Ok, so I've kinda been on an egging break for the past few days due to continuing health issues. This could probably use some explaining for those of you who don't know me or haven't seen me work. I have an interesting set of circumstances, so I'll give you all the run down...
...cue wavy flashy-backy vision...
Firstly, I was born with only one hand. Yup, you heard me...one hand. My left decided to be fashionably late to the party and then missed the whole event entirely. So, that leaves me with just my right, which up until now has never really been an issue. I've never let it stand in my way and have always been determined to do whatever the hell I want to do. Take that left hand! Didn't need you anyway!
But missing a hand isn't my health problem, it's more of a complication at this point. For the past 6 years my day job was working as a Teacher Assistant in a severe special needs classroom. I worked one on one with children with severe autism. This is one of my major passions. I'm fascinated by this field of work and think it's the most rewarding and worthwhile job I've ever had. Up until this past year, I worked with a child who was non-aggressive and the two of us got along like peas and carrots. But, this previous year, the child I worked with changed. This child was much more involved and needed a lot of physical interventions for his own safety and the safety of the staff and children around him. Mainly this consisted of daily physical restraints so he couldn't hurt himself or me, his aide. This was really the first time I had ever needed to do a restraint, and wouldn't you know, I realized I couldn't do it with one hand. I brought this up to my superiors and with administration but no help was given. Eventually, this led to some major hand problems for me. So much so that I have been unable to return to work still.
I was out of work for a month in November to try and recover, but not much changed. Having only one hand, it's really impossible to give it the rest that it needs to recuperate. Theres no way for me not to use it. Even if I'm resting my hand, I still need to feed myself, get dressed, brush my hair, take care of my living space, and so on an so forth. So as you can see, theres really not much rest involved. After months of no improvement we found out that I had a severe case of Dequervain's Tenosynovitis, a few ganglion cysts, and an improperly healed fracture that led to a bone ridge and spur. Super fun! I ended up in surgery for it all in April, and hoped that by the end of the summer I'd be back to normal and back to my job.
But that would have been way to easy, so of course it didn't happen. Even after surgery, nothing was improving. In fact, I was having new and worsening pain. So, back to the surgeon I went. Turns out I had a pretty raging case of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome on top of the tendinitis, and now that one was fixed, the other was rearing its ugly head. Awesome. Just what I needed. Because of the new CTS and the restrictions it causes (no lifting, pushing, or carrying over 5 lbs) I haven't been allowed to return to my job. I'm still in severe pain daily and am looking at a second surgery to fix this issue. I know what you're thinking, you all wish you were as lucky as me. I know you're all super jealous. Don't deny it...
...end flash back...
SO...thats where I've been for the past few days...curled up in a little ball of agonizing pain. It's been damp and rainy here and thats really not helping at all. But I woke up today crying slightly less than yesterday and my hand isn't visibly shaking like it was earlier in the week, so I might actually be able to get some eggs done! Wahoo! I'll keep y'all posted...
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