2024 52 Card Project: Week 22: Arthritis

[pegkerr]

Several weeks ago, I suddenly had pain blossom at the base of my left thumb. A visit to the doctor and an x-ray diagnosed arthritis. Ugh.

I have been wearing a brace and doing physical therapy. If the physical therapy doesn't work in about four weeks, I will be trying a cortisone shot. Which will suck, but will be preferable to dealing with this pain with all my daily activities: chopping vegetables, buttoning my clothes, pulling on socks, opening bottles--it all hurts.

Growing old isn't for the faint of heart.

Image description: Background: a tracery of bare, gnarled branches against a gray sky. Over this are several shots of a left hand. One wears a rigid brace. One rolls a ball against a pad. One has a clip clamped on the web between the thumb and forefinger. One holds rubber bands between the thumb and forefinger. Bottom center: a bottle of Ibuprofen.

Arthritis



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Comments

[ndrosen]

I’m sorry to hear about the arthritis. Getting old isn’t for the faint of heart, as I remember from my parents and grandparents. As a youth of fifty-nine, I’m still in pretty good shape, although my knees and hips are not what they were thirty years ago, but I have no reason to expect that I will be spared the disorders of old age, unless I should happen to die relatively young.