Woke up this mornin’...actually, more like three weeks ago. And sure, first thing in the A.M. I’m usually a rusty slightly arthritic Rambler that needs to run for 20 minutes before you can put it in gear. But something was not regular with my left thumb. I tried to bend it. It clicked like a cheap plastic arm on a toy doll. There was a sharp pain when I tried to grasp and lift an object. Let’s call it a coffee cup. So I soaked my hand in hot water and epsom salt, I got some acupuncture, did some stretches, laid off the guitar and art. God antsy and sad. No improvement. Turns out opposable thumbs are critical in my day-to-day painting of tiny pieces of wood, random carpentry, sporadic yoga, and guitar playing. Who knew? And right when Clients are starting to groove on my newer 3-D sculptural work. What if I can’t make more? Enter existential dread.
A little web sleuthing and a phone call to my doctor and the culprit was identified: Trigger Finger (thumb variant). An apparently rather common malady, especially for video gamers and smart phone addicts. And guitarists. So off to a hand specialist, who two days ago injected a steroid concoction into the joint where my thumb protrudes from my hand in order to reduce the size of the swollen tendon that is getting hung up in (what I just learned) is a tube in my thumb for the tendon pulleys that give us such a leg up, evolution-wise. We really are a series of tubes. Chances of success: 50-60%. Expect results (or none) in 5-10 days. I am hopeful, as most of the clicking and pain has already receded. There is a surgical option if the shot no work-y: cutting open the tube. 95-99% success rate with that, I’m told. Yikes.
Speaking of old Ramblers, this blog has sat dormant in the virtual garage for nearly three years and since feeling bad about that has yielded negligible results, I’m cranking the blog up again and getting it back out on the road. A whole lot of neat stuff has happened in my art life since my last post (who here even remembers July 2018?) and it will be good to sit down and catch up with it all over a cup of tea and cookies. Positive vibrations and food for thought seem appropriate in these pandemic times. Please join me.