We’ve had another run of unseasonably warm days and chilly nights that ended yesterday. Well it was cool enough last night but today is not particularly warm and it’s rainy too. Enough that our garden needs some mowing at this point.

My left hand is healing well enough and I’m using it more and more. I am still following doctor orders to avoid lifting things but it’s progressing. I took off the bandage last night and I’m hoping to keep it off.

I tried to break my little finger (right hand) last night going into the bedroom in the dark. I rammed it into a corner on the wall of the room where it meets the closet wall and it really hurt, enough that it took me a bit before I could answer the Scientist’s query about what happened. It eased off after a minute or so but today it’s swollen and sore.

Friday night, the Scientist and I went to see Fleetwood Mac. We saw them once around 1990 when we lived in North Carolina. Funny thing was I thought we saw them in Greensboro but the only show on that tour near us was in Charlotte. Must have been one of those visits home for a weekend things. I do have more to say about the show in a separate post but for now I will just say it was amazing and will be remembered for a long time.

I filed my taxes and already have my refund. I’ve never done it so early before since I’m a first-class procrastinator. It’s now so easy that it seemed reasonable to go ahead and I did when the Scientist needed my income amount to complete his.

I have continued to hold my tongue when seeing the crap posted by certain family members on Facebook. It still frustrates me but I think my mental health is better when I’m not engaged in useless battle with people I care about.

I saw my surgeon on Friday at an office closer to home than my first visit. This was convenient due to proximity but he was running way behind schedule and I didn’t get called in until at least half an hour past my appointment time. So more waiting than I’d have liked although the Scientist drove me there and was good company for the duration.

The weird thing was when I got called back I was taken to a room and left there, in the style of doctors I would see back in the US before I left. That doesn’t happen here at all. In hindsight I wonder if this was done to speed up the process of getting through patients as it was the receptionist/secretary who put me there.

Anyway, I didn’t have to wait all that long once I was back there. The doctor came in and took me to a different room to remove the stitches. First he had to cut off the bandage and some cotton that was all that covered my wounds. I was surprised to find no dressing there. Then my stitches were taken out, which didn’t take long but was uncomfortable for short bits of time. He put some tape over the wound and said I could wash normally. But lifting is a no-no for the next several weeks. Again he didn’t rush me out at all and I was pretty happy with the visit. I have to go back in a month to follow up.

So I’ve had my hand moving more freely now and it felt like it was much more vulnerable at first. Now it’s seeming pretty normal aside from the fact I can’t do much with it. Tonight I accidentally tried to use my hand to cut a muffin in half and that was kind of painful but more interesting was the feeling in my arm afterwards. It was kind of a ghostly feeling of something going up my arm and it didn’t feel quite right even though it wasn’t painful at that point. I think with the bandage I was less likely to do things spontaneously with my hand but now it feels more free and I don’t even thing.

My palm looks rather bruised for what can be seen of it right now. When the bandage was removed the area where my stitched are looked purple so I guess that was some sort of antiseptic or something. There’s still a bit of tape left on the wound so I can’t see it much aside from a bit of a dark patch under it. I think it might come off when I have my shower tomorrow but I might keep it covered after since it will look rather icky, which might be stressful for Lego Lover who is quite sensitive to that sort of visual.

In all events, it seems to be healing fine at the moment.

I typed this all out and must have hit a key that sent me back a page and lost everything. Sigh. Starting again…

I went back to see my gp after my neurologist appointment and was referred to a surgeon, who I saw a few weeks ago. I am pleased to note I didn’t have to wait long after my appointment time to get in and the doctor was pretty good. I wasn’t in for long but I was never rushed and he explained the main bits of surgery and the options on anesthesia. Then we chatted briefly as he noticed my American accent and it turns out he did his fellowship in Pittsburgh. That’s two medical professionals I’ve met who know about western Pennsylvania and don’t automatically assume it’s the Philadelphia side. Another note is this guy is left-handed, just like the neurologist was. As another lefty, I notice these things. :D Anyway, I went away and the surgery was organised for July 24th, less than two weeks later.

