Enchrondroma and Other Happenings

So, it turns out, i have an enchrondroma-in my finger. It's some kind of tumor (most likely benign) that i've apparently had for some time. Recently, it was quite aggravated by everything I did with the move, so it was bothering me a lot. I went to see a GP to have it checked out and he had x-rays taken. (which i've posted below) As you can see, it's in the bone and it doesn't look exactly kosher. My GP set up an appt. for me with an orthopedic doc, but that wasn't until jan. 25. I was a little disturbed after seeing the x-rays, so i decided to call Neil, a guy in my epi class who just happens to be an orthopedic doctor, that night. Well, Neil is a total God-send. He pulled up my x-rays from his computer at home, contacted the head of the orthopedic department, and got me in for an appointment the very next morning!


So now, I have surgery scheduled for dec. 18 (notice-a good month before my appointment was supposed to be!). They're going to go in and remove the tumor and do a bone graft from my wrist so that the bone in my finger can begin to repair itself. I am so thankful for how everything has worked out in this situation. Having the surgery at the beginning of break gives me a month to recover and be in a cast without worrying about writing or typing. God has definitely taken care of me and aligned things perfectly.

They made me a splint for my finger because, did I mention? It also happens to be broken. Yup. Only I would be walking around with broken finger for who knows how many months without the slightest clue. No wonder it hurt so dang bad whenever I banged it!! Bonus points-see if you can find the break in the x-ray :)

In other news, we finally got our first real snow fall. It was about time too! Last weekend it iced about 2 inches and it was just wicked cold. If it's going to be cold like that, there better be snow! The ice was just awful. Poor Khairie had to nurse a bloody paw. She's just not used to walking on sharp, jagged ice. I'm definitely starting to feel a little stir crazy. I haven't been able to run very much since Thanksgiving. I'm hoping the ice melts soon, but somehow I kind of doubt that will happen. Other than the hurt paw, Khairie is absolutely loving this weather. The other day I took her to the dog park in (literally) a blizzard. Not surprisingly, there were only snow dogs there. The four owners were huddled together trying to keep warm-which was pretty funny looking considering how big this dog park is.I am very happy to say that I'm pretty much done with my first semester of grad school. I turned in a semester-long project on thursday. I had to come up with an original research project, design it, figure out how I would do it and read absolutely everything published about the subject (to review it and verify that my project was in fact original). It's titled "Immigration, Acculturation and Obesity Related Risk Factors in Asian Indians Living in Chicago." Yup, I think that pretty much sums it all up!It feels so good to have that turned in, and now I can just breathe and relax!