Well, my hands are officially out of the braces. The CTS should be resolved. Or, if not completely gone, where I can resume all normal activities and only wear the braces at night if I see symptoms.

The trigger finger on my right hand is much better now. Doctor gave me a steroid shot to calm the tendon down. Held off on the shot on the left hand for a few reasons. One, the right was far worse/more bothersome. Second, I wanted to make sure it worked, see if it could calm down on its own.

Right now, I’ll get a shot done in October when I go in for my yearly check up. The left was never as bothersome as the right. I still feel it once or twice a day. The right is that way now. However, I can tie my shoes without either one going nuts. Rapidly opening my hand from a full, closed fist, will still make the tendon in each finger jump. I’m a writer, though. Not a boxer or fighter. October is fine.

Tomorrow, I plan to open the file for ‘Shield and Scepter’ and get back to work. First up will be rereading/editing the portions I did via speech to text. For my process, and with how OCD I can be with typos, the program wasn’t as beneficial as it could’ve been for someone else. If the braces were required for another 1-2 months, I would’ve stuck with it. Honestly, though, I was spending 2-3 times longer to write one paragraph than I would just typing it. When I got told I could remove them after 4 weeks, I decided it would be in my best interest to simply wait.

We have enough stress in our lives that it was going to be better for me, mentally, to hold off. Let my hands heal. That was the important thing.

The world is turned upside down. COVID has us wearing masks daily, and keeping us from hugging those we care for. Racial issues have been boiling over, with some people choosing to take advantage of peaceful protests to wreak havoc. And it’s an election year.

Whoever cursed us to live in interesting times needs a lesson in manners, because this is beyond the Pale.

It’s a struggle every single day to try and remain hopeful. I know humanity will rise above the noise. We’ll remember we are so much more than the color of our skin, the faith we follow, the gender we identify as, or who we choose to love as consenting adults. I have to cling to the belief that good will prevail, common sense and decency will return, and people will stop thinking of themselves long enough to realize we need each other.

We need to reconnect as humans.

BB

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

---

–

–

–

–

–

–

–