Tuesday morning I tried to lift the recliner chair to straighten a rug that was underneath. My right hand immediately was painful. I have carpal tunnel in both my hands and wrists and I wear braces at night to keep from damaging them. I put the brace back on my right hand and it felt better.
Bob Jones Bike Path, Avila Beach
So Dave and I decided to go for a bike ride. My hand felt okay as long as I kept the brace on. We rode on Avila Beach's Bob Jones Trail. We had a nice six-mile ride along this multi-use path.
A bridge near the end of the path. Ahead of us was a sewage plant which was located next to a golf course.
Avila Beach is a picturesque upscale community.
After the bike ride we drove to Avila Beach's San Luis Bay. Along the bay, we were stopped by some road work. Evidently they were fixing a rock slide area, and part of the fix was to cause more rocks to slide down a hill.
The brown area was the slide area.
After we had been back home in the motorhome for a couple of hours, my hand and wrist started hurting badly. I can't take ibuprofen because I'm on coumadin (blood thinner) since I have an artificial aortic heart valve. So I took some Tylenol, but it didn't help the pain at all. I finally called Dave, who was playing golf at a nearby golf course, to ask him to stop on his way home and get some BenGay salve and some higher strength Tylenol. He also bought me an ace bandage.
A couple of more hours went by and my pain seemed to be increasing, not lessening. Dave walked over to the RV park office and was directed to an urgent care clinic not too far away. We drove to the clinic and discovered that it closed at 6. It was now 5:40 pm. The clinic people were super nice and took my Kaiser information so that they could bill them. The doctor confirmed that this was a classic case of carpal tunnel inflammation. He gave me a prescription for Vicodin, which we had filled at a nearby Walmart.
I took the first Vicodin last night and within a few minutes, my pain abated somewhat. I went to bed early last night and woke up at 3:30 am and took another Vicodin. This morning, the pain was mostly gone. In fact, I felt so good that we took another walk to town. We were trying to locate a couple of geocaches, but we didn't find either one. We did, however, enjoy the sunshine and warm temperature. I can't ride my bike until this pain goes totally away, so I am happy that I was able to go for a walk.
Another Pismo Beach clam landmark, this one not decorated.
And yes, the urgent care clinic stayed open until I was treated!
I haven't had to stop for medical help in all my time on the road, but I sure thought about it this week! Glad yours turned out successful. :)
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your carpal tunnel flare up!..geez..I had surgery a couple of years ago on both my hands!..right on first..and then three weeks later the left was done!..not a fun time!
ReplyDeleteCarol, happy to see that you are feeling better! I enjoyed looking at your photos and reading of your bicycle tour, looks very nice. I couldn’t help but notice that the sky in your pics is blue. Since we have arrived home in northern NY, we have by and large lost sight of the sky. We are generally looking at clouds, snow clouds to be precise.
ReplyDeleteJohn
relaxedrush.blogspot.com
What would we do without urgent care centers, plus (for more serious matters) EMTs, ambulance crews, and emergency hospitals! We've seen our share of all of them in 8 years on the road.
ReplyDeleteSuzy has had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists in the past year and a half. Fantastic surgeon, a three day recovery period before getting back the use of her hands, and virtually no visible scarring. She recommends it heartily! Come to southeast Arizona and meet Dr. Thomas Butler.
CT is so painful glad they were able to give you the happy pill of Vicodin. Beautiful place for a bike ride hopefully your back on that bike soon.
ReplyDeleteSo glad they were able to help you out! Take it easy for a few days to help the inflamation get out of there!! Enjoy those happy pills!!
ReplyDeleteMissed reading your post yesterday but still wanted to add my wishes for a speedy recovery. Hope you are back on your bike in no time.
ReplyDelete