My hands were hurting on Sunday. It wasn’t the same pain that I have had before, it was a dull aching pain. I noticed that the functionality of my hands remained compromised yesterday at work. I am in the “end of the year” process of tying up loose ends for the school year. The students have been done for the year but not yet for the teachers. Doing this includes typing up some stuff. I am NOT a very good typist by any means (I call myself a :”typer” because I am NOT good enough to be a “typist”) but I noticed that I was slower and it did NOT feel like “normal” typing. I brushed these thoughts aside and just continued working.
It wasn’t until I was on my way to Barwis and the rain started coming down harder that I REALLY realized that my hands hurt. Really, my hands felt kind of numb and it was my wrists that were hurting. I would get searing pains in them periodically. It was not knives being dragged up and down them as I had experienced before but it was a sharp pain that did not last very long. The pain remained in my wrists and did not move up or down my forearms. I immediately thought of Parker. I was at Barwis and I was going to try to work through it for now.
Sean was with me and Phil took me to the table to get stretched. My legs were obviously tight because it was raining. Phil stretched me EXTREMELY WELL (it kind of hurt – that’s how I know it was EXTREMELY WELL). I asked him if I was just going to get stretched yesterday and he said no and that we would go over to the bar in a little while.
Phil had Sean bring the orange half popcorn ball thing over. It STILL wasn’t purple!!! He positioned the half popcorn ball and had me stand. I TRIED!!! I ALMOST had a grip of the bar with my left hand coming off of my wheelchair’s armrest but I missed it and collapsed back into my chair. Both Sean and Phil made that “OHHH!” exclamation as if they were watching an intense football game and I dropped a pass or something. It’s okay, “first is the worst” I told myself. I was able to get up the next time mostly with Phil’s help. I told him that it was “all him” and he disagreed. Good form, Phil! Even though we BOTH knew the extent of his help, he wouldn’t take credit. Sean said, “Mom, you wouldn’t have made that face if you weren’t trying!” Then Sean made the face I was supposedly making. I’m not sure that it looked like THAT though!
I had 2 stands under my belt. Phil told me that we’d do one more and then we would be done. I told my wrists and legs it a VERY low voice (so NO ONE would hear), “the faster you grab that bar and stand, the faster we can be done.” Phil told me that it was the BEST stand by far when I sat down again. 3 stands. They weren’t the BEST stands I’ve ever done but…
My hands STILL felt NOT NORMAL this morning. I knew I would call Parker from work (I since have; my appoinment is on Monday (6.30) before Barwis) and this morning, before I got in the shower, I channeled Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars and told my wrists to, “Get your sh** together!” Man!, this journey “ain’t NO joke!” but it IS going to be worth it!!! I’m CERTAIN of it!!!