And in this corner... Voltaren!

So many big things have been happening that I haven't had enough time to write about them, so I try to post the occasional little thing when I get the chance. I woke up one morning with a sore left wrist. I'm not sure why, maybe I rolled over on it in my sleep. I figured it would feel better in a day or two. It didn't. In addition to the continuous dull pain, I started feeling a sharp pain whenever I turned that hand palm up. Turning a key was especially painful. I never realized how many times a day I unlock a door with my left hand, usually because I'm carrying something with my right. Bending my wrist toward the pinky side also produced a sharp pain. That sounds like an easy enough movement to avoid, but lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup apparently causes my wrist to droop enough to that side to hurt. This was all inconvenient, but I figured I could live with it, and it wouldn't last long.

After two weeks of it not getting any better, I decided to see my doctor. I said, "Doc, my wrist hurts when I bend it this way." She said, "So don't bend it that way." She did take X-rays to rule out arthritis or fracture. (Maybe a stress fracture? or an old fracture that didn't heal properly? But I've never had a fracture.) So that leaves tendonitis. She gave me a brace to remind me not to bend it that way. I already had the pain to remind me, but the brace reminds me before I bend it far enough that it hurts. Presumably, that reminder also prevents me from doing further damage. I'm supposed to call her if it's not better in two weeks. She gave me a prescription for Voltaren Gel, which sounds like the name of a comic book super-villain. Or possibly a pro wrestler. Or as Dave Barry would say, "That would make a great name for a rock band."