Good Deed, Raw Deal
With my work schedule I typically miss out on everything. Last month I had a rare Saturday without games, which meant I didn't have to work. It was a cold and rainy day, but still a Saturday off. Hallelujah!! It's so rare in fact, I could hardly think of what to do. Luckily there was already something on the agenda. One of the outdoor organizations Nick and I are members of, was having a clean-up day in a local wildlife management area—to pick up trash and other things people have just dumped. It's public land that we often frequent for hunting and running the dogs, so it made sense for us to be there. We joined up with other members who decided to also brave the weather and be good sports.
Before we began, we all had to sign waivers. I remember laughing and thinking to myself, “What could possibly happen? We're just walking through the woods, picking up trash.” But just as everyone else did, I signed my name to release anyone of liability if something were to happen. I listened to the simple instructions, like make sure you're wearing gloves. Yada yada, so on and so forth. I get it. I typically like to live and play by my own rules anyways. To be honest, if it wasn't cold, I probably wouldn't have put gloves on. And I wouldn't have given it a second thought. I would have taken my chances. But it's dumb not to wear them when picking up gross things. So I wore a pair—go me for not being a total idiot!
I started off by myself, just walking at my own leisure—picking up whatever I could find and tossing it in the giant trash bag I was lugging around. Eventually I met back up with Nick and we joined forces, trudging through thicker vegetation. We hike, hunt and do anything and everything possible in the woods. Bushwhacking through thickets is no big deal and something we are very accustomed to. Annoying, but definitely doable. I remember following behind Nick and getting caught up in some thorns. It's never a fun time, but you get through it and you're fine. Maybe come out with a scratch and a little blood.
On this particular occasion, a vine with an apparent vengeance, grabbed hold of my left hand as I was passing through. It felt like I was just stabbed. The pain was intense. I was seriously expecting a 3 inch thorn to be sticking through my hand. I pulled it off my glove and kept hiking. Once we got in the clear, I took my glove off to look at my finger. No blood. No mark, even. Nothing indicating I was just brutally stabbed. But it hurt like hell. Hmm—weird. Maybe it got me just right. But whatever. We continued picking up trash for another hour and a half or so. By this point, I wasn't even thinking about my finger anymore. It was fine.
Fast forward to now—4 weeks later. Apparently that stupid thorn turned out to be a big problem. Who would have thought? I have been jabbed by thousands of thorns over the years without issue. But this one hit me good—directly in the joint. Over the past few weeks, I have developed arthritic symptoms that just seemed bizarre. I began looking up what could have possibly happened. I started questioning myself as to whether it was truly a thorn. I thought maybe I was bit by something, based on the symptom progression. But I distinctly remember the thicket of thorns. There was no question in that. So I started researching thorns and joint pain, etc. I found something known as ‘plant thorn synovitis/arthritis’. Never heard of it. Seemed ridiculous yet every symptom I had matched it perfectly.
Everything told me that I needed to see a doc and surgery was the only fix or else the joint would be destroyed over time, causing irreversible damage. Seriously?! This can't be real. I laughed, even though I was slightly unnerved at what could be. And I know I am one to get all the weird shit. I felt like an idiot but I reached out to one of our hand specialists and he saw me immediately. X-rays revealed that the joint itself still looks good. No damage to any of the cartilage. Thankfully I came in before it was too late. The doc mentioned that there is likely plant matter in the joint just wreaking havoc and it will not get better until it's removed. So guess who has surgery in a couple days? I’m just thrilled—NOT. He will remove the damaged and infected synovial tissue and send it to a lab for testing, so we can figure out what meds are needed to treat the isolated infection.
It's truly amazing how one simple thorn puncture can cause so much damage. Mother Nature can be a real bitch sometimes. But I must admit that I'm pretty excited to watch my own surgery. Don't worry, I'll be able to flip you off soon enough! I wish I could tell you that if you just wear gloves, you'll be fine, however that is not true. This is obviously an incredibly rare injury and unlikely to happen if you're wearing gloves. I was just super unfortunate, but I’m thankful to have it resolved soon! PS—don’t let a thorn stop you from hiking in the woods.