My Hands

These are my hands, not so strong as they once were. A number of years ago, I noticed the tip of the pinkie on my right hand was leaning left. Other fingers started to bend and my knuckles started to bulge.

Then I noticed pain in my knuckles and in an old volleyball injury at the base of my left thumb, especially if there was a big change in air pressure as a weather system came through, or if I let my hands get cold.

My left thumb sort of sank down at its base.

My doctor sent me to a specialist who told me it was osteoarthritis. He said the pain would be worse as they started bending and then settle down some. He was right about the pain settling a bit, but only a bit.

I tried acupuncture for a while, and it did seem to help with the pain, but it was hard to tell.

I went to a sports clinic and the doctor sent me to a physiotherapist who specialized in hands. I still do the exercises she taught me and it really helps. I avoid painkillers, unless it’s really bad, because I want the pills to work if I really need them.

I remember when, many years ago, I slightly injured my hand and it left a scar. My mother joked, “You’ll never be a hand model, now.” A career choice dashed. Haha!

I’ve always been physically strong, lifting heavy boxes and moving things, but now I have trouble with small things, like gripping a door knob…

loosening a jar lid…

or twisting a small cap.

One of the most difficult things to do is putting a fitted sheet on my mattress!

And you can guess the other problems, by looking at the rest of the photos below.

And, I must say, it wasn’t easy taking photos of my hands using only one hand to operate the camera. Ha,ha!

My book, Glass Bricks, is out (since April, 2021) and now available worldwide in/through your local bookstores or from https://atbaypress.com/books/detail/glass-bricks. The digital version will be out soon.

And if you go to the Published Writing & Photos page (in the menu) you can find out more about it, watch my launch, read a review, and listen to a radio interview. You can also read my writing/see my photos that were published in journals, etc.