"Very Bad Arthritis"
Decades ago, Bill wore a metal splint he called a "finger stall," taped around a jammed finger to protect it from further injury. As far as I was concerned, that was the only kind of finger splint in existence, and jammed or broken fingers were the only fingers that needed to be splinted. I was wrong. Not too long ago, I drove to Cheyenne for a routine appointment with my rheumatologist so he could assess my polymyalgia. Believe it or not, he doesn't really treat osteo-arthritis, even though my arthritic hands bother me at least as much as the polymyalgia, which primarily affects my shoulders and hips. He looked at my hands anyway, and stated that I have "very bad arthritis." So much for a professional diagnosis. A few days later, I met with an orthopedic surgeon, the same one who removed a ganglion cyst from my left hand several years ago. I had been told that she was able to surgically fix a friend's arthritic thumb, so I was hopeful that she could...