Lemonade

I woke up yesterday and I quickly realized that something was not right.

I generally stumble first thing into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I couldn't hold the toothbrush which was a minor annoyance.

I couldn't hold the hairbrush which was another.

My right hand was asleep and uncooperative.

It didn't wake up.

I performed my usual ministrations with my left hand which was inconvenient and not very effective.

After about fifteen minutes I was kind of getting scared. I can't drive.

Hubby took me to school/work. I found that I couldn't even hold my cup of coffee. I learned very quickly that I couldn't hold a pen and write.

My first stop after thumbing in at the biometric time clock was to go to the clinic to see my friend the school nurse. She gave me the "you've been bad face" and checked my vitals and motor responses and told me that something was indeed very wrong.

I've been fighting with my employer since October over an injury I sustained when I tripped over a piece of rebar protruding from a step, causing me to have an unfavorable interaction with a flight of concrete steps. They have denied that I got hurt from this. They say that I am just old and arthritic and that if I was injured, that I was injured previously to tripping over the rebar.

They allege that I've been walking around just fine with a complete tear to one of the shoulder tendons, two herniated discs in my neck, a torn neck tendon, a torn acl and torn cartilage in my knee. They say that I must not be hurt because I'm still going to work. I've worked all year in pain.

My doc is furious. He says the shoulder should have been fixed six months ago, but my employer stalls and plays the work comp game....deny deny deny.

Now my right hand doesn't work. DANG.

As a right handed art teacher, I am kind of mad.

I spent the afternoon in the ER yesterday to rule out a stroke. No stroke. That is the good news.

Can you imagine how annoying it is to have your dominant hand quit? It's a real pain in the @$$.

I am one that doesn't believe in whining. I believe in looking for solutions. The ER doc says I have a radial nerve palsy (that sounds yukky) I want to fix it. I see the neurologist on Friday. This could clear up in a few days/months or not.

Meanwhile I type with one hand.

Today, I painted over graffiti on the tables in my room. I learned that I COULD demonstrate a gesture drawing with my left hand. My signature is very ugly.

Life is change. We don't have to like it.