Unexpected Interruption In Regular Programming...

So the therapist I went to see for my hand today has recommended a "no-beading-jewelry-making-handling-tiny-objects" regime for the next 6 weeks.

What am I talking about? Let's rewind a bit and go to the last week of August 2012. One fine day, not gradually, but one fine day, my left thumb started to ache. Sharp pain. I figured it was a sprain. I massaged it myself, hoping it would go away soon. It didn't. I saw a general doctor, she taped my hand, immobilized it for about 4 days. Thumb felt good while tied down, but flared up again when untied. I went back to the doctor, and she said it could be arthritis and I should get blood tests done.

Meh...I knew it was not that. So I stalled. I started using my hand in odd ways in order to not strain the thumb. Holding, grabbing got painful, so I started using my palm to carry things I would normally hold with my fingers and thumb. Result: wrist pain.

I finally looked for, and found a hand specialist. He said right away that most of my joints were "loose". He gave me a brace to wear, which was too big. So he sent me to a physical therapist, who would work with the hand, and also make me a custom splint.

I went today, my therapist was very sweet, and made me this

 

See how close the thumb is to the hand? That's the problem. I cannot move my thumb out without pain, hence the grabbing problem. See how far out the splint extends into the arm? Another problem. If the wrist moves in a position other than neutral, it hurts. She said she never had to make a splint with the thumb so close. I had waited tooooo long to get this fixed, and it will take some time to heal. And I need to work on it a lot. Work on not working with it, that is.

Hence the minimum 6 week sabbatical. She even suggested buying pre-chopped vegetables for cooking, not holding anything much with the left hand, and in general being very gentle with it. And I fully intend to do that. 

So that is the story.

I have a couple small custom orders, and one blog challenge to finish and that's it for now.

I am bummed, of course, but am looking at this as an opportunity to organize my supplies that are scattered all over the living room into some portable drawers I have. This year, I also want to plan what jewelry I want to make, instead of working haphazardly doing whatever my mood dictates. I want to be more "disciplined" about this. (Yup, my word for this year!). I have had one jewelry show my friend held for me at her house. This was only a few months after I started making jewelry, and it was a huge success. That time, I sketched out my designs, and planned which ones I would do when. And I made almost 75 pieces in about a couple months. Which was a lot for a beginner! I hope to follow that method and bring some order to the chaos that my life is at the moment.
Another thing I want to do is learn photoshop skills, at least some basic things. And also go over the manual of my dSLR.

I also need to follow up on a few things I want to do for my home. So all in all, 6 weeks seems to be too short a time to do everything that I want to during my sabbatical.

I will still blog, and will keep y'all posted on how the hand is healing!

Now, I am off to make some lemonade with this splinted lemon that has been handed to me ;-)

Ciao!