Ya know, there are only a couple of places I can go where the folks can
really understand being excited by the prospect of (minor) surgery on a
joint!

saw the ortho today about having the synovectomies done on my thumbs.  It's a
go.  I decided to to the right thumb first - they'll call to schedule it,
they're currently scheduling about 6 weeks out so things may get complicated
by the holidays and Mike's priesthood ordination in December.  I'm trying not
to get my hopes up too much for a great outcome, but the thought of having my
thumbs most of the way back again after 5 years of swelling and pain is soooo
sweet!

The ortho agreed with my RD that the joint space narrowing is not too severe
yet but added that there was definitely a lot of inflammation in there.  He
gave me the option of fusions rather than synovectomies (i.e. cleaning out
the inflammation) but I figured there's no reason to go for fusions this ealr
when I'm still a ways from bone on bone.  But stiffling screams when using my
thumbs in public may be a thing of the past for me by this time next year.  
<vbg>

oh, and he's another doc who's nice to look at - and has a good sense of
humor as well!  (http://www.baystreetortho.com/profiles.php#wroblewski)  
(s'pose I could lose 20 lbs by surgery time?)