A "Dislocatey" Week So Far

I dunno why sometimes I seem to stay together so well and other fimes I fall apart very easily.  I am speaking literally here. My bones can stay where they should for months on end and then for some reason, they all suddenly decide to go a-wandering.

I have been very "clicky" recently. Much moreso than usual. Then I woke on Sunday with a slipped disk in my neck. This transmogrified into a collarbone thing.  I spent most of Monday trying to rearrange my collarbone (don't try at home). The last time I remember doing this was during Sr. Canice's class in 4th grade. I used to sit and clunk my collarbone because I got into trouble for all of my other figets.

Sr. Canice was very strict. She died of a brain hemmorhage just a few months into 4th grade, which traumatized us all greatly. She was young to have died so sudden, and although she had been strict, she was a great teacher and we had all loved her.

So yesterday, I was taking a bunch of kids to the pool, and I dislocated two separate bones in my hand on two different occasions just opening and closing doors.  So there I am jumping around the parking lot, clutching my hand, trying NOT to curse like a sailor, and the kids gathered around me.
"what happened?"
"I think she burned herself"
"Are you OK, Mrs A?"
"She burned herself?"
"How can she burn herself? it's not that hot"
"Mom? did you burn yourself?"
"What happened?"
"Mom? Can we go now?" 

That last one was Joe, of course...

You have to see the funny side.

Funny, when I tried to explain to the kids what had happened, Joe was the one who got it immediately. "Oh. That hurts."  So it has happened to him too and he never told me. Or his rheumatologist. <sigh>  What am I going to do with that kid?  We try to get information out of him in a non-suggestive manner, and nothing comes out at all. But he sees the similar situation and he immediately relates. It is frustrating to parent him sometimes, because so much comes out so long after the fact; -much too late to do anything about it.

Many people think that the dislocations that happen with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome do not hurt.  Let me clarify this for people who have not experienced it:  A lot depends on *how* you dislocate. If it is straight out and back in, it usually doesn't hurt.  So I can sit here and pull my hand straight off my wrist and it will not hurt so long as I put it back right without grinding the bones together. However if I do something else that might dislocate my wrist, like pull open a heavy door or place  big tub of cat litter into the cart at the supermarket, there is usually some lateral forces or twisting involved, and yours truly ends up a cursing pile of mush in the supermarket or outside the door.

Even if is is just a patial dislocation (called a subluxation) and the bone pops right back in again, it can still hurt for hours afterwards. There is usually  some swelling and inflammation for some time afterwards, too. I still remember my Da being bewildered and frustrated by this when I was a child. He believed that I had hurt myself (the only adult who ever believed me), but couldn't explain or help it.

I have been trying to work out why I am suddenly so clicky and dislocatey (I like that word).  I am thinking it is probably a vitamin shortage. I have not been eating at all during the day, so my vitamin intake has become kind of spotty. So I guess i will have to start eating again, which will mean I will start seizing more. Ugh!

Choices like this suck.

And I have still not heard back from Dr. Thyroid, BTW. I am going to call this afternoon.

Comments

[yanub]

Oh, I know what you mean about the joints sometimes behaving themselves so well that you might forget that they are secret traitors waiting to betray you when you are least prepared. I'm in a pretty good spot for a while right now. Two very, um, uncomfortable crrrunchhhhes this past weekend led to my hip and knee reducing themselves after being out for months. I know this is temporary. They never stay in for as long as they stay out. But I'm determined to take advantage of the situation while it lasts.

[Virginia Bennett]

Hi Kiddo, I'm catching up with your blog and loving it (not the sad, hurtey parts, but your writing is so intriguing! I honestly believe you should be writing a column for a national rag somewhere!).

Thanks for sharing this about EDS, it's not something I knew or understood and this helps to know and read.

God bless you, my friend.
love, Virginia