Recently, I had surgery to release the tension in my wrist from carpal tunnel. I’ve had it for years and my Neurologist had been seeing me every three months for those years to test the strength in my hand. Over the last few years, I was fairly sure that there was more damage going on, but my doctor kept telling me it was okay.
While I was at the Romance Writers of American Conference in Denver, the pain and numbness in my hand became extreme.
It felt like electricity under the numb outer skin and when I went to do my laundry at the hotel laundry room, I kept dropping the quarters.
By the time I got home (and that was a whole other adventure), and visited a surgeon for a consultation, I was told I should have had the surgery years ago.
To say that I was stunned was an understatement. To say that I became angry, was an understatement.
I’m not one that does well with needles or blood, but when the surgeon said that they were just looking to ‘preserve what you have left’ well, that got me right in the gut.
So it’s been a couple of weeks since the surgery. The bandage is off, the incision seems to be healed and there’s still a little weakness and/or a twinge here and there… but miracle of miracles.. I have feeling in my four outside fingers and my thumb on and off.
Why am I telling you all of this?
Don’t wait. Don’t settle… if your gut is telling you to check and check again… do it. Listen to your body.
I should have been as tenacious as I expect some of my heroines to be… but I wasn’t. And it almost cost me the use of my hand and the feeling in it.
What is your body telling you? It’s time to listen!
