Tuesday 28 December 2010

Finger fun

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Mine was wonderful, I ate waaaay too much and drank waaaaay too much and just chilled out with the family.

Just wanted to do an update on my hand. I went to get my injection on Thursday morning, and I was pretty nervous but a close friend came with me so that kept the mood lighthearted. The visit was also made more exciting by the fact that a quite famous Scottish celebrity was in the rheumatology clinic at the same time as me. I can't really say who because that would be disrespectful to the person's privacy, but it was quite a random thing to happen. I tried to question my doc about it but she wouldnt tell me the gossip (of course!) and just said that the doctors at my clinic are very well respected so we get a lot of people choosing to go there. Well..that's a relief then! I can't find anything on the internet about this person in relation to arthritis, so I'm not sure if it was maybe an initial visit for a diagnosis or maybe their symptoms are very well controlled and not much is known publicly.

Aaaaaanyway... the injection was fine, I flapped about lots stressing out but the doc put some numbing cream on it (which looked a lot like mayo) and after about 40 minutes the finger was ready to be injected. She didn't need to drain anything, just shove the steroid in. I was really surprised at how little it hurt, maybe because of the cream or she just got the exact spot. It felt a bit strange when the steroid went in and that was it.

They said it takes about 24-48 hours to work. The next day I wasn't noticing any improvement, and I felt a bit depressed on Christmas morning because it still wasn't better (perhaps it was even a bit worse) but then about 50 hours after the injection.... A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE happened. About 7pm it just started shrinking. By the time I went to bed i had about 80% bend back.

So now we're on..day 5 since the injection and I had 95% bend on it this morning and almost 100% by this evening. So happy!

I don't know how long it'll last but I'm hoping that by the time it wears off I'll be over the flare... I have a check up at the end of January so we'll see what happens by then before discussing if I need a change in meds. My feet are still misbehaving on a regular basis. But for now...yaayy the finger's sorted!

Sorry this has been a big post about not much, but since it was my first injection and first experience with a steroid I felt I had to write about it.

Here are some pics of its progress:

This was it in all its beauty at some point last week before the injection


This was it on Friday, a day after the injection looking worse.. and the middle finger joining in a bit for a laugh.


And this is it today....yaaaay


Just as a comparison this is my left hand, which has never swelled so yeah.. the right hand is *almost* back to normal.


Strange, the joy you can feel at such a small thing that you know is probabaly a temporary improvement.. but it still makes me so happy!

Happy New Year to you all!

7 comments:

  1. Yay!!!!!! That finger looks sooo much better :) A Christmas miracle, indeed!

    And, way too cool (and also sad) that you saw a celebrity at the clinic. I wish there were more public faces out there talking about RA.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Squirrel!

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  2. Yay! So happy for you! A Merry Christmas indeed – and may it bode well for the New Year, too! :) L

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  3. Glad your finger has decided to behave, even if it did take a needle being shoved inside to persuade it. My feet hurt mildly to severely everyday, it wears on you after a while. I hope you can find some relief for your feet soon. Man ... look at that finger. I didn't know I had been talking to a freak all this time! Just kidding, lol. You should see my right ankle and my fingers.
    Have a safe and Happy New Year, may 2011 be better for all of us.

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  4. thank you ladies, lets hope 2011 is better for us all, we all need it!!!

    haha we are all a bit freaky, Terry.. what can we do eh? my friend has severe eczema on her hands and they look wrinkly and cracked, we always joke that the two of us can do a scary hand show to freak the local kids out.

    sorry your feet arent giving you a break. cant be easy with your long shifts... hope you have had some time off during the holidays!

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  5. It is amazing how the pain in one finger can have such an impact on your daily life. I am glad things are improving and hope that it continues.
    Happy 2011 Squirrel. I have enjoyed learning about you.

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  6. Hello,
    I'm Tawfik Sidki from Egypt my wife Majd have the same problem In her fingers of the right hand and she visited a lot
    Of doctors without any improvements till now since 3 years.
    We are very happy for you and we hope you are now 100% back to
    Normal and no more pain.
    While I was searching the web to find a solution for her I found your blog, Please if possible to tell us what is
    The exact name of this disease and what was the treatment and
    The name of the medicine to give this info to my wife Doctor,
    maybe she can be cured and get rid of the pain.

    Best Regards
    Tawfik & Majd.

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