Rick has been having some trouble with his wrists for the last couple of weeks.  At night, the pain tends to get unbearable.  I had thought it might be growing pains, but the rest of his joints were fine.  He takes aspirin for the pain when it is bad. 

However, Rick inherited an unusual swallowing problem from my side of the family.  I kind of have, but it turns out that my father had it really bad.  Rick hasn’t been able to swallow pills.  He’s tried over the years without any luck.  Luckily, they do have liquid pain relief. 

Last night, the pain came back and there was no more liquid pain relief.  Rick came to the door of our room looking for help.  But before he could get through the dining room, Sascha started growling low and barking at the back of her throat.  It was a menacing sound meant to scare the big bad bullies away.  But it was only Rick.

Now I didn’t hear Sascha start up.  I heard Rich cry out at something and I heard Rick say, “Sascha, it’s me.” She must have gotten quiet at the sound of Rick’s voice.  The next thing I knew, Rick was standing by the bed asking me to help him.  I got him some tablets he could chew up and wash down.

That meant a trip to the orthopedic guys today.  They took x-rays and the doctor looked him over.  After asking some strategic questions about the amount of time gaming, the doctor proclaimed the problem to be tendinitis.  The problem is more pronounced on the right hand than the left, but then Rick is right-handed. 

So we left the office with a wrist brace for the right hand and orders to take Ibuprofen twice a day.  We agreed Rick wouldn’t do any gaming for a couple of weeks to see how he does.  This also means he has to cut back on his guitar work also.  Hopefully, things get better and Rick can work on improving his keyboarding skills to lessen the effects.

Otherwise, Sascha will be growling at him some more one night.