Awesome Review for VIPER and a Wrist Update
I have been given, quite possibly, the most amazing and epic book review for THE VIPER PRINCE…well, ever. For ANY of my books, for that matter. It comes from Kiki of Two Lips Reviews. She gives VIPER five kisses and here's a few snippets of what she had to say:
"To say that I loved The Viper Prince by Rebecca Goings is an understatement. I adored this book. It had all of the components desired for a great fantasy love story: strong characters, action, adventure, a beautiful backdrop and the "Love Conquers All" theme. The imagery and descriptions Ms. Goings uses to describe the dry, desert planet of Jikkar, as well as the ensemble of characters she has assembled in The Viper Prince is amazing."
and…
"The Viper Prince is the first book in The Desert Princes of Jikkar series by Rebecca Goings. If this book is any indication of what we can expect from the others in the series, we are in for a great ride. It is definitely one of those books that you run across every once in a while that make you want to read it over and over again and recommend to all of your friends. If you love the fantasy romance genre, and it's been awhile since you have come across a book like that, you definitely will want to pick up The Viper Prince."
And that's not even half of what she said. If you'd like to read the Most Epic Book Review Ever, click here:
http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5577&Itemid=36
If you're interested in TVP, click here:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theviperprince-449175-143.html
~*~*~
In other news, I have called my hand surgeon and scheduled a new appointment with him in two weeks. Why? Well, the pain of my arthroscopy in July is completely gone, and yet my wrist still hurts. I don't have to wear my brace 24/7 anymore, and I would TOTALLY do the arthroscopy again. It took away a lot of my wrist pain. But I've always known my wrist hurt in two places. My doctor wanted me to wait until my surgery pain was completely gone before seeing him again, IF I was hurting. I didn't need to follow up unless I had pain.
Well, now, my pain is still on the outside of my wrist, right over my ulna bone. The pain goes up into my hand near my pinky, and when it really hurts, radiates down to my elbow. My doctor believes I have Extensor Carpi Ulnaris Tenosynovitis. The treatments are rest, splinting, anti-inflammatory meds, and if those fail, cortisone. But since all those options were already exhausted with my TFCC treatment (and the cortisone didn't work), he mentioned at my last visit that if it doesn't go away that he would need to take "more aggressive measures".
In looking online, the next step after all of the above is… surgery. Of course, my doc didn't come out and SAY surgery and I should have called him on it. For all I know, I just need some PT to get things right as rain in there.
Then again, I've already SEEN a physical therapist back in February for about 4 weeks. And that didn't help either.
So, where does that leave me? I dunno. I made an appointment today, and I see him in two weeks, on November 3rd. Like many of you who've emailed me privately, I'm torn between wanting my hand to feel better, and feeling like my pain isn't "bad" enough to rationalize surgery. But I think my pain is lessened by a few facts.
First, I'm used to it. It's almost been a year. If I was fine yesterday and then suddenly had this pain, would I call it "not bad enough"? I don't know.
Second, I've altered my habits to lessen my pain. I carry my laundry differently. My pots and pans. The milk. I've learned how not to tweak myself.
And third, my hand only hurts when I use it. This might sound kind of funny, but I do sit a lot. I type on my computer and I homeschool my kids and watch TV with the family at night. But any "use" of my hand, chores, errands, driving…flares it up. So sure, I'm at rest a lot, and that might give the illusion of "not bad enough", but it doesn't count.
What does it feel like? Burning at times. Tightness at others. Fatigue definitely. Weakness. Diffuse pain radiating into my hand and up to my elbow, but not a nerve pain. My hand doesn't fall asleep, there's no sharp pain. Mostly my wrist tweaks during supination (palm toward the ceiling). And wearing my brace doesn't really help it anymore. Neither does taking drugs, really.
What is the surgery if I need it? Tendon release. They'll go in and cut the inflamed sheath of my tendon, releasing it to glide without pain. Kind of like the surgery for Carpal Tunnel, but on the outside of your wrist/arm. What is the recovery? Four weeks in a full arm cast (or full arm splint) and physical therapy afterward to regain strength.
Joy of effing joys. I'll keep you updated after my doctor visit.
~~Becka
