12/9/2015

Beware Yourself The Moops

MargaretMargaret
Filed under: @ 9:38 am

In what has to be my favorite of his stories about the period of his childhood that his family spent on the Greek island of Corfu, Gerald Durrell tells of a visit that they had by a minor French nobleman. The picture that Durrell paints of the Count is that of a prissy, autocratic French nobleman with “such a thoroughly Gallic interest in the edibility of everything with which he came in contact that one could have been pardoned for thinking him the reincarnation of a goat.” “His philosophy, if any, could be summed up in the phrase ‘We do it better in France'”.

Because Durrell’s family, strong willed and just a tad on the eccentric side themselves, and because these tales are _mostly_ accurate, but not necessarily without some descent into fancy, the story of the Count is fraught with mishap and hilarity. The story ends after the Count has left Corfu, but sends back a letter warning the Durrells that he has developed a disease called “Moops”. Since post-pubescent men who contract the Mumps often end up with swelling and inflammation within their testicles, it can be a fairly dangerous disease. The Count’s letter ends with “I am in clinic inflicted by disease called moops. Have inflicted all over. I finding I cannot arrange myself. I have no hunger and impossible I am sitting. Beware yourself the moops.”

Ever since I first heard that story — maybe 11 or 12 years old — any virulent, hideous funk has been, in my mind, “the Moops”.

Well Monday I got the Moops.

Monday was my first day back at work after my recent hand surgery. I felt well enough during the day, but started to feel a bit off on the drive home. Assuming I was just hungry I came home, ate dinner, and sat down to watch The Nightly Show with Larry Willmore.
In between the middle of The Nightly Show and the time I ended up in the Highline ER (about three hours) I lost three pounds. Any time anyone even mentioned food to me I’d throw up again. Even trying to distract myself with The Gummybear Song was enough to make me puke (hey, gimme a break. I *like* it!). I spent the next three hours getting worked up and then filled up with anti-emetics, IV saline, and (wheee!) morphine.
Feeling hideously guilty, but entirely certain that there wasn’t any way in HELL that I’d be able to go to work yesterday, I texted my boss when we got back from the ER at 2 a.m. and told her that I wouldn’t be coming in on Tuesday, but I would make it Wednesday (a.k.a. today).
Well, yeah. That was a nice thought.
My temperature only dropped below 100F this morning and I have eaten a grand total of three pieces of toast and one hardboiled egg in the last 36 hours. Also I’ve been vertical now for two hours and I’m going to have to go lie down again as soon as I am done here.

Friends, family, Ladies and Gentlemen, loyal readers of UADN, beware yourself the moops. This is a truly GROSS bug, apparently highly virulent, and pretty damn violent. If you start feeling yucky, go see a doctor because losing 5 pounds in 2 1/2 days is not usually recommended by the medical profession.

12/3/2015

aaaaaAAAAAAhhhhh!

MargaretMargaret
Filed under: @ 2:18 pm

Yeah, I know. Bitch, bitch, bitch.

But I just got the cast off my right hand. Sucker has been VICIOUSLY itchy for the last week – basically since the first day postop – and I haven’t been able to use either my right thumb or my right pinky finger the whole time. Hell, for the first couple of days the only finger I could use was my right forefinger because the center two fingers were too sore to use.
This has its disadvantages. Especially if you have hair like mine.

But my postop check was good. The surgeon was impressed with both my mobility and the improvement in my range of motion. And of not insignificant import I was able to WASH my hand for the first time in a week. Definitely important for those of us in the “mildly germ-phobic” crowd. And I have yet to met a veterinarian who isn’t a little obsessive about washing their hands. Granted I haven’t been at work this past week (I’m not that nuts), but still…..
I am to wear a wrist brace for the next 4-6 weeks because the tendon repair that was done on my wrist (the extensor tendon of the thumb) has to be protected until the inflammation around the tendon sheath is completely resolved and because until the area is completely healed if I flex my wrist too much the tendons will pop out of their normal position and then pop back in again. Apparently a relatively uncomfortable sensation, to say nothing of a COMPLETELY OOGY ONE!! If y’all hear a blood curdling shriek followed by an earth shaking thump you’ll know that I flexed my wrist too much and have passed out from the oogy-ness of it.

And the following photos may give some readers the squicks. But since I’m entirely certain that UADN only has a few regular readers anymore, if y’all aren’t used to me posting squicky photos by now you’re reading the wrong blog.

range of motion before

range of motion before

range of motion after

range of motion after

I can lay my hand flat again!

I can lay my hand flat again!

palmar incisions (below) and surgeon's initials (above)

palmar incisions (below) and surgeon’s initials (above)

carpal incision

carpal incision

nice bruise, no?

nice bruise, no?

I cannot say enough about how pleased I am with Dr. Miyano at Seattle Hand Surgery. Seriously, I have known a LOT of surgeons and a LOT of specialists. Even in veterinary medicine it is hard to get a talented specialty surgeon who isn’t a real twit. Dr. Miyano is a talented specialty surgeon who treats his patients as human beings. The fact that Dr. Miyano was willing to squeeze me into his schedule at _very_ short notice so I could get my hand back to function and do my job efficiently (it’s hard to do surgery if you can’t use your thumb and middle fingers properly) was just maybe the best gift I’ll get this holiday season.

Oh I almost forgot! After my carpal tunnel surgery in 2013 I apparently wigged out the surgical nurse in the recovery room by waking up talking about how I needed to call the cardiologist. I did need to call the cardiologist. The cardiologist who had done the ultrasound exam on Chuck’s heart. Apparently surgical recovery nurses are wired to be a little jumpy when someone starts talking about cardiologists. This time I woke up talking about how I was going to approach the surgical repair of a cat patient’s ear. I’ve been cogitating on the surgical challenge that that cat’s ear is going to be for the last -oh- six weeks or so. And whatever good happy juice the anesthesiologists at Seattle Hand Surgery use, it apparently frees one’s mind to solve complex problems. Now that I can suture again the cat’s surgery is scheduled for next week.


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