I know it's just a matter of expectations. Most of us expected to have Christmas Eve off, after a long stretch of long, hard days. Then one surgeon scheduled a full room, and most of us hoped to be called off. Three more rooms were scheduled, and it's a regular, full day. People are seriously pissed off.
Now, I've worked Christmas, gone in on call, holidays were prime time for transplants - which was what I took call for. Alternate celebrations were the norm. But now that I don't work holidays or take call, working even a holiday eve feels dreadful. It's not, not really. Banking hours for lean times.
Dark times at the solstice is usual. We need to celebrate to get to the other side.
My favorite hand surgeon offered to inject my thumb, actually apologized for not following up last week. By the time we were both able, she had to scrub in on a complex case with another surgeon. But both hand Fellows had come to watch, the better one just observing. So, she had him examine my hand and inject. Apparently, it's a trigger thumb. I knew it was clicky and catchy, but that part wasn't painful. Turns out to be the same core issue. The shot was painful, but I'm tough, and it passed off into a hard ache. This was last night, when I'd relieved a nurse who was having a migraine. Today, hand is better, slightly. These things take time. The steroid may be part of my ickiness. Good Fellow assured me it has a high rate of success without recurrence.
That and the removal, scraping and reprepping of a crown over a root canal gone bad. Having someone take power tools to one's face can unsettle one. The local only worked so long, but I didn't want to wait for more, so I had them keep working. Painful, but not bad enough to make a fuss. The taste of the... adhesive(?) is horrid bitter.
Helping friends move tomorrow. We cleaned out the car Wednesday in preparation.
It's raining.
Good Solstice. The dark is as rich as the light.
7 comments:
Good Solstice to you too. Hope you get a much needed break soon
gz,
Not for a while yet. February.
Aww, damn! That's no way to spend "the holidays". With the thumb and the root canal stuff, I mean. Well, you and Dylan have a Merry Christmas anyway. Oh, and no, I have never read Monster Regiment.
"The dark is as rich as the light." That reminds me of Rilke: "I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them."
Only good part of dental work is when it's behind you. Gotta get better after that, hope the hand is too. Good yule!
Rou,
Oh, yes, just that.
Nimble,
Still have the new crown to go on, shouldn't be as bad though.
Best wishes for the thumb. It does take time — I had a cortisone shot, just one, in the fall of 2016, and it helped almost immediately. The hand doctor said that I needed to keep bending my thumb at the knuckle and stretching. It's never gone back to what it was, but it's almost back. Best thing: I can again make chords with my thumb on the guitar's low-E string.
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