bifocaled's Journal

My right thumb, the one with bad arthritis in the basal joint, has been bothering me for the past two weeks. I finally took the time to look at it only to discover that the joint is obviously more deformed than it was and, consequently, the bone it supports has been pushed further in toward the palm of my hand. I'm afraid that, should this keep up, eventually my thumb will be useless. I am decidedly right handed. From what I've read the surgery for this joint doesn't give the thumb back either its strength or agility, it merely calms the pain (if your lucky.)  At work we use splints to keep athritic hand joints from closing the hands into permanent fists. Thinking that perhaps a splint would help keep my thumb in a useful position, I called the clinic to make an appointment. The scheduler suggested I come in that afternoon to see Dr. L., the doctor who once grabbed my thumb and gave it a horrible twist before declaring it was arthritic and whom I thought had permanently moved her office to another clinic up north. When I asked for an appointment at an earlier time of day, she suggested Wednesday at 8:45 am with Dr. L. I should have asked for someone else, but I know how people in offices talk and for sure Dr. L. would know I didn't want to see her. So I'll see her Wednesday, but it looks like I will looking for another clinic or doctor because I'm too old to put up with a doctor that screams at me if I mess up on scheduling my routine tests and doesn't respect my pain.