Today I had every intention of getting an inspiring blog post written for you but my week has not been cooperative.
At the risk of going into too many boring details, let me just say that I was sick in bed a couple of days with fatigue, fever, and sore throat. Then on Tuesday (when I was still feeling bad), I had to go to my dermatologist to have her take a look at my thumb. Over the two weeks since she had removed a wart from just below the nail, the spot hadn’t recovered the way she said it would–it was painful, had turned colors and was continuing to bleed.
So after dragging myself back in to her office for an appointment, she took one look at it and said she had made a misdiagnosis; instead of the growth being a wart it was actually a pyogenic granuloma which she would have to remove and send off to pathology.
Within just 90 seconds of making this pronouncement, she had given me four numbing shots in and around that (very painful) area and also under the thumbnail. It hurt dreadfully and did nothing at all to create happiness in my day.
She then sliced off the whole area, cauterised it (nothing like the smell of burning flesh to enhance one’s existence) and gave me a prescription for pain meds. I ended up reacting badly to the medication which resulted in bouts of vomiting, nightmares, itching all over my body, and extreme and overwhelming fatigue.
Today, I am finally (I hope) beginning to feel halfway, almost, sort of normal. My goal for the day is to attempt to transform myself from a scary-looking creature with wild hair, blotchy face, and puffy eyes into a quasi okay looking member of society. Wish me luck.
It’s amazing how such a small place on one’s body can have such a huge, overall effect on one’s existence.
So there you have it–how my thumb and I spent our week. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh Becky: Your posts usually bring tears to my eyes but this one, well lets just say I am one of those people that can feel others paid (I would never make a good nurse) and I will be shaking my hand the rest of the day as if it were in pain. Hope it feels better soon.
Mel,
Thanks for feeling my pain on my behalf!! 🙂
Uggh. Uggh. Uggh. Those pain meds often have bad side effects. I practically can take no narcotics at all, the scariest one being when my respiratory rate slowed down to like 2 times per minute, that was in response to Percocet. Codeine produces vomiting in under a minute. Really, it’s all terrible. And your poor thumb!!!! I am so glad to hear you are coming around, what a terrible week. Praying for a negative biopsy!!!
Lesley,
Two breaths a minute? SCARY! I’m thankful for pain meds but not so thankful for their side effects!
Ouch! Poor Becky! Praying you and your thumb feel better soon! I think you should do what I intend to do (although I am doing it because it is so cold here – below 0 and you would be doing it because of the pain). Curl up under an afghan with a much loved and very loving pet, a good book, and a piece of chocolate! You are so right, when a small part of you is hurting, you are hurting all over! Feel better soon . . .
Linda in Pittsburgh
Linda
Love your idea. An afghan, a pet, a book, and chocolate. Our wind chill was 6 degrees this morning so this plan is sounding better and better!
Here’s to a better weekend!! Thumbs and all!! Feel better!!
Catherine,
Thanks–my thumb is definitely feeling happier!
Oh, my goodness, couldn’t she have numbed it first before giving you shots in your sore thumb. Becky, for all the pain you have gone through in the past days and months, I SALUTE!!!
Sharyn,
Yeah, a pre-numbing thing would have been nice but I survived. 🙂 Ouch!
“Thumbs Up” for a better day. You need at least a month of stress-free happenings! Kay
Kay,
A month of stress-free happenings? That would be happiness!
Pray you are feeling better. My Daddy could not take Darvocet. Made him itch and could not sleep. While it is getting cold you can stay in and snuggle up with Summer.
Ann,
Yeah, it’s kind of crazy how different pain meds affect people so differently. And Summer and I are snuggled up, even as we speak!
Sheesh! On the one hand, I am impressed that you have a doctor who was willing to say “I made a mistake, here’s what needs to be done to rectify that” but on the other, yuck! Also, it seems like you guys deserve a break from annoying, nerve-inducing medical crap!
Kristina,
Yes, I was sort of impressed that she was willing to say she’d made a misdiagnosis. NOT so impressed when she whipped out that needle!
I know what you mean! If I have a paper cut , I feel it constantly. I’m a wimp with pain though. Feel better soon. Sometimes those meds work better if you eat something bland along with them…crackers or chips. Praying for your relief.
Kim
Kim,
Isn’t it amazing how much a paper cut can hurt? And this experience has given a whole new meaning to ” sticking out like a sore thumb!” Thanks for the prayers.
here’s hoping your thumb is well very soon
Thank you, Becky. The Thumb and I are on the road to recovery!
Feel better Becky.
Robyn–thank you! A few more days and my thumb and I should be as good as new.
Take care Becky and get well soon. Sending prayers your way.
Shawn,
Prayers are ALWAYS appreciated. Thank you!
They say that things come in threes….let’s see….2 thumb appointments and the sickness. Yep. All done!! Hope your thumb is well and much better soon!
LeeAnne,
I like the way you think! My current group of threes should be over!
I am so sorry that your week–and your thumb–have been so rotten. Praying for strength and healing for you. I’ll ask for a good hair day too–that’s always good for a girl’s morale, which I know God understands! 🙂
Love, deb
Deb,
A good hair day is worth its weight in gold, isn’t it?
About a quarter of the motor cortex in the human brain (the part of the brain which controls all movement in the body) is devoted to the muscles of the hands. (Why yes, I did google that…what makes you ask?) We need our fingers and thumbs to have lots of feeling so we can pick up straight pins from the carpet before our babies walk on them.
So….you’re entitled to feeling sore. So sorry you’ve had to go through this, and a nasty reaction to medication is never fun.
Take care, Becky. (And I selfishly am pleased to see this is your LEFT thumb, so it won’t interfere with your blog writing.)
Jan,
I’m glad you Googled that; it was interesting! It helps me to understand just how a small body part like a thumb could hurt SO bad!
Oh, yikes! That sounds pretty much horrible. I hope you and your thumb feel much better soon! I do learn so many new words with you – pyogenic granuloma. Wow. I think I could have done without that though.
Suzanne,
Yeah, those were definitely some new words for me, as well! I must say, I would much rather be learning NON medical new words, though.
Well this is nothing like what you are going through but I caught my thumb in the car door a couple of years ago, and I know what you mean when you say it’s hard to believe such a small part of your body can have such a big impact, the throbbing and the pain were incredible, we were in the midst of moving so I was trying to pack boxes, I eventually lost the nail, but ouch, ouch, ouch! I hope you are on the mend.
Dale,
I caught my thumb in a door when I was a child and lost the nail, too. I have the greatest empathy for what you experienced. Thumb Hurters, unite!
Yikes! Well, that doesn’t sound pleasant. : ( Hope all heals up FAST! I guess this thumb thing is one way to take your mind away from flu symptoms! I imagine you felt like your heart was inside your thumb, with the throbbing we often feel with a finger injury. I’ll add pyogenic granduloma to things I DON’T want to get!
Ann,
That’s a cheerful way to look at–my thumb distracting me from the flu. I guess there is something good to be said for that! 😉
Youch!!! That sounds really painful! I really hope your thumb is getting better soon!
Jenna,
Getting better every day–I will be glad to get to the point where I can fasten my seat belt without wincing! I hadn’t realized how much thumb power that simple action requires.
Oh no! Ouch! I will be praying for you. I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you, Jessica. And “ouch” is right!