So Grateful!

I've been organizing my files, and found some notes from my doctor's appointments last year.

In addition to the back injury I had, my wrist was also hurt. I was having a hard time putting weight on it.  I had had an MRI, and was waiting for the results.  My notes were asking if my ligament was torn,, whether or not I should have surgery, which motions I should avoid, etc.

When I had been waiting to go in to get my MRI, I talked with a man in the waiting room for an hour.  He had been a music director and frequent "guest preacher" in his church congregation in Washington.  He had been in an unhappy marriage.  He and a high school girlfriend had gotten in touch, divorced their spouses and were living together in Michigan.  He felt that he needed to start life somewhere new where those in the congregation did not know him, since he felt that it would not be acceptable to them what he was doing.  He was not attending church, and I encouraged him to make sure to attend somewhere, even though he wasn't "in charge" of the services anymore.  His girlfriend was getting an MRI on her heart, I think.  He had her as a great blessing, but he also had some big problems.   I felt the same way.

When he'd asked me about my wrist I'd started crying. :)  Before the MRI, I had only had pain when I tried to put my body weight on it during yoga.  After the MRI, my wrist was swollen and stiff (from the dye injection), and afterwards, the pain was evident on a daily basis, even with normal activities.

Not only could I not put any body weight on my right wrist, but when I cut vegetables or even pushed a stroller, it would hurt the rest of the day.  I remember that holding a pot (even if was empty) with one hand was impossible.

One doctor diagnosed me with a scaphoid-lunate ligament tear, and said there was no good surgery, nor cure, and I would just have to hope the pain would go away. He said that the wrist would be unstable my whole life, and I might have problems as I aged which would require bone removal or other surgeries to manage the pain.  It was also suggested that I had a TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) perforation, a triangular shaped Cartilage in the wrist, which tends to cause pain, and that I could have surgery on that as well if the pain did not subside.

A second doctor's opinion was that the ligament was intact and stable, but needed rest to recover.  This was very hopeful!  I chose to believe this guy, and let the wrist rest and brace it for several weeks.

It took several months, but I am SO grateful that both my back and my wrist are better!
Just looking at those notes and remembering all the pain and stress of it reminds me how grateful I am now to be healthy, and able to take care of my kids, exercise, clean, cook, etc without pain!

I just need to remember that on days when I am feeling like my problems are great, because they are much easier now than they were a year ago!