Edmund Schweppe

I've been having various amounts of ouchiness in my left hand over the past year or so, which has progressed beyond the point of being effectively alleviated by combining a drugstore wrist brace with nightly ice packs. My primary-care physician though it was likely some form of arthritis, and referred me to a hand specialist.

I saw the specialist this afternoon, and he did some poking and some prodding and hmmm-hmmming, as specialists are wont to do. They did a couple of x-rays (with the modern, fancy digital machines that don't require film), and the diagnosis became clear the moment he saw them: yes, it's arthritis, but no, it's not the type my PCP thought it was.

Specifically, it's a type of osteoarthritis called "scaphotrapeziotrapezoid" or STT. Basically, I don't have any cartilage at all between the scaphoid and trapezium bones of my left hand. He gave me a corticosteriod shot, which will hopefully provide extended relief. If that doesn't work, there is apparently a very successful surgical repair available; unfortunately, recovery requires a month in a cast and two months of PT.

I suppose this is one of the "joys" of getting older. The next joy likely being arguments with the insurance company. Meanwhile, I'll remember the final verse of Silly Wizard's "Ramblin Rover":

If you're bent wi' arthiritis,
Your bowels have got colitis,
You've gallopin' bollockitis
And you're thinkin' it's time you died,
If you've been a man o' action,
Though you're lying there in traction,
You will get some satisfaction
Thinkin', "Jesus, at least I tried."