The Week is Fleeting
As I was spending time “remembering when” these last days, we were working in quite a few medical appointments.
It seems a lifetime ago that Dennis noticed his right hand had noticeable swelling. Initially we soaked the hand in Epson salt. There was no visible sign that the skin had been broken. Dennis didn’t know if he had stubbed the hand while reaching for something or if he had hit it while working in the garage.
On to a visit to our family doctor. Dennis was put on ten days of antibiotics. It seemed that gradually there was a sign that the little pinky finger was resuming something to it’s normal size. It was slow going for the remainder of the hand. The instructions were to return to the clinic if the hand was not back to matching his left hand. It never did. Though no longer looking like Dennis had a rubber glove filled with water waiting to be pricked like a bad balloon, it looked angry.
This last Monday we were back at the clinic with Dennis being very careful to not allow anything to touch the right hand. Any little bit of a touch brought pain. As it turned out, the MRI van was in St. James that day. They had one opening left and Dennis pulled that winning ticket. There first had to be blood draws. Those draws were for various markers. The MRI took a long time. Dennis had to lay on his stomach with his right arm and hand out-stretched. Each finger was done, one at a time. Each finger was placed in a formed frame to become a frame for observation.
On Tuesday we were informed that we had an appointment set up with Radiology in the Mankato hospital for tomorrow. What I read on the clinic portal of the notes from the MRI techs and our doctor is that there will be an ultrasound and an aspiration and there will be fluid drawn from the hand. I sure hope we can get to the bottom of this for Dennis. If the knuckle has become septic, meaning an inflammation in that joint or in the joint of any of the fingers, it needs to be addressed. As Dennis has been off of the antibiotics since Sunday, the swelling is resuming.
We have been watching for the nasty red line that would run the length of the inside of his arm. Blood poisoning would not be a good thing. By tomorrow at this time, Dennis may not have total relief, but as least we will know what he is battling.
This hand that hurts oh so much has slowed him down, but the trip to the elevator this afternoon for more shell corn for the deer went off without a hitch. Dennis is a trooper.