Being surprised? I don’t like it at all, especially if it disrupt the regular course of my life.
Six months ago, I woke up with locked fingers on the right hand and no pain. What the heck is this I thought with stupor? I wanted to take a hammer a beat it to get it open, but I did not. I massaged it instead until the finger warmed up and opened. I didn’t think anything was wrong and went on doing the usual. The next day, I woke up and there it was, a locked finger again and for the next three days it happened every morning. Irritated enough I visited a doctor. The diagnose was Dupuytren’s Contracture, a shortened of a tendon that commonly happens in men from the North of Europe. What does it have to do with me? I am a female and from the southern Europe. It wasn’t it. Apparently, computer work, a load of hours on the computer can trigger this ergonomic problem and I am culpable of that, I admit it.
I refused any medication and decided to go with natural medicine. Six months later, many essential oils applications, a new Contour roller mouse at a whopping $265 that I can use with both hands, acupuncture, hand therapy, a costly splinter, and a lot of natural remedy, I am still at the starting point. The finger hurts like hell, the splinter is in the way (of course, the idea is to prevent the hand from closing and grab something) and my life seem to have taken a sabbatical. I put on slow motion writing blogs and other things I do. Cutting with a knife is difficult, my cooking has been affected.
I drive a stick shift car, thus driving has become challenging. At a young age, I learned to do my manicure and pedicure, which I used to do in about an hour for both, now with this ergonomic problem I enjoy the tears more than the manicure itself. Drawing for my work, knitting and sewing is totally out of the question. My garden….is growing, but in the wrong direction. It’s so hard to believe one finger can cause all of this and it is so uncharacteristic of me to write about it.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).
In Europe when someone is incapacitated, even temporarily, there are all kinds of home services one can draw from, such as hairdresser, manicure-pedicure, doctors, nurses, cooks, tailors, even a daily grocery arrives at home with only a phone call. They are convenient home services that alleviate small and large problems. In America if life happens we are on our own.
Life sometimes plays tricks on us when we are the least prepared. Just six months ago I was like a train going at a 1000 mile per hour. Now, I have to be thankful for all the activities I can do even in slow motion.
However, it is not the end. I am stubborn and pain resistant.
While I am repairing my finger, I am editing my studio and my house heavily, something I have wanted to do for a long time. Getting rid of things no longer needed is important to breath, feel free and allow a new energy in my spaces.
My clothes are a hard to eliminate. I have unique and original clothes, it’s very difficult to get rid of them, of well… they will go under a heavy chop as well.
By the time this blog is published I will be on the plane going to far away lands.
I will be roaming on cobble stones again. 
I will eat spectacular seafood dishes every day.
I can smell the sea from here.
Tasting food is my primary goal during my trips, I will meet nice people in beautiful panoramas and will discover new things. I will stay away from emails, social sites, no blog, no phone calls, no computer, only me, my camera and occasional travel notes. Forgetting the world will be one way to forget my painful finger.
“Loving myself is my magical wand” ~ Louise Hay.
Life happens…..the only way to cope is to deal with it. Ciao,
Valentina
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Copyright © 2018 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
As a writer and cultural promoter of Puglia, her native land, Valentina’s intention is to let readers feel and experience a new ”wheel of emotions”. She wants to encourage them to visit areas of Italy not beaten by massive tourism. Through stories of local customs, art, architecture, fashion, food-wines, shopping, she wants them to create their special adventures and live it up in Puglia! Check out her books on
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