049 GETTING OLD SUCKS

I don’t know if it is because I am getting old, but things seem to hurt far more than they ever did before.  My back constantly hurts and I have very little flexibility now.  It really showed itself in hockey this past season.  My once feared slap shot has completely disappeared because I have no flexibility in my back and cannot lean into it or torque my body to send it.  The wrist shot is still there, but it doesn’t terrorize defensemen and goaltenders, which is the fun part.

I bring this up because I have never really had wrist problems before.  On Halloween morning of 2014 I hurt my wrist torqueing a screw into my back door to repair the knob.  I held on until the evening but it was hurting so bad I went to hospital.  X-Rays were inconclusive but they suspected a hairline fracture and so they casted it.  Initially it felt so much better, but when I laid down to sleep my hand swelled up and the pain was beyond belief.  I held out all weekend and finally couldn’t stand it anymore and went back to the hospital.

They did a CAT scan of my wrist and then 2 hours of agony later cut the cast off my wrist and put it in a flexible brace.  Weeks of physio got the swelling under control and movement back in my wrist.  I got pneumonia in between and finally was able to play hockey again 8 weeks later.  Every so often, the wrist hurts, usually after a hard game of hockey or a weather change.  I put the brace on for a day or two and it goes away.

A few weeks ago, my wrist started hurting again, I put the brace on and this time my hand swelled up to about double it’s normal size and the pain was unreal.  Ice didn’t help, T3’s didn’t help, Anti-Inflammatory didn’t help and so I booked a physio appointment.  My regular physio at 8 Rinks couldn’t get me in for three weeks and so I tried the Maple Ridge Physiotherapy and Pain Clinic.  They got me in on a Tuesday, but unfortunately it meant 6 days of dealing with the pain on my own.

The first treatment involved dipping my hand in melted wax and then putting it in a magnetic therapy machine after which I got ultra-sound.  It took the edge off slightly but was sure sore later on.  The odd part of this whole thing is that I do not know how I hurt it.  I was tossing around bags of dirt to plant the roses, but don’t remember hurting it.  There were a few other things but again, I don’t specifically remember hurting it.

Anyway, after three weeks of physio, three times a week, the swelling is almost gone and my hand and wrist are still stiff and sore when I make certain movements.  I finally went for X-rays 3 weeks after the fact and they were again inconclusive.  There were two “shadows” that may have indicated healing hairline fractures, but nobody knows for sure.

We had friends over for a visit and she had identical symptoms to mine and she was diagnosed with “pseudo-gout”.  I mentioned this to the physio and he thinks it sounds like a possibility.  Whatever it is, I hope it doesn’t come back.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this hurt way more than when I was recovering after knee surgery.

You don’t realize how difficult it is to do things one-handed, especially when it is your strong hand that is out of action.  Simple things like tying your shoes, pulling your pants up or putting socks on.  Typing was damn near impossible, except one handed with my left hand.  Plus, I had to learn how to use the mouse left handed.

I never once missed taking Toby for his morning walk and even for his shot stroll in the evening.  I did do a lot of pacing around the new place when I should have been sleeping.  In fact, other than passing out for 2 hours each night, that’s how I functioned for 2.5 weeks.  Finally, I got enough relief that I slept from 10:00 PM until 7:30 AM the next day, and it has been a long time since I slept that late.  I’m recovering slowly, but at least not in constant pain.  I still can’t do a few things, but at least managed to use the camera again a few days ago.

So, I am hoping that it wasn’t this pseudo-gout although I kind of fear it is.  I am desperately hoping it doesn’t come back.  It sucks to be getting older and in 9 days it increases by one more year to 61.  On another bright side, I mentioned to the physio about my back and he is confident that with a treatment they do called Spinal Decompression I will be able to get the flexibility back in my back and eliminate the constant pain.  I would cross my fingers, but that’s a movement my hand still will not permit me to do.