Chronic Rants

“Which arm do you want for your flu shot?” It’s such an easy question, right? Well, not really.

In the car on the way to the pharmacy, I debated. I usually have a sore arm for a bit. (For context, I have chronic pain in many areas of my body, and my right wrist is one of the worst spots.) My left arm is stronger and has less pain, which means I can tolerate it there more, so I should get it in my left arm. Then again, maybe I should get the shot in my weaker arm, so I still have one strong-ish arm. So I should get it in my right arm. The soreness can mess up my sleep for a night or two. I sleep on my left, so I should get the shot in my right arm. But do I really want more pain in my right arm? No I don’t, so I should get it in my left arm. I reach for things with my left (I’m right-handed, but with extra pain that wrist, I have to do more with my left) so I should get it in my right arm. I use my left more when I drive, so I should get it in my right arm. But I want to have at least some function in my right when I drive, so I should get it in my left arm.

I went back and forth for a bit. Finally, I decided: the left. The deciding factor was simple: I can push through the arm soreness in my left to crochet and knit, two of my favorite hobbies which I do to relax. I can not necessarily push through the soreness to do those things if it’s in my right arm. And if I’m feeling lousy, which I have been lately (that’s a story for a different day) then I’ll want to do my yarn crafts more than ever.

These are the kinds of issues that I don’t think “healthy” people deal with. They simply pick an arm, probably their non-dominant one, and move on with their day. But for someone like me, whose non-dominant arm is needed to compensate for the pain and weakness in what is my naturally dominant arm, there’s no easy answer.

If you’re struggling with similar issues, related to your flu shot or anything else, please know that you’re not alone. Sometimes these supposedly-easy decisions are actually very difficult.

P.S. I’m happy to say that the soreness was much milder this year, and only disrupted my sleep for one night.

P.P.S. My brain fog is much worse than usual this week. I hope this post makes sense and that I caught the worst of the typos but, well, it is what it is.