Last night, as we got ready for bed Kenn asked, “Is this what we’ve come to? Mouthpieces and braces?” The answer it seems is yes. Yes, we have. Kenn has been wearing a mouthpiece for his mild sleep apnea for several years. (A mouthpiece works better for him than a CPAP.) The braces are a new addition.

A couple of months ago, Kenn began complaining about pain in his right thumb. He has a touch of arthritis in that thumb but the pain level was much higher than usual. On cold days, he would come in from work and sit next to the wood burning stove with a heating pad on his hand. For an early Christmas gift, I gave him a hand brace that can be heated or cooled and it seemed to help. (Such a romantic gift, right?😂) A trip to the doctor and a steroid pack also helped for a time. The pain started returning a couple of weeks ago and last week, Kenn announced that he felt what appeared to be a cyst at the base of his thumb. Another trip to our general practitioner resulted in x-rays and a referral to an orthopedist since the issue was with the soft tissues of his thumb. The orthopedist diagnosed Kenn with a trigger finger. (Or, maybe in this case, a trigger thumb?) We are familiar with trigger fingers since Kenn had surgery to correct another trigger finger many years ago. Fortunately, no surgery for his thumb at this time. Instead, the doctor prescribed a brace for him to sleep in that will hopefully cause an improvement over the next few weeks.

Also, a big shout out to the orthopedist’s office. They told Kenn that since he hasn’t met his deductible this year, getting the brace through them would cost over $200 but that he could order the exact same brace from Amazon for roughly $30. The brace arrived yesterday and he slept in it for the first time last night. Here’s hoping that it will fix the problem with no surgery necessary.

My brace is also a new addition. Saturday evening I curled up in the recliner to read and watch Kenn play video games, like I usually do. He shut down and headed upstairs to shower while I read a bit longer. When I decided to go upstairs, I got up to turn off the lights as one does. However, I failed to realize that my left foot had fallen asleep. With my first step, my left ankle rolled and I crashed to the floor. For a moment, the pain was overwhelming and I wondered if I was going to faint. Once the light-headedness faded, I retrieved my miraculously unbroken tea mug, managed to get to my feet, turn off the lights and climb the stairs to our bedroom. By this point I was pretty sure nothing was broken (in spite of the crinkling/cracking noises I heard when my ankle rolled) but my foot was already swollen. When Kenn finished his shower he said, “I thought I heard a crash. Are you okay?” The answer was a resounding “No!” followed by multiple assurances that I did not need to go to the emergency room.

I spent most of Sunday in the recliner with my foot elevated with ice packs balanced on it. We seem to have an assortment of elastic bandages but most weren’t giving me the relief I needed. When Kenn went out to pick up a few groceries he stopped by CVS and picked up an ankle brace for me.

This brace has worked wonderfully. It stabilizes my ankle, provides compression, and supports my arch. As a precaution, I saw our general practitioner this morning. Per the x-rays, there are no breaks; I just have a nasty sprain. (My poor ankle. My left ankle is already weak from a couple of sprains as a kid and now I’ve damaged it again.) Now to decide if I’m going to go in to work tomorrow or wait until Thursday.🤔On that note, it’s time for me to go take more ibuprofen, elevate my foot, and apply an ice pack.

So, who wants to sing Soft Kitty to us?