Change: Not the Kind You Need

More verbatim stories from the Support Group...

It's been a long time since I put my change into a wallet. Now I just drop all the change straight into my purse - If I need some I shake the purse and scoop some up. It's too heavy to carry around so I follow Julie's example:

"I take any change out of my purse and put it in a container on my dresser.  When I have a bunch of coins, I give all of them to John and he either rolls it, uses it or takes it to the bank.  I don't usually pay for much of anything."  

Polly has a tougher time.

"My hands are claw-like now except for the thumb and the forefinger. I keep forgetting I don’t have use of those fingers like I used to so I am always dropping things.

Today I was standing in line and 5 cards from my credit card pouch fell to the floor......the lady behind me picked them up.  Then another one dropped and she picked that one up for me.  Thank you!  GOOD GRIEF!  I have to remember that only my thumb and forefinger are viable.  The rest are just taking up space.

Hard to type when your hand is not straight

Julie has another issue:

"You were talking about hands and fingers.  The other day, I needed to copy a bunch of papers and went to my main big printer and it would not work!  It said there was a paper jam that we could not find. I was also trying to use the automatic feed and the paper got caught in there. I finally got it working, but black streaks were on everything and the paper came out wrinkled.

Meanwhile, I thought that I would just use the other wireless printer.  Turned it on and it was out-of-ink!  Sent John to the office supply and he brought home 5 new cartridges (that is what the wireless printer takes).  I decided that I would change the cartridges while John was gone - big mistake!  Each cartridge was completely sealed in plastic and I had a devil of a time getting the plastic off.  Then an orange plastic thing has to be turned to be taken off before installation.  By this time, I could barely move my hands/fingers.  Then, I could not get the old cartridges out as it has to be done with the bad fingers. Finally, after an hour, I was able to complete the task, but could hardly use my fingers.

I went back to the main printer and found where the black streaks were coming from and cleaned them off.  Then, still - each copied paper came out wrinkled at the top of the page.  I almost took the printer apart looking for a reason but finally just threw all of the paper in the paper tray away and put in a new load of paper.  I finally got it working without streaks or wrinkles.  My fingers/hands still have not recovered. It is such a nuisance to have such bad hands and fingers"

Polly commiserates:

Isn't it frustrating to have to jump thru hoops to get things that should be so easy?"

I know what you mean about those cartridges and then to get them out of the plastic casing.  Good gravy!!    Wow, five cartridges...that’s frustrating to fight with that.  I would be sweating after 10 mins.  It is awful to have such bad hands. Are they still sore?  What an ordeal for you.....

I need to buy a wrist brace. I wonder if I could get it on  myself?  If I can't work with the fingers I have I wonder if the brace would make it worse...more bulky. 

I don’t need more stuff to impede my 52 pick up fingers. Even just getting things on the conveyor belt is an obstacle for me. I kind of fling the items up there."

And Julie provides people with a distraction:

I wear my wrist brace a lot and people don't look at my hands/fingers much - they are looking at my wrist brace and then I tell them that I have arthritis.  Then, they start showing me osteoarthritis in their fingers and saying how much their thumb hurts - turns the attention away from me.