For a few weeks I had some minor pain in my lower thumb joint. It only bugged me when I would open a jar, or twist it a certain way. I figured it just a little birthday gift for turning thirty - early signs of arthritis, yay for getting old! Well, on Saturday October 5th I woke up and my thumb was swollen, red, and I could barely move it. Weird. By Saturday night I was feeling pain comparable to childbirth. Seriously. My thumb was about to give birth to a baby thumb. I covered it in my Doterra oils and tried ice and heat along with keeping it elevated. Still felt like I was going to die.
Sunday morning I went to Instacare. The doctor said it could be a joint issue or a
bacterial infection and he felt like I needed x-rays and/or an MRI and
told me to go to the ER. Since he couldn't help me he didn't charge
me for the visit. I thought that was really nice of him since the cost
of my ER visit will now be my birthday and Christmas presents
for the next 10 years.
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| Nate made me this sling out out of one of my jackets. |
So despite the insane pain and zero thumb mobility I didn't want to go to the ER.
The main reason being I did NOT want to fork up the dough
I knew it was going to cost. I thought maybe if I saw a regular doctor,
who could refer me for an X-ray, it would cost less.
Nope.
Labor pains all night Sunday and the doctor Monday told me to go to the ER.
Should have just gone to the dang ER in the first place.
It doesn't look like much in these pictures but imagine
someone crushed your thumb joint with a sledgehammer.
That is what the throbbing pain felt like.
(and I have a pretty high pain tolerance)
I cried a lot at that point.
And then I went to the ER.
An ER that was not in our insurance network.
AWESOME.
Nate stayed home from work even though it was the busiest Monday
ever for him and my sweet friends and neighbors helped watch Mabel
in the morning and afternoon so Nate could make several important calls
and get a few things done.
At the ER they took blood samples, X-rays, and even did
a sonogram (with the gel and everything just like when you are pregnant!)
of my thumb. Unfortunately, there was no thumb baby.
X-rays showed my bones and joint were fine.
Diagnosis: Cellulitis.
Typically caused by a bacterial infection from an animal bite,
insect bite, scratch, cut, or sore.
Which I had NONE of.
And they asked me a dozen times.
No. No. No. and No.
Nothing I was aware of.
Sneaky spider bite maybe?
I have no idea.
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I had been there for hours and was starving.
I asked the nurse if there was any food available...
he said he could hook me up with chicken strips or a burger.
He dropped off my chicken tenders and left and I had to laugh
because I could not get one to my mouth. Left hand was totally immobilized
because the IV cord was short and I couldn't reach behind me to unwind it and
my right hand was hurting so bad from the poking and prodding that I
could barely lift it. My mouth was involved in the taking of this picture. |
They put a partial hard cast on my thumb side and wrapped that
in an ace bandage so I could remove the entire thing at night to apply a
heat compress and make sure the redness wasn't spreading up my arm.
They also gave me this lovely sponge bob device that I was supposed
to put my arm in to sleep with in order to keep it elevated.
Ya right, I laughed the first night I tried to use it.
AWKWARD! (and sexy)
Pillows propped up did the trick.
Saw a hand specialist in Salt Lake the next day and he said
one of two things could happen:
1) My hand would respond to the antibiotics and get better on it's own or
2) It would localize and start to get red in one spot and I would probably need surgery.
After almost a week in the cast I upgraded to this snazzy little
Micheal Jackson number that Nate got me. Sooooo much better than the cast.
As of right now I have almost full use of my thumb back.
No cast, no biker glove, done with antibiotics.
It is looking a lot better. Swelling down completely but still a little red.
Hardly tender at all. My left wrist does hurt a little from overcompensating
with it. I am hoping it just continues to get better and better and
I don't have any more issues. Such a strange annoying thing!
You don't realize how much you use your dominant thumb to
DO EVERYTHING!
Nate had to help me get dressed, I had to brush my teeth with my left hand,
Nate had to put on my deodorant, I couldn't do dishes
(the only good thing to come of this),
and could barely change Mabel. A friend brought us dinner Monday night and I
was so thankful for it. I couldn't cook anything and Nate didn't have to
worry about making something right when he got home from work.
We have the best friends and neighbors!
THANK YOU!
My mom was supposed to fly to our house on Friday the 11th to stay with Mabel
while we went to San Diego the following week but she was able to change
her flight and come to my rescue Tuesday night. She did my dishes, took over
completely with Mabel, and was literally my right hand woman.
That was such a blessing for us, thank you mom!
Then she stayed with Mabel the whole week while
we got to enjoy a week in California.
Pictures to come...
