I knew I had screwed something up the second it happened.

I placed my elbow onto my desk last week and felt a shooting pain from mid-arm to my fingertips. Actually, it was more like I had shocked myself; not so much painful as much as an electrical sensation akin to touching a live current. We live in an old house. That happens frequently.

By the next morning, my ring finger and pinkie were numb, but I worked through it for a few days. After near-complete keyboard rest on Saturday, it was even worse on Sunday.

The sensation is now up my arm, three fingers are numb and my palm feels like it’s waking up after a long rest. When I bend my left elbow I feel a jolt of nerve something that nearly brings me to my knees. It’s like hitting your funny bone times infinity. When I reached back to wash my hair this morning, I felt like there was a toaster in the shower with me.

Pretend you don’t see the stack of papers, the discarded mouse battery, discarded mouse, the book I still haven’t finished, the seed packets, or the dental floss from the piece of apple lodged in my son’s teeth last week. This is about my arm!

It hurts mostly when I bend it or place it on a hard surface, so I’m doing a lot of standing while I type. After a visit to Urgent Care, an anti-inflammatory prescription, some grocery store wrist and elbow braces, and neck pillow under my forearm, this is what I look like. I’m moving a lot like stiff-armed Frankenstein; spilling water, knocking over vases, basically monstrous. So I have that going for me.

This is Cubital Tunnel Syndrome and it’s not pretty. Especially not a week before the biggest event of my work year. But, then again, that’s how I roll.

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