My surgery was organised for a small hospital that isn’t too far from us. It was a really nice one, from what I could see of it. The Scientist drove me in on the day and I got checked in pretty quickly and was soon led back to a four bed room to await surgery. Only one bed was occupied when I arrived but they were all soon filled as patients checked in. A nurse came and did the usual checks and then the anesthetist came and a local anesthetic with sedative was chosen. I had to have an ECG at some point which was done quickly but I was first in the queue for surgery and they were ready for me even before I was done with all the things required. Soon I was taken back for surgery and left the Scientist to go walking.

The walk to the theater was quite short which was nice because I no longer had my glasses on and couldn’t see well. I had to wait a few minutes once inside and the surgeon came and drew an arrow on my left arm and was gone. A couple minutes later I was in theater and was moving to the bed for the surgery. The anesthetist came in and punctured by wrist for an IV. That was pretty painful but that was the only pain I felt. Sedative was pumped in and I got a bit drowsy and then a bit more and I was out like a light. I woke up in recovery after more than an hour and soon was being wheeled back to the room where the Scientist was again waiting for me.

They brought me some sandwiches to eat and then I got dressed and was discharged with minimal instructions. No painkillers prescribed but I did have some naproxen left from when my gp had prescribed it for the carpal tunnel issues before. I didn’t need anything for many hours as my hand was was quite numb, like when having dental work done. It did start to wear off and the first thing I felt wasn’t pain but itchiness. It was probably about eight hours later the numbness disappeared and I took a tablet at that point before it started to hurt too much. The naproxen is slow release so it was well suited to keep me pain free for the next day.

The first couple of days, I couldn’t do all that much with my hand but as the week has gone on, I have been able to increase activity enough that I can do a bit of writing, a bit of typing and I can sort of use a fork for a little while. I have been mostly off painkillers aside from the first couple of days. I did kind of overdo things one day and it started throbbing a bit. It feels pretty decent now although I can’t do weight or much pressure at the moment. That’s a bit tricky at times but my body tells me when it’s too much. :) I see the surgeon again on Friday and probably the bandage will come off. It was supposed to be for ten days but I can’t see him taking it off to look and replacing for just a day. I think the surgery has rid me of the numbness. Not that I haven’t had any at all but I think that’s more from my hand being wrapped up and compressed at times than any internal issue. I started driving a couple days ago and it went better than I expected. Today I did my normal job and it was fine although my hand is feeling fatigued. I will be resting it a bit more tomorrow.

I think I’d written a bit more before but cannot recall what else I said. Probably nothing important.

One thing about social media, particularly Facebook, is that it has a way of really showing the ugly side of people. The problems continue with family members who post items that fire me up. A few months ago I did resolve to avoid engagement since it really served no purpose aside from giving attention where it wasn’t really needed. While I’ve kept to my resolution, a couple others still fall into the trap and in the past day or two, a big storm appeared on one of the threads. I didn’t see the original post but it was mentioned to me and when I checked later it had expanded and then further so by this morning when another family member added in more rude and obnoxious comments.

A while back the original posted of this thread had been quite upset when called a troll by another. Funny thing is I don’t think this person quite understood what the term meant at the time because I posted a joke image that references online trolls and this person didn’t quite understand it until I explained. It was made clear at that time this person was still upset about the comment. My thoughts at the time were that the term used may not have been quite so accurate and perhaps a difference wording might have been used. But thinking about it further, perhaps this person really is stirring the pot when posting some items. I feel some posts are aimed squarely at those of us who disagree and sometimes it’s pretty much stated so. In that way, maybe it is kind of trolling. Of course when called out, the perpetrator makes out like he/she is the victim.

I came to this idea after I made messaged a couple of those involved currently to support them. I did say maybe we needed a support group to keep us steering clear…lol. Anyway, thinking of how it’s important not to engage made me think about how trolling works and this kind of is it, even if it’s not out and out trolling in the more “mainstream” sense.

I will admit that seeing this stuff really turns my stomach and makes me feel really awful. I want to privately address this with at least one of these people but have yet to figure how to do it without causing personal hurt. I don’t suppose there’s any way really but I would like it to be so. Meanwhile I will just continue to avoid engagement.

It’s a sad state of being for the world when it’s come to such divisions between family and friends.