One big needle, part 2

WARNING: People who are squeamish about needles may want to skip today's post.

Well I had my big appointment today (or my surgery, as Angie has decided to call it).  I wanted to start the day off right - with waffles!  There is a little bakery near the outdoor market that makes waffles for you to take away.  They cook them up in the doorway (as pictured below) and then spread and squirt some different toppings on them - my guess is butter, peanut butter and honey.  Yum is the result.  It was so hot though, I could barely stand to hold it even with the paper and plastic bag combo it was wrapped in.  It took a little longer to cook than I expected, so I had to eat while walking quickly down the 10 blocks to the hospital.  Managed to keep it in the bags and off my shirt though.

I got to the registration desk right at the stroke of ten, and as I feared the person there had no idea what to do with me.  I started in with the pointing, but then my nurse (I think her first name is Juan Hua) from last time walked by and recognized me, so problem solved.  I waited for about 15 minutes and tried to make sense of the t.v. program they had on.  No luck.  It's very nice and not hospital-ish in the traditional medicine wing.  I like it.  See how comforting it is with all the lovely wood and warm tones?  (I was trying to take this discreetly, hence the problem with my finger.) 

Anyway, eventually Juan Hua showed me into one of the little rooms and got me prepped.  I couldn't really take any pictures in there without being totally ridiculous - sorry.   So I will try to provide you with a mental picture instead. It was much like any other hospital treatment room.  I laid down on the butcher paper table and she gave me a towel to cover myself with, even though I was clothed.  Maybe it was like a security blanket or something.  I also had a little pillow to rest my hand on.  Then Dr. Yang came in (the same one who diagnosed me before) all smiley and chatty, or as chatty as we can be in limited English.  I wasn't really nervous or anything, but I kept looking over to see what they were doing as they prepped the little cart of tools because I was curious and wanted to get a look at the "one big needle".  She must have interpreted this as anxiety because she patted my arm and said "Don't worry anything".  So sweet. 

Then they cleaned the area with iodine and covered it with a big cloth that had a hole in the middle for the working area.  She had all kinds of cotton balls she was using for something - I kind of stopped looking at this point because moving my head caused my hand to move and that was not helpful.  In the meantime, the two of them were talking away in Chinese and from time to time Juan Hua would fill me in.  When they got to the point of injecting the Lidocaine she said I would feel what the doctor was doing but not feel pain.  To confirm that this was indeed what I was experiencing, I said, "Yes, I can feel her hands but not any pain."  Dr. Yang totally cracked up at this - I have no idea why.  But she laughed loudly and then repeated it to herself "feel her hands, haha". 

Finally when it was properly numbed up, she showed me the "one big needle".  It was, in fact, quite large.  Imagine a needle for a sewing machine.  A denim-sized needle.  Or, if you don't sew, imagine the thickness of a wooden pencil lead.  It was a couple inches long and had a plastic tab on the end to make it easy for her to handle.  I was glad, during the procedure, that I'd had myofascial release with needles in Berkeley, because this seemed like essentially the same thing, only in my tendon instead of in my muscle.  So at least it was familiar.  It didn't really hurt, for the most part, but I could feel her moving it around in there and my tendon kept twitching around in a way that felt kind of creepy.  It started hurting more toward the end, not like a sharp pain, but more of a dull, deep achy pain.  She was probably at it for about a minute or so, then she bandaged it all up and told me not to wash it for 24 hours.  Kind of gross when you have a big yellow iodine stain all over your arm, but I can live with it. 

Then Juan Hua helped me get up and collect my things and showed me to a seat in the waiting area - all while pressing a cotton ball firmly on top of the bandage.  I guess she didn't trust me to do this task myself.  Then she started telling me about the aftercare and stressed that I should keep it relaxed and not "play ball" or anything similar.  No worries, Juan Hua, my ball-playing days are long gone.  It was super cute because throughout our conversation, she kept referring to my wrist as "him".  "Be careful with him or you will hurt him again."  Somehow this was much more endearing than using "it".  Poor little Mr. Wrist, I have been unkind.  We then had a long exchange about when I should come back.  Not for 15 days, that part was clear.  But I kept trying to ask if I should make an appointment or just walk in.  In the end I decided the latter must be what she wanted because she told me the hours the clinic was open a couple of times.  So back I'll go.  "He" was achy for a while as the drugs wore off, and then for a couple hours I felt exhausted in that arm, again, just like I used to be in Berkeley.  But most of the day it's been fine.  I've had this thing for so long it barely seems possible that it will ever go away, but it sure would be nice if it did.    

In other news, I broke my sunglasses today.  Very sad, but since I've had them over two years I really can't complain.  That's probably a record for me.  I went into one of the "might have anything" stores in my hood, and although they did not have shades, they had lots of Halloween gear.  I didn't expect anyone to pay attention to my favorite dress-up holiday, but clearly they do.  In addition to all these hats they had bloody fake hands, creepy plastic bugs, and much more. 

While I was out at the market with Angie I also threw down on a warmer blanket.  I figured the gaudier the better, right?  Actually the other ones were worse.  People really like pink and purple and cartoon characters here.   I also did a bunch of work.  I hope typing was not supposed to be on the list of prohibited activities, because I cannot stand to hunt and peck with one hand.  I did lesson planning half the day and then this evening I worked on reducing my thesis to 35 pages so I can submit it for an upcoming conference in Hong Kong.  After redoing all the formatting and cutting out the unnecessary parts, I'm down to 38.  So tomorrow I'll print it and the rest of the week I'll continue trying to rewrite it to meet the limit.  I could go the Meyer Lab route and just submit it over the limit, but they'll charge me $35 U.S. per page if I do.  For three pages, that comes to 840 patacas.  Since that's a week's worth of food for me, I guess I'll rewrite it.  Wish me luck!