Poison Ivy…

It’s more than just the title of a catchy song, it’s the cause of an unpleasant allergic reaction on my right arm. Last Wednesday, I started to notice some bumps along the inside of my right wrist that were very itchy. At first, I thought that maybe they were just mosquito bites or something, except that they were in a formation that I dubbed the “cyclops smiley face” because they were arranged in a curved line with one lone dot above. As the days passed, several more spots appeared and Terry and I pondered their source. When I was in training last week, we ate at the tables on the patio outside of the building two days and one day the women at the table next to us picked up and moved their lunches to another table, complaining that their were mites all over their table. I didn’t remember seeing anything on our table at the time, but thought maybe that was the cause. On Friday, though, the existing spots started to blister, even as new (thankfully smaller) spots continued to appear. By Saturday, I was really starting to fuss because, not only were these buggers itchy to the point of near-distraction, but the blisters were also starting to look like a significant burn and the skin was getting tough. So, I finally called the doctor’s office on Monday morning and made an appointment to go in for a look-see and got in this afternoon. The doctor walked in, took one look and said he bet it was poison ivy. What?!? We’ve lived here for over four years and I’ve puttered outside without ever having a single incident of poison ivy, nor have I ever seen any sign of such a culprit plant. So, I have no idea from whence I picked up such nastiness, but I’m glad that it’s finally healing because I’ve been feeling like I look like I have a touch of the plague. I still have one clump of tiny, scaley little blisters, but the rest are starting to soften and recede. Blah!

While I was there, I also mentioned the pain that I’ve been experiencing in my right forefinger for several months now. It only occurs when I put pressure on it sideways at the top-most joint. He squeezed, poked and prodded my finger, but was unable to reproduce the pain. Of course, as soon as I got home, I reached for something, pinching my thumb against that finger at just the right spot and instantly reproduced the issue – OW! He said that because it’s pain from a lateral movement of the joint, I most likely damaged the tendons and there’s really nothing I can do about it. I need to rest it as much as possible (which I already suspected), but he understood that the order was easier said than done. He said that without the rest, it will take longer to heal. Since it’s already been months with no real progress, I have a feeling that I’m going to be suffering with this for some time to come. I’ve tried splinting the finger overnight, but when I wake up in the morning and remove the splint, it actually causes discomfort to bend that joint in a normal manner, so it’s certainly not helping in any way. I told Terry that I think I’m going to try implementing my original plan, which is to make my own splint from two thin, flat pieces of wood (like a popsicle stick or something) to each side of the joint in order to immobilize it and protect it from lateral movement. We suspect that my extensive use of a touchpad due to other previous RSI injuries has not helped the situation, either, so I’m going to switch to an older mouse that I have with a trackball at the thumb for a while and see if that helps to rest the finger, as well. If I can manage to splint it and still type (which I suspect I will be able to do) and switch to the mouse for a little bit (provided I can still click with the top knuckle splinted), I might actually stand some chance of getting it to heal. Hopefully, I won’t aggravate my previous de Quervain’s issue (it’s like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in your thumb).

The body is such a complex thing! Along those lines, I’ve been having a rough day with accidentally hurting myself. So far, I’ve managed to strain a muscle in my neck while leaning my head backwards so that my plugged ears would drain and I could hear normally again, give myself a headache (probably due to said neck muscle pain), hurt my left elbow (doing ???) so that I cannot lift any weight with my left arm without pain, smash my right shin against the sharp corner of the dishwasher door while I was putting away the dishes (that’s going to leave a mark…) and stub my right toes against a pile of boxes that I had just moved minutes before. *sigh* Yes, it’s one of those days and I’m quite a danger to myself sometimes. Now I feel like I need a nap. Which is one other thing I mentioned to the doctor – my recent fatigue. Terry and I both have been sleeping A LOT lately and I’ve been feeling tired for a couple of weeks. So, I’ll fast overnight and into the morning one of these days and run over to the lab for some bloodwork that the doctor has ordered. It’s a good thing they are located just down the road a mile so that I can pop in before work one morning (no appointment necessary), then eat a breakfast bar or drink a yogurt smoothie afterwards on the way into work. Ahhhh, the convenience of living a mile away from the local hospital, which also has a good-sized medical office building attached. It’s a beautiful thing, especially for a spaz like me. 😆