My Thoughts and Life as a Jew with an Attitude: Thanksgiving 2017 / What am I Most Thankful For This Year?

There is so much to be thankful for, so many blessings that Hashem has literally rained down on me. But I am going to limit myself to ONE thing.

My right thumb. Yup. You read correctly. I am so thankful for my right thumb. After Pesach, as we were putting the boxes up in the attic. The one on the stairs slipped, and I put my hands out to attempt to catch this person. Well, they managed to catch themselves before they totally fell, but they did fall into me. They were perfectly OK, but my thumb got bent backwards, and it hurt terribly. I did ice it. The next day was eruv Shabbos, and I had friends coming to stay by for shabbos. I did pop by Ortho-On-Call to see about getting it xrayed, but they said it was a 3 hour wait! On a Friday morning? No way no how. On Sunday, after they left, I went back, but it was the same deal, about a 3 hour wait. Now anyone who knows me knows how impatient I am. When I want an answer, I want it yesterday! So I popped over to the local emergency room which has a 5 minute wait time. (Hooray for the internet and for hospitals posting their wait times!) After looking at it and taking an xray, they said it was sprained. 3-6 weeks for it to feel better, follow up with my doctor if it doesn't.

Shavuous comes and goes, and my thumb still hurts. Now we are getting into the summer, and my thumb is still hurting. I tried to make an appointment with my doctor, who just so happened to be on vacation that week. They said I had to call at 7:30 to get an appointment for that day. UH, so not happening. I hate waking up at 7 during the school year; I am certainly NOT waking up at 7 to make an appt for the doctor. The thumb will wait. My thumb did start to feel a little better. Never 100%, and there was this awful lump at the base of it. I would think about it at odd times. Then it started waking me up at night, and I knew it was time to go back. Of course, like bringing a car to a mechanic when it makes a noise, the day I finally got in to see my doctor was the day it felt a lot better. I did keep telling him that the skin on the top of my thumb is so sensitive. It hurts to just barely brush against it. He told me tendinitis; sleep with a brace. I really didn't agree, but I am not the type to argue. So I gave it a month, and it got worse. This time I called and said, I want an MRI. He sent me to a hand specialist.

Now here is the cool part. He was able to test my thumbs. My left thumb could bend towards me to about 20% and it stopped going. But the right thumb ... he stopped trying at 40%, cuz he said he knows it will go, but it will start to hurt. Let me just tell you, thumbs are NOT supposed to bend that much towards you. Torn / ruptured ligament. The only repair? Surgery.

*GULP*

I had this nice little goal in life. I had planned to make it to my dying day without ever having a surgery. With no other choice (living with a deformed thumb and hurt wasn't a great option), I scheduled the surgery.

I never realized how vital my thumb was until I didn't have it at all. The first week I had a dressing on that could not come off. Then I had a pretty cast for 3 weeks, and now I am in a splint. Except most of the time I don't wear it. (LOL)