Seventeen Stitches to the Sunshine State

At around 11:30 AM on Saturday morning, about 6 hours before I needed to be at the airport to catch a plane for a much needed week vacation in the Florida sun, I was washing dishes in the sink. This particular morning I was washing a rather large, glass salad bowl. As I turned the glass bowl over to wipe it dry, it slipped and fell into the drying rack, shattering into many large and small pieces. One such piece sliced directly into the palm of my left hand. As soon as I felt the sharp, stinging burn of the cut and saw the gaping wound in my left hand, I knew I was in trouble and immediately went to "The Bad Place." I grabbed paper towels and applied pressure without investigating it much further and immediately called for help. As I waited for my father and husband to come pick me up, I tried to distract myself from the pain by catching up on my fellow RA bloggers, just hoping that I wouldn't pass out alone in my apartment. 

An hour later I had arrived at the ER, was checked in and was waiting for the Physician Assistant to examine my injured hand. Every nurse and technician who entered, greeted me by saying "I heard you did a good job on your hand." Fortunately, like most things in life, it could have been a lot worse! Apparently, if you have to slice your hand, I picked the best spot to do it. I missed any arteries or tendons and was still able to move and feel all my fingers. Seventeen stitches and 10cc of lidocaine later, I was stitched up and discharged. With amazingly 3 hours to go before our plane for Florida departed.

My hand is by no means healed. The cut wraps around from the side of my hand to the bottom corner of my palm. It is black and blue all over and numb around the wound. Currently it looks like a shark took a bite out of my hand and that may be the story I tell to my forever curious pediatric patients when I can return to work. However, I was still able to make my flight to Florida and lying on a beach is nice place to build skin cells!

New Blogger Alert

I would like to share a new blogger.  Anna, just launched her blog, Six Hips and Counting, last week and it is already fabulous. I met Anna many years ago when we both attended a camp for children with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in Vermont, Camp Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Her mantra of being "Stronger Than RA" is inspiring to us all!

Please check it out!

My Quest for the Perfect Yoga Studio: Part One

I am a beginning level Yoga student. No, I am more like a "fair weather yoga sports fan." I have tried a variety of yoga classes including classes at a gym, classes in a yoga studio, classes watching a DVD and classes by private instructors. It always starts out really well and then a variety of things happen... Either the class progresses too quickly and I can't keep up with the poses, I push myself too hard and end up straining myself, the class is too slow and not challenging enough, or I have a difficult time modifying the poses to accommodate my range of motion limitations and there is not enough individual attention to assist me.

However, I have become "fluffy" over the long, hard winter and most definitely need to get back into an exercise routine. Watching the snow pile up as I dunked mint oreos in hot coca probably did not help my physique. I decided I need to do something before bathing suit season commences. I researched yoga classes in the area and picked the closet one to try first. I emailed the instructor and asked how vigorous the class is and if it would be appropriate for knees with decreased range of motion. The instructor promptly responded and reported that the class is very gentle and most of the students have injuries they are healing from. I thought "Perfect!"

I did enjoy the class and the teacher was very nice and receptive. She made sure to check in with me to see if I needed any modifications. However, the class was very gentle and felt more like stretching and mediation. I also was the youngest person by at least 15 years. I am very accustomed to being the youngest person at the eye doctors, the youngest person in the Arthritis clinic and the youngest person with a aarp card, however, I was hoping I wouldn't be the youngest person in the yoga class. Although, I think this class will be a nice meditation and relaxation class, I am going to keep searching to find the right class.

Tomorrow is yoga studio #2 of the week...

Marathon Monday

Patriots day in Boston has always been about much more then the anniversary of The Battle of Lexington and Concord. It is of course Marathon Monday as well. As a child, my family and I would often go into Boston to cheer on the runners. For a few years, a close family friend ran the marathon in my honor of me as part of the Joints In Motion training program for the Arthritis Foundation. We often brought my wheelchair as a portable "chair" and to decrease my fatigue, so I could watch and cheer the runners for hours without getting tired. I remember one year, when our friend provided me with his medal and I wore it proudly as we walked through the crowds.

Later on, I attended college on the Marathon Route and for many college students, Marathon Monday is the greatest excuse to party. It always falls on a long weekend, is the start of spring and is towards the end of the semester. We would make t-shirts and signs to cheer on the runners, wake up early and start cheering! This tradition often involved many alcoholic beverages, which would only lead to cheering louder.I remember one year counting how many high fives I received from runners, I think it was over a 100 before I lost count.

Most recently "grown up" life obligations have gotten in the way of me attending Marathon Monday traditionally as I have in the past. However, during the year of the bombing I had just returned early from work and was about to turn on the television coverage when I received a call from my parents. They were near the finish line and wanted to know what the news was saying about the explosions. I feel very fortunate that no one I knew was injured by the bombings, but I will never forget that day and the events of the week that followed. Boston will never be the same as a result.

I feel that even before the Marathon bombings, this day always had a way to inspire people, bring strangers together and make the tight knit community of Boston feel that much closer. I always love watching the television footage, not just to see the elite runners race, but to learn about the many personal obstacles and triumphs people overcome to meet their goal and run the marathon.

This year I was touched by the woman's wheelchair race winner, Tatyana McFadden. Born with Spina Bifida, she lived in a Russian orphanage too poor to afford a wheelchair until she was 6 years old and was adopted by a state worker. Since then, she has become a world class paralympic athlete. This year she rode in honor of the Martin Richard Foundation, honoring the youngest victim of the bombings. During the award ceremony she gave her winners gold crown to the Richard Family.

Tatyana's is just one of the many stories of people running the Boston Marathon that inspires me and everyone else to not give up on their dreams. Boston will always be my home. Being a Bostonian is about more than the geographical location of where you live, it's about the spirit and passion of the people in this city. A fiercely passionate, close community of forever loyal people that will make me always proud to be a Bostonian.

Boston Strong.

Running through Springtime

Spring has finally sprung! After breaking the record for the snowiest winter ever, I was pretty sure it would never happen. With the warmer weather, longer days and the melting of all the snow, it instills a positive, hopeful energy in all Bostonians. We made it through the winter and came out on the other side. The grass may not actually be greener yet...but it will be soon! There are people every where running along the Charles River, biking through the city and enjoying the start of Spring.

There have been times in my life where I have felt well enough to join those enthusiastic runners along the Charles River. My type of "running" typically involves jogging for about a minute and then walking for five minutes. During my best feeling days, I could keep this up for 3 miles and generally not feel any different the next day. Unfortunately, as I deal with a medication change, this is not one of those periods. I recently went for brief walk along a hilly road way in New Hampshire and felt the after effects for 3 days. My knees were achy, swollen and painful and I spent the following day icing them in my office inbetween patients. Now, every time I see one of these runners, it reminds me of the limitations my JRA puts on my daily activities and sometimes that is harder to deal with then the physical pain.

I have tried many fitness routines in my life besides jogging such as yoga, personal training, TRX, skiing, water aerobics and home DVD workouts. I have always struggled with finding something that fits into my schedule, is safe and healthy for my body and that I am motivated to stick with. I have yet to find my perfect exercise routine and will continue to try new avenues until I do. However, although I am excited and optimistic to embrace Spring and all that it has to offer, I can't help feel a twinge of jealousy when I see the newly energetic runners sprint by...