Keyboards really need a sarcasm font.

So The Saga of The Elbow continues. Plain ol’ tendon pain has progressed, despite truly epic amounts of ibuprofen, to little zingy pains along the dorsum of my left forearm that extend to the tips of my center two fingers. Sometimes when The Elbow is in a real snit I get cramps in my left forearm and a line of twangy pain along the line of the triceps. And DON’T talk about touching my elbow itself, to say nothing of bonking it. Do you know how many times a day your elbow bonks against things?
LOTS that’s how many.

And I grant, I’ve not been good about “resting”. But how can I rest one half of what my job requires all day every day? I could take time off of work, but with only eighty hours of paid vacation time (thirty hours down for the year), another forty hours of sick time (ten hours down for the year) and nonrefundable tickets to Hawaii in December taking up all of the rest of those available hours….
Yeah. Unless I decide to activate my disability insurance and take myself off of the payroll for however many weeks (and I AM considering it) a lot of time off of work ain’t gonna happen.
A year when the business contracted from three doctors to two, a year where we’re only JUST getting our heads above the water in which we found ourselves at the end of last year is NOT a good time to have half of the income generating capacity for the business down an arm.
And the spring and early summer, smack in the middle of prime garden time (not that there’s been a lot of good garden weather) is NOT a good time to expect me to sit around the house. Everywhere I look there’s stuff that needs to get done. AIGH!

I can’t walk because swinging my arm makes my elbow hurt and walking any distance with my arm in a sling makes my right shoulder and my neck hurt. To say nothing of chafing. Yikes!
I can at least ride the recumbent bicycle which we’ve recently installed in the family room. Even that will make my arm hurt some though because the arm rests (the “handlebars”) are far enough down that I have to have my arm in full extension to be able to reach and that, yep, makes my arm hurt.

So I snork down ibuprofen, and add ice and a cat when I can and I bitch a lot. Sorry about that, but I’m not, as I’ve mentioned before, a patient patient and forced immobility makes me cranky.

I have, however, started with acupuncture which at least made The Elbow more comfortable. Whether or not it’ll be any long term use remains to be seen, I’ve only been for one session, but it’s a place to start.

Anyone want an elbow? Only slightly used.