I just recently got diagnosed with my first age-related illness: Dupuytren's disease. I'm told I've inherited it courtesy of that part of my heritage that comes from northwestern Europe. There's fascia in my left hand that's growing between the tendon and the skin, not just where it belongs. It's supposed to be very slow in its development, so it should take years before it gets bad. It's usually bilateral, so I'm lucky it's not in the right hand yet. Also, if you get it in your hands, you apparently can't also get the worse version of it that appears in the feet, because you can only get one kind. Also, I was told that, if I were going to get that other kind, I'd already know it by now.
On the down side, it does eventually cause the fingers to curl into the hand by pulling on them, at which point they call it Dupuytren's contracture. Then shots and/or surgery are called for. Nothing is proven to prevent, slow, or stop this disease, though there may be some methods that are simply not tested that might actually help. As long as it's nothing dangerous, I think I'll try out some things and hope for the best. I just need to be sure to apply the first part of the Hippocratic oath and do no harm to myself.
Also on the down side, this isn't supposed to be painful, but my fibromyalgia is making it feel a bit tender and sore. In addition, the sensation that is commonly experienced as this develops, a tugging one feels when opening the hand all the way, draws my attention immediately and strongly, as a result of my Aspie tendency towards hyper-focus, and my feeling of upset at this uncomfortable reminder of what's going wrong with my hand is magnified by my on/off emotional tendencies.
In general, I'm doing better at adjusting and coping than I was when I got diagnosed a week and a half ago. Other people have dealt with this, and some other people around me are facing much harder things in life, so that gives me some perspective and a push to not take a bad attitude. Besides, it finally occurred to me a couple of nights ago that I could think of this as a kind of merit badge for having lasted this long. After all, when I was a teenager, I never thought I'd make it to 30, let alone 44.
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