When I was in sixth grade my mom invited my aunt over for dinner one night. My sister and I were helping out with the cooking and I thought it would be nice to have some fancy French cut green beans instead of the boring round kind. After a few beans were successfully halved, the next thing I cut was a big old slice through my thumb.
The cut was so severe we ended up skipping dinner for the emergency room. One full surgery to repair my thumb's tendon and an overnight stay later I was wearing a cast on my left hand. The doctor was emphatic about keeping my hand still to make sure it would heal correctly. About three or four weeks in the cast cracked at the bottom of my thumb and I was thrilled to have some motion back. Eventually the cast was replaced but the same result ensued a short time later.
When we went in for the final removal the doctor assured my mom I'd need physical therapy to regain the mobility of my all important digit. The cast came off and he measured my flexibility. I swear he ran his little silver tool back and forth between my good and bad thumb three times because he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I was just shy of 100% mobility. No PT needed. Apparently I'd moved just enough to make my thumb heal on its own.
But that was then. I was eleven years old, young, spry and stubborn. Now I'm thirty-nine, hopefully wiser and certainly more cautious. So when I finally heard back from my doctor about what might or might not be going on with my body, and his instructions were to limit my activity until all this is under control, this time I'm listening.
The bloodwork came back and nothing major presented. That was the first sigh of relief. Nothing bad with liver, kidney, not anemia, not cancer. Psychologically that was all a huge weight lifted. Physically however just hearing that news didn't solve my lightheadedness.
Instead of dinner, this time I'm skipping going to Vegas to see my friends renew their vows in the middle of a marathon they've both been training for over the past many months. Does this make me sad? So sad I actually sat sobbing when I sent the message to my friend after cancelling our hotel. But there are some things I just won't fuck with and woozy feelings that have no definitive answers while I'm over 300 miles from home is way up on that list.
Over the weekend I'll be experimenting with some suggestions from the doc and his PA. First is to start taking sodium tablets. When we reduced salt to almost nil with Matt's HBP diet shift it's possible my body went "um, wtf!?" My doc also thinks I might be a low blood sugar candidate which wouldn't be a surprise as it runs in the family. Additionally I'm going on a multi vitamin in case of deficency and amping my water intake to a little over sixty ounces a day.
It is driving me crazy just laying around all day. I miss working but I don't want to do too much. Which of course is stressing me out but until I know what is causing my lightheadedness I'm not taking chances. The good news is that this time my thumbs are at 100% capacity so I can blog on my phone while I lie on the sofa.
At least its something because watching re-runs of 90210 was only fun the first day.
13 comments:
Hooray for the parts that are good news; boo for having to miss the vows renewal. Good luck with the sitting around stuff - rent lots of movies, I guess, or maybe take up knitting since your thumbs are OK. ;-)
Love you, Mum
Jenn, I am going through the same thing with my leg, I am resting it as much as I possibly can, I am so limited... I was scared out of mind when I had no idea why I was so weak and why I had so much pain. You are so right, we need to listen to our body, we need to take care of ourselves... no one else knows our body's more than ourselves. I just blogged about how we need to listen to ourselves the other day :)
Take care of yourself Jenn :)
Thanks Mum! I just find it weird that 2 weeks ago I could get up at 7:00 & have coffee then eat breakfast about 9:00-9:30. Now if I'm up at 7:00 & don't eat by like 7:15 I start feeling shaky like I haven't eaten in days. Sigh. Seeing dentist Tues & going to talk about antibiotics that were never given back in spring after my extraction. Sue & I chatted the other night & she said couldn't hurt. Otherwise laying down all wknd. But I won't be knitting lol
Thanks so much Launna! I'm going to try to get over to read blogs later today, I've been lax in commenting lately.
Hopefully they figured out what was going on with your leg & you're back to normal or at least getting back there quickly. Thanks for the well wishes & same to you!
Thanks Mum! I just find it weird that 2 weeks ago I could get up at 7:00 & have coffee then eat breakfast about 9:00-9:30. Now if I'm up at 7:00 & don't eat by like 7:15 I start feeling shaky like I haven't eaten in days. Sigh. Seeing dentist Tues & going to talk about antibiotics that were never given back in spring after my extraction. Sue & I chatted the other night & she said couldn't hurt. Otherwise laying down all wknd. But I won't be knitting lol
Isn't it amazing that our bodies can respond so strongly to small imbalances? I hope you get it figured out. My doctor adjusted my high blood pressure meds...turns out it worked so well that I had low blood pressure and was woosey every time I stood up. I'm hoping to get the systems balanced and get off meds all together. Take it easy. The nice thing about enforced rest is that it gives you time to ponder your next great novel!
Yep. Take it easy. Take advantage of the quiet time.
Well, shoot, get yourself all better for the holiday. Rest up, follow doc's orders, and I'll keep you in my prayers.
That's true Jann, the writing has to take a brief time out but the pondering can certainly happen at all times! Thanks so much :-)
Trying to do just that, thanks my friend!
Thanks so much Jim, trying to get as much rest as possible but as a Type A its really hard to just sit around all day!
Was surprised to read these post..I hope you are better now..You don't have a thyroid problem, do you? I went through a rough time with mine..vertigo and all. Believe it or not, it was my medicine..the place changed the formula and didn't let anyone know. Now, I only get it made at a place in Portland. Anyway, I do hope you are better Jenn..Sending you love and prayers..hopefully you will find out what is going on soon..
xoCarolyn
Jenn you're still very young, or at least in the eyes of this old gal. I have 3 more years left before I hit 70 and then I'll definitely be an Old Woman. :( I know I told you on facebook that I recently suffered vertigo but it was positional vertigo caused by calcium crystals in one ear. Every time I tipped my head up or rolled over from my left to my right side the whole room spun around - if I was standing I would lose my balance and once my hubby actually had to grab me to keep me from falling. A neurologist helped me do a maneuver to displace the crystal in my ear. But your condition does not sound like the same thing. Hope it is better by now and that you are able to go back to living your life normally.
Now if only I could do the same - maybe in another life. :D
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