Medical Panic

[ivyblossom]

For the last few months I've had a tender left wrist. I thought maybe I'd just over-extended it, or banged it into something, or something like that. I was somewhat worried about carpal tunnel, so I tried to go easy on it. I've been favouring it for some time. I listen to xandria, she has my complete attention.

So when I got to school my wrist was still tender. If anything, it was getting worse. I hadn't typed at all for a couple of weeks. So when I met a 3rd year kinesiology student, I asked her what she thought. She checked my range of motion and determined that, yes, I have a limited range of motion. It's tender. It's slightly swollen.

"No carpal tunnel," she said. "You probably just overextended it and hurt something. Ice it from time to time and it will be fine."

So I felt better.

Until yesterday. Yesterday I noticed that I suddenly have a protrusion on my wrist. I noticed this while I was in class. The guy next to me said that it was surely carpal tunnel; it was the SCAR TISSUE from carpal tunnel, in fact. Insert panic here. I went to the grad club down the hall and got some ice. I sat in class for an hour and a half icing my wrist and worrying about my non-existant writing career.

Today I saw the Kin student again. So I showed her my wrist.

"Cyst," she said.

"Not carpal tunnel?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Cyst. They can drain it."

So I called my mother and said, "Hey mom, guess what! I have a cyst in my wrist!"

"Ganglion," my mother said. "I used to get those when I was crochetting a lot. You should stop typing so much."

"I know, I know, I'm so relieved though!"

"I got rid of mine because I fell on the ice and hit my wrist. That really hurt. It was gone after that."

"Interesting."

"Then I got another one, and I fell on the ice again. It didn't come back after that."

"Odd self-medication you have going on there."

"Get a hammer and whack it, that will get rid of it!" My mother, you see, loves me.

"Um, no. That would hurt."

"Get a hammer and get someone else to whack it!"

"Right, because that would hurt LESS. And I have such a HIGH PAIN THRESHOLD."

My sister has a high pain threshold. So does my mother, who only goes to doctors when she can't see or needs more heart medication. i, on the other hand, have the lowest pain threshold in the history of pain thresholds. I am officially not allowed to get my legs waxed. When my mother first got hers done she said, "oh, it's not bad. Bee, you should go try it. Ivy, don't ever, ever get anything waxed. You would die." So you get the idea that whacking myself with a hammer is just a generally bad idea.

"I'm going to the doctor," I said to my mother. "You can self-medicate all you like, I'm a believer in socialized medicine."

And thus ended my 24 hours of medical panic. Thank you, thank you very much.

Comments

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

Dominic had one - I think they're called gangliomas or something close to that. And yes, the orthopod actually treated it by taking a mallet and smashing it (Dom's choice, vs. surgical drainage and removal).

[chibisama.livejournal.com]

Wow. I would like to have experienced something like that.

[heinous_bitca.livejournal.com]

*dies*

I love your mother! I want to meet her some day. :D

[gobsmackit.livejournal.com]

my mother had a ganglion cyst on her right wrist drained this summer - she was off work for a week - not to scare you, they gave her a lot of medication. she's very relieved she finally had it done, she had to wait until she could get the time off (she's a nurse, and there's a shortage...) anyway, i just wanted to send you my best wishes.

[aliel.livejournal.com]

Self medication=baaaad. I have a very low pain threshold, too. You're mum is cooool.
~Ali

[shadoedseptmbr.livejournal.com]

I got one of these when I was a kid. My doctor, thinking he was amusing, apparently, told me that in the "olden days" they used to say it was the Devil trying to come out of you and they'd whack it with a bible. I can pretty well date my horror of doctors from that point, lol.

[greenumbrella.livejournal.com]

A HAMMER?! Bloody hell....

[1anonymous1.livejournal.com]

My sister, Laura, gets that a lot,for no reason really.

Go get it drained is all I can say. Thats what they do here.:)

[treehavn.livejournal.com]

Well really.

Both my mummy and my bloke have had a ganglion (I don't know the plural) on their respective wrists. They (the cysts) went away naturally over a period of years, but if you like, darling, I'd be happy to wield the hammer. You can borrow my pain threshold. I also remember having an in-depth conversation with about about leg-shaving on Saturday night. I am such a tit.

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

plural:ganglia; ganglion is a nerve cluster and ganglia is a set of nerve clusters, so it's a collective noun, in a way

I'm so proud of myself. I remembered something from my biology class last year.

;o)

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

I have a ganglion presently, actually, and our college nurse person told me that in lieu of draining it I should wear some kind of wrist support, lighten up on typing, apply warm washcloths four times a day, and take two aspirin at a time, four times a day. It's not gone yet 'cause I do stupid crap like type a lot, forget to take my aspirin, ignore the washcloth instructions, and try to lift weights, but it doesn't hurt anymore and it is going down, and it's only two weeks later.

$.02 from the peanut gallery

[silensy]

...to mix my metaphors.

I had a cyst in my wrist as well and indeed got the whack it with a Bible advice. Needless to say this did not occur. Instead I got it drained (with a HUGE needle. Seriously, I've seen thinner pencil lead in wooden pencils. This thing left a scar.) Then when it came back (as drained ones are wont to do) I had it removed. Yay for the pain meds that came with recovery. Though walking around with a bandage on your wrist gets you some mighty odd looks.

Re: $.02 from the peanut gallery

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Yes! Whack it with a Bible. When I got a cyst I whacked it with a CRC reference book, not having a Bible handy. It dissolved within a week.

[driveby friendsfriends]

Re: $.02 from the peanut gallery

[ias.livejournal.com]

Most CRC reference books being thicker than your average Bible, it probably helped. Besides, is shows a healthy respect for the scientific method ;)

[sisterpandora.livejournal.com]

"Get a hammer and whack it, that will get rid of it!"

Your mother sounds like my father. Oy. I hope you feel better soon, sans falling on ice of course.

[(Anonymous)]

I've had two ganglions - the first (on the back of my hand in the middle) I kept for ages , calling it my pet bump and eventually I had it drained but the needle wasn't bad at all and it only hurt for a day or two. The second was on the inside on my wrist and disappeared of its own accord. It's usually just a gathering of extra synovial fluid around a joint.

[egoteabsolvo.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll get well soon, and without pain, if possible.

how could I survive without you writing?

blue

[moonliter.livejournal.com]

ouch. That must have hurt.

Hope you've recovered. (:

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

Your mother sounds rather a lot like my father in a way. In all the time I've been alive, he's never been sick. Ever. The man has an iron stomach too; he can eat haban~ero peppers and not have more than a mild stomachache as a result.

Of course, what all this gets me is an utter lack of sympathy when I'm sick. Eh. >.>;

Good luck with the ganglion.

[bloodybrilliant.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope you are feeling better now. While I have a very high pain threshhold, I could never whack myself with a hammer. Your mom is funny. ;)
I had tendonitis for a good bit of a year after my son was born. It was from picking him up from the crib. I am 5'2" so I think the shortness made for some awkward angles on my wrists. I had some extreme pain in both wrists, and I couldn't write or type without almost weeping. Someone else, for a while, had to pick up Silas and hand him to me. I panicked because I thought it was Carpel Tunnel...and I thought I would be in pain for the rest of my life. No writing, no typing, just everlasting pain...*weep* Oh, I still remember the pain. *empathizes with you*
Mine have been better for a while now. I hope yours heal fastfastFAst.
;D
~~*Isobel**~