I just got back from dropping Charlie off for his acupuncture and laser treatment. Boy, it’s cold outside.
Yesterday before physical therapy I had to deal with a foot of snow on the hood of my car. I had not been out at all since last week.
This morning I knocked most of the rest of the snow off.
Physical Therapy:
Holly, my physical therapist, is wife to my ankle surgeon.
She was really shocked when I told her that I had 8 trigger fingers. Holly worked on the soft tissue of my palms with some sort of lotion.
She kept telling me that she couldn’t wait to get home to tell her husband Nate. Because she’d never heard of someone having developed 8 trigger fingers at one time.
I guess that’s the kind of thing a couple working in the medical field might talk about.
I have finished the steroid pack and hope my fingers don’t stiffen back up as bad as they did last week.
I Ordered These From Amazon:
I ordered two of the above and one of the below. The idea is to sleep with these on and maybe my fingers won’t cramp up as badly. At least that’s what I hope anyway.
I may have to order more of the finger braces if they give me relief.
The other night I woke up with my whole right hand in terrible pain. I got up and looked for a wrist brace, which I know I have somewhere. But I couldn’t find it.
So I found an ace bandage and wrapped my hand tightly in that and was able to go back to sleep.
Kendra & Her Flip Houses:
Oldest daughter Kendra told me that sometimes she can’t feel her hands anymore. It’s from all the painting she does on her flip houses. Repetitive motions.
And I told her, this can be hereditary and she’d better try to switch up her way of making money. Or not completely gut every house she buys.
If she did a bit less with the properties they might take more than a day to sell. But she wouldn’t have to spend such an exorbitant amount of money and do less to them.
And most importantly, not do herself in in the process.
Perfectionism:
She even had the little cement porch resurfaced because she thought it would look better. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I would notice such a thing as scratches and little holes in the cement.
But that’s just the way she is.
The flip house outside looks great. New modern house numbers, new roof, the added 600 square feet and a new fence. I’m sure I’m forgetting something.
She had her carpenter build 2 square wooden containers to put plants in for either side of the front porch, which is pretty small. Then she stained the porch ceiling the same color as the wood containers.
She’s very much a perfectionist. Which means everyone wants to buy her flip houses. But she’s doing herself in.
She never seems to like what she hires someone else to do because they aren’t as picky as she is. Then she ends up doing it over again.
Her Plan:
Her hope is to buy three more rental properties over the next few years and then retire. She already has two. Kendra gets good money from the rent houses because they are close to the university.
She’s like me. Goes and goes till she drops. She thinks she already has carpal tunnel in her wrists. And if you can’t sometimes feel your hands, that’s not good. Now she also said she has tennis elbow.
She’s also working on the other flip house she bought in October. No rest for the weary I guess.
Somehow I can’t see her retiring. Kendra wouldn’t know what to do with herself. She can’t sit still two minutes as it is.
Ivy & Her Fascination With Shoes:
Last night I went to put my shoe on and Ivy had crammed a Q-tip into it. I don’t know what it is with Ivy and shoes. But she loves to put things in shoes.
She wants to play fetch and sometimes brings me a Q-tip she’s snatched from the drawer.
After I throw it and she’s bringing it back, it looks like she’s smoking a cigarette with the Q-tip sticking straight out.
Oh, that cat keeps me highly entertained.
Hi Brenda,
I love the bookcase and the display of plants you have on top…great decorating job! I really like the style and size of your bookcase. Do you recall where you found it? Wishing you a warm, cozy, healthy, and very Merry Christmas!
Amazon of course. Where I find most everything!
Hi Brenda,
Just wanted to tell you I just love the greenery you’ve placed on top of your bookcase. It looks so nice!
Hope and pray you get relief for your hands.
Just a thought but maybe if Kendra doesn’t want to completely stop flipping houses she could find one’s that need the work that isn’t so hard on one’s body? If she’s one who likes to keep busy this could suit her… maybe her return on investment might not be as high but she could stay busy and still make a bit of what my mom calls “pocket change”. So, I guess what I mean is, she could choose projects that suit her changing physical abilities better. I’m sure a good number of us who read your blog know a lot about how age affects what we can/can’t do any longer.
Brenda I hope the braces will give you some relief. I’ve been dealing with self-diagnosed carpal tunnel in my right hand for several years now and wearing a brace similar to the one you purchased every night keeps it under control for the most part. I also have to make sure to sleep on my left side because the pain will return with a vengeance if I roll over to my right side for even a minute. I’m not ready to even consider surgery, at least for now, it’s just one more old lady issue I’ll have to live with.
I had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists over 20 years ago. I’m using one of those pads to rest my wrists on while I type that I ordered last week. That helps to alleviate pain.
I hope the braces and such provide the relief you so desperately need.
Good evening Brenda, I hope the combination of therapy and the braces help with the pain and give you a lot of relief. Hopefully you can advise Kendra to take it easy on herself, she doesn’t want to have a lot of problems later in life. Have a great weekend!
I had carpal tunnel release surgery in 2016 on both hands. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the surgery on my left hand soon enough. My ring and middle finger remain somewhat numb. Tell her no to go too long.
I hope the hand braces will help. Little Ivy is almost like a little dog in a lot of ways. How cute that she fetches things and wants you to throw them. Have a great Thursday.
I have that Vive hand brace in the middle. I’ve worn it when I’ve had flares with Carpal Tunnel or the arthritis in my thumb. I wore it mainly at night but sometimes during the day too, when my pain got bad. Hope it helps you a bit.
Kendra needs to take a page out of Ivy’s relaxin playbook
I wore one of those hand/thumb braces for almost 7 months this past year. It was miserable but it did help with the pain and finally I am pain free in that hand.
I have done 16 flip houses in my lifetime and hired out the big stuff but did a lot of the finishing stuff myself…probably a lot like your daughter. lol
My Misty used to put those little fur toy mice in my shoes all the time. It ALWAYS freaked me out.
I’ve had carpal tunnel in both wrists and hands for YEARS AND YEARS. Never had the surgery but should as it’s getting worse. I’ve HAD to wear wrist braces on both wrists at night, for the last 12 years or so. Without them, I wak up during the night numb up to the elbows, or in extreme pain. The wrist braces helped for quite awhile, until the last 2 years or so, and now they don’t seem to help as much. My hands are now going numb during the daytime, and I think I have at least one trigger finger on each hand now… painful, tender, hard to bend (or maybe arthritis). The braces are not working as well anymore. I like that idea of the finger braces as they “rest” the bad finger and let it rest.. and when you wear a wrist brace, the fingers are still allowed to bend. I’m going to try one or two. But believe me, wearing the braces EVERY SINGLE NIGHT is a must, as I was told by one doctor that the brace actually helps things to heal up when you wear them. Good luck! Marilyn
For some reason I have developed “tennis elbow” My elbow is very swollen and feels spongy. At this point, I am lucky it doesn’t hurt. I have been icing it for 15 minutes every 2 hours. Also I am taking Turneric Curcumin for the swelling. I am told that is what athletes take for swelling.
Brenda, the hand brace and the finger brace really helped me. But don’t get discouraged because they don’t work overnight. It took me several months to get permanent relief. I can happily attest that my finger and hand hasn’t bothered me since.
Good to know!