Cold Hands

As I grew up without any snow in the winter, I thought it was great to have a stark contrast of the 4 seasons. I like the wintry scenery with gentle snowfall, the ground covered with a layer of white fluffy flakes and people all geared up with their coats and gloves.

In recent years, I notice that I don’t tolerate the cold too well. My fingertips feel cold when it is less than 65 F. Quite a few times, especially in the morning time, patients would tell me that my hands were cold. The water faucet was not set at a temperature warm enough for my hands.

My hands feels like they are burning when I grab something from the freezer. They actually turn white and then red. I tried skiing with my family – more to spend time with them than to excel in the sport. Even though my body was toasty warm, my hands and my feet were freezing cold (with hand warmer and foot warmer in place).

Raynaud’s phenomenon. Learned that years ago in medical school. Fairly straight forward to diagnose. Living in Hawaii all year round would solve the problem. Not quite where my priorities are. I want to live close to my family and my good friends.

I do not think that my cold hands are stumbling blocks to my happiness. Simply a slight inconvenience. Thankfully I have a warm car to drive in (I am seriously thinking about getting a heated steering wheel for my next vehicle). I can use heat packs. There is even a bed jet that can circulate warm air so I can sleep in a climate-controlled bubble. Although I probably won’t do many outdoor sports when it is freezing, I find creative ways to keep my hands as warm as possible. It is fun, almost like little challenges to come up with ways to keep my 10 digits to be the same temperature as the rest of my body.

Raynaud’s will not obstruct my way to happiness. Even though I probably won’t ski anymore, I will still go on ski trips with my family and friends, set up my own space inside the ski house, looking out at the mountain to cheer my loved ones on.