The Hand Guy

      It was the same doctor I'd seen before; he isn't retiring until June.  He has the easy manner of a man who has seen -- and fixed! -- just about everything in his line of work.

      My finger woes are pretty routine, swelling and glitches in the tendons that move fingers and the little sheaths in which the tendons are supposed to glide smoothly.  It's like the cable-operated brakes and shifter on a modern bicycle.  Think how that might run with a handful of coarse sand in the works.  That's what happens to my fingers.

      The appointment was for a follow-up on my right thumb (so far, so good) but the doctor was happy to look at my problematic pinky.  He got X-rays to check for arthritis or other problems, and once that had shown nothing unexpected, the affected finger got washed, numbed and shot up with a corticosteroid.  There's quite a lot of pressure and I was stuck with a "dead" finger for the rest of the day,* but it already feels better this morning, despite lingering soreness at the injection site.  As a late-in-life touch-typist (who still cheats), I miss that finger when it's not working.  Perhaps now I'll have better luck hitting the "' key when I want it, instead of the :; key.
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* This is a little scary with a pinky finger or toe.  It's terribly easy to get into trouble through mild clumsiness.  I found that out more than once when recovering from my broken knee, and it eventually cured me of crutching around the house barefoot or in open-toed sandals.  Yes, the littlest-piggy toe is not supposed to bend in that direction, and about all the doctor (or you, by the third time) can do is bend it back and buddy-tape it to the next toe while it heals.