So, tonight it's the combo: arthritis and carpal tunnel!

I got in to see the hand surgeon this afternoon, and he sat me down and explained my problems. I do have carpal tunnel in both wrists, moreso in the right than in the left. What's been causing my actual pain is trapezial arthritis in both thumbs. Basically, the ligament between my thumb and index finger has gotten pretty loose, so my thumb metatarsal has started slipping off, outwards. Which puts strain on the tendons, which gets inflamed, and hurts. The new pain meds are working fine, but I do get a pretty bad ache sometimes.

....anyway. I need to have carpal tunnel surgery (which will have to be done in early June, due to classes and workload), and I'm getting a custom splint made for my left hand tomorrow. I already have a splint for my right hand; we'll see if I need a new one after I have the left one made. Hopefully, the surgery and splints will correct enough of the problem without having thumb surgery. 

The good news? I can have the surgery on a Saturday and be back at work on Tuesday. The bad news is that I can't do any jewelry work for about 3 weeks afterward, which means no summer jewelry classes for me. And if I want to do any fall shows, I may have to put off doing the left hand until next year. Hmmm. I do the majority of the work with my right hand....something else to ask the surgeon.

The surgeon is a great guy, who loves to draw out your problems on office stationary and really explain what's going on. According to the place next door that is doing my splint, he's one of the few surgeons they know who will send patients to other doctors if he can't do it.

So, there you have it. 

And here is one of my favorite grammar peeves, handled correctly.