Creative Problem Solving

In case anyone decides to tackle a "re-design" of the human race, I have some suggestions.  Instead of one thumb and four fingers on each hand, I highly recommend humans having two thumbs and three fingers on each hand.  This is based on the recent past where I have temporarily lost the use of some fingers, alternately followed by the inability to use my thumbs (all related to joint problems - a known side effect of Vemurafenib).

When my index fingers were out of commission, my other fingers could "fill in" and I could still function pretty well.  When my thumbs were messed up, all my fingers were poor substitutes for just about any task.  Just picture pulling your pants down, your socks up or using your hands to write, peel, cut, button, etc. BUT  imagine executing these moves with out utilizing your thumbs.  Thus my inclination to:

•  wear skirts lately to avoid maneuvering pants either up or down
• be grateful for the recent unseasonably warm weather eliminating the need for socks
•  cease making salad to avoid holding a knife and chopping
•  blah, blah, blah

 Thankfully, each joint is only affected temporarily.  Of course, this means that once I find a way to adapt to the current joint problem, a new issue arises in another location.  However, it is a blessing that the difficulties are not cumulative.  Otherwise the compounding of problems would render me rather debilitated.  I simply have an ongoing need to discover creative approaches to accomplish tasks.

So far, I have been successful at finding a solution (other than obtaining assistance from some one else).  I have become much more ambidextrous and can now use either hand to eat, brush my teeth, comb my hair, etc.  You never realize how much you favor one hand over the other for certain things until you are forced to use the opposite hand for everything.

Perform an experiment by swapping hands for a few basic tasks.  It is unbelievably awkward - but doable.

In the end, the one task that finally stumped me was hole punching legal documents at work.  When my hands and wrists were on the fritz, I could operate the hole punch by leaning on it with my elbow.  Once my shoulders were jacked up, the only solution I could come up with was to sit on the hole punch - which even for stubborn Peggy was a little too crazy.


Ultimately, I asked a co-worker if I could trade a task with her.  She hole punched the loan documents for me without handing off something on her 'to do' list to me.  This is one small example of the endless amounts of help which have been graciously offered to me both at home and at work.   Hopefully everyone knows how grateful I am for all the assistance.