(Tendonitis / diabetes)
So my amateur diagnosis of tendonitis (as suggested by several of you, plus various doctor friends) was correct. It seemed pretty clear — I knew what I had done that caused it (using a new resin tool incorrectly), and it mapped exactly onto the symptoms I found researching.
I could’ve just kept doing what I’ve been doing, and the body would probably heal eventually — it HAS gotten much better over the last six months. Which was part of the problem — it would get better, I’d overuse the wrists, the pain would get worse again, etc. It is very very hard not to use my hands. Thanksgiving was killer — I only cooked three dishes, but apparently that’s way more cooking in a day than my wrists can take right now; I was in a lot of pain on Friday.
But it’s been on a generally improving track. The ortho doc offered me a sturdier set of braces than the ones I bought over the counter, and steroid injections to hopefully accelerate that process, and I said yes to both. No need for surgery.
So I had steroid injections in both wrists (painful, because it’s not just the injection, but he has to move it around in there to get the medicine all over, I assume, but I could breathe through it).
The ortho doc says there’s a 50% chance that will resolve the issue entirely within 3-7 days, which would be amazing, and if not, it should give me pain relief for some months. I asked him if I should still be trying not to use my wrists too much, and he said I should listen to my symptoms.
But also, ease into it — don’t just go right into 18-hr days in the studio. I’ll do my best, but alas, it’s Christmas season, and this is when I make the bulk of my art sales, which will carry my staffing and supplies through January / February. I’m trying to have Kev and the kids help whenever possible.
I wish I’d managed to schedule this appt. (and the injections) much sooner; there were a host of reasons why I didn’t, but the American healthcare system certainly didn’t help. I’ve never had steroids before — apparently it’ll spike my glucose, but only for a week or so, so shouldn’t be a big deal.
Speaking of spiking glucose, I think I haven’t mentioned yet that I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. This is not unexpected — I had gestational diabetes with Anand, and have been pre-diabetic for a long time. My primary care doc was willing to jump right to the new meds like Ozempic, but my HMO insurance said no — they want me to try the traditional (and less expensive for them) meds first. So I have a prescription for Metformin, which I’m probably going to start tomorrow, once I have a chance to research side effects, etc.
I’m just barely diabetic, so there’s a pretty good chance that the Metformin + reducing carbs + more cardio will bring my glucose back into the normal range. I’ll report back in a month or two, see how it goes.
Of course, reducing carbs in December is not the easiest thing in the world. But I’ve dealt with this before (I had to prick my finger five times a day with Anand’s pregnancy), and I know what to eat to deal with this.
Hardest part is eating out — so much of restaurant food has hidden carbs. And there’s only so much caesar salad with grilled chicken or salmon (no croutons) I can stand, especially in winter. I never want to eat salad in winter.
But on the other hand, this is an excellent excuse to eat lots of sashimi (no hidden carbs! nowhere for them to hide!) and miso soup to warm me up. I should work on my grilled veggie game too — I LIKE grilled veggies with a balsamic dressing, but never actually make it for myself.
I’m also planning to start meeting with my fabulous trainer twice a week starting in January, instead of once a week as I am now — building more muscle, balance, flexibility, and endurance can only help with this whole aging body thing.
Onwards.
