Edie

Hello! I have that on my index finger of my right hand, and, of course, I am right handed!!!! That, my dear, is a bone spur. It is arthritis/osteo-arthritis in your hand. I have it in both my hands, but by George it isn't going to stop me. Shy of shaving off the spur, there is nothing to do but learn to live with it. I am too busy to be putting this or that on my hands (I just forget to, also) and right now, 5:45 AM, I know it is there because when I am typing reaching for the six or seven key, I can feel it. I usually take two Tylenol at bedtime and that is it. And I have no intention of having this spur shaved off. They do it on the feet for bone spurs, but not my finger. My husband has one on his knee. I started my (we have become personal companions, friends and enemies) arthritis and bone spur about 20-25 years ago. In my 50's. I took piano lessons, organ lessons, if that attributed to it, ok, I enjoyed playing the piano and organ. Maybe not wearing gloves when I was driving. I can't even stand to wear gloves working in the garden. I don't know, my grandmother had and mother has arthritis in their hands, maybe it is hereditary, I don't know. But I (age 72) have it, I live with it and there is nothing short of cutting off the hand that will cure it and I'll be darned if I am ready to do that yet. I can still sew, type, scrub floors on my hands and knees. But I can't open a jar of pickles, I cannot grab something or make a good fist. That appendage has a mind of its own and will not bend without a good shot of pain to let me know that it just cannot bend anymore. I have the spur on the first knuckle next to the nail. It won't bend. And now the left index finger is following the same path.

I am not worrying about it, I use a lot of hot/warm water and put my hand in that (Oh, yah, it is hard to hold a snow shovel - which is about the only thing I will put a mitten or glove on for)! But, I just sit and think "I used to gripe because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." I know this doesn't mean squat when your hands hurt so bad (been there, know that), but you cannot give up on anything because of it. I want to sew, I want to quilt, I want to play the piano, I want to get on the floor on my hands and knees (which are starting to go now) and scrub floors (the best place to pray - talk about multi-tasking - cleaning the floor and talking to God at the same time - can't beat that with a stick) and I am not going to let an ugly bump on my right index finger, being followed by an ugly bump on my left index finger stop me from doing anything I want to. Some days it doesn't even hurt - but I still can't bend it. So there are a lot of good days too. Make this one of them. Edie