dyeing can stay on the list, though. Our full-DVD-collection of The West Wing finally arrived, so I have things to watch at least.

Six more weeks of occupational therapy, with better splints on the way, with the great elbow gel pads already, nice OT named Becky ...

still alive

*had an allergic reaction to a NSAID, which is basically hyped-up ibuprofen, throat swelling and chest tightness; fought with my dr's nurses about going to the ER, then went to the ER, only to 1) try to give them my parents' address as my own and 2) get sent to occupational medicine ... because a drug allergy is related to the worker's comp case that brought about the drug prescription? and four hours later, when i've been sent back to the ER, and see finally a real doctor who just will do something, and am falling asleep in the exam room and really even more out of it ... the reaction is waning and so they don't give me anything. thx guyz.

*bilateral carpal tunnel, wrist tendinitis, and elbow tendinitis. everyone doctor-related keeps asking, really? you're only 25? yes, yes.

*saw an occupational therapist, awesome older woman who's done this for 38 years. she made me a custom splint (which sadly is still irritating my far-too-bony wrist--do you have the bony bump on the far side? it's annoying when wearing splints) and gave me TWO ELBOW GEL PROTECTORS which in short are tube socks with the feet cut off and a pad of thermal gel stuck in at the elbow. they are AWESOME. i'm on zero pain meds right now and, while still in some pain, am in much less pain.

*this story's ongoing moral: don't ignore pain. you shouldn't be feeling pain--it isn't normal. (i kind of figured it was.)

I Can Be So Wrong

*not allergic to mold or dust. Had an allergy skin test today (the horror and pain! I am verifiably sensitive to everything) and ... am allergic to ONLY tree and ragweed pollen. Then had a systemic reaction to the test that did not, thankfully, get as far as any kind of anaphylactic shock--more like crazy itching and hives. Very significantly allergic, and this does help explain the whole pain of spring-summer-early fall, but really? Is my war with mold over?

*still have carpal tunnel, still hurts, blah blah blah

*I have wasted the years of my life during which I have not been watching Arrested Development.

*Rethinking all future career choices in light of this carpal tunnel thing.

*Aveeno makes really wonderful, non-irritating products ...

Short Posts

*was diagnosed with carpal tunnel
*wearing wrist splints on both wrists, 24 hrs. a day
*still getting pain, tingling, burning, numbness, etc.

*yes, I'm still 25.

*and my ergonomic keyboard never leaves me-board. i take it to work and then take it home as needed.

*the carpal tunnel web sites recommend wearing fingerless gloves at work. ha! do it! just don't knit your own, apparently.

*expect less typing from me for a while. still i love you all. just going to rest my hands a little ... put the knitting and clay work on hold ... the work-work and freelance-work ... i recommend the free download Workrave, which has a really great mandatory break program and a really scary tracker of all your mouse use, keystroke volume, and how long you're active on your computer. i'm at a consistent three to four hours of active use. that excludes reading online.

*and is this the dumbest health problem i've ever had? yes.