It’s January 9, a few weeks ago. At 8 in the morning I enter the operating room of the Gemelli hand surgery department in Rome: it is the first surgery of my life. It all began on September 25, the day of the political elections, when I spent the night with journalists and friends who were passionate about politics chatting on my cell phone to comment on the results of the vote. We exchange data, opinions, hypotheses. The more they come, the more I type. I am always very social and when there are big events I like to share information.
At the crack of dawn, when I finally decide to go to sleep, I feel that the thumb of the left hand is sore. Days go by and the situation doesn’t improve, but since I’m optimistic by nature I don’t worry and, on the contrary, I also do an hour of vinyasa yoga using the palm of my hand for asana. In short, I try to lead my normal life, but when I move my hand or carry weights I feel bad pains in my wrist.
Anti-inflammatories and physiotherapy weren’t enough
At this point, also on the advice of the “stable affections” of the program, who see me increasingly sore on the air, I am convinced to see a specialist. The doctor prescribes me one anti-inflammatory treatment, lots of ice on the wrist and a course of physiotherapy which, however, does not give the desired positive results. Nothing works, my thumb hurts more and more, especially at night and even more in the morning when I wake up. After several weeks I book an MRI and the response arrives: De Quervain tenosynovite.
I think that’s a very chic name for a disease, but alas, it’s still a disease: an inflammation of the sheath that lines the two tendons connected to movement of the thumb. Out of sheer curiosity I go looking for news on the internet and I discover that this disease affects mothers when they hold babies in their arms for a long time, or teenagers due to too much time spent chatting or playing video games. My mother, on the other hand, leafing through her old medical encyclopedia, reads that the disease in the past affected women because they washed by hand and wrung out the sheets.
I entered the operating room at 8 and by 14 I was already live
Of course, however, the internet is neither a medical source nor a cure. In life I always think that if you have a problem you have to solve it, without dragging the discomfort: it’s my rule in any activity or event. So when Gemini hand surgery specialist Vincent Mazzone tells me that everything can be solved with a simple operationI immediately give him my assent.
Monday morning at 8 I’m in the operating room, at 14 I’m live on Rai 1 with Today is another day. I have to wear the bandage for twenty days and I am confident that everything will go back to the way it was. I will always carry with me the memory of the professionalism and kindness of the entire healthcare team.
I am in shape with yoga
As you may have understood, I’m not a hypochondriac, but a constant: usually I do all the necessary checksstarting with mammography. I like to enjoy the pleasures of life, I consider food joy and conviviality, I am in shape with yoga which helps me physically and mentally, because it also favors concentration. Just to explore this discipline one summer a few years ago I went to Thailand. I was alone. Solo travel is one of the pleasures I discovered as an adult. I lead a crowded existence and a few days of solitude, during the holidays, make me return to what Nina Berberova, a writer I love, called “my no-man’s land”: a space of absolute freedom in which one manages to be master of themselves.
That summer, in Thailand, on the island of Ko Phangan, I stayed in a stilt house in the jungle overlooking the sea. My yoga retreat included a seven-day fast during which I drank only liquids, practiced a lot of yoga and had lots of massages. Moreover, the people who shared this experience were varied and interesting, perfect for my curiosity: from the Indian girl who loves shopping, to the manager friend of the French president Emmanuel Macron, from the German doctor covered in tattoos to the Californian photographer.
Fasting helps to observe your body. We often have a neurotic relationship with food, onto which we project our illnesses. It also happens to swallow voraciously, without awareness of the quality or quantity of what we put inside our body. Fasting and yoga, practiced on top of the mountain, were unprecedented experiences of deep contact with body and spirit. By the end of this trip I had lost a few pounds, my skin was glowing and I was full of energy, more than usual.
I drink a liter of green tea every morning
Vitality is a feature of my character which obviously helps me in carrying out a stimulating but also tiring job, like that of a daily live broadcast that never allows you to give in physically. In the morning when I wake up I don’t drink coffee, but a liter of green tea while reading the newspapers: a real ritual that I have been observing for many years. Having an encyclopedic attitude towards life, I even studied the different qualities of tea and became almost an expert. When I need a boost of energy I drink a cup of matcha tea, which is the quality with the highest concentration of theine.
I never have lunch, but immediately after the episode, during a meeting with colleagues, I eat something light and I try to have an early dinner if I canoften in company. Learning to take care of my body has been a conquest of adulthood: as a girl I always concentrated on the intellectual and psychological part, thanks also to the psychoanalysis that I started attending when I was 25 years old. Today I have acquired the awareness that paying attention to physical fitness is not a luxury or a waste of time, but the fundamental condition for expressing myself at my best. Furthermore, taking care of yourself in all aspects, emotional and bodily, is also the indispensable condition for opening up to others and welcoming them. Giving and receiving joy is the cornerstone of my life.
Read also…
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Workstation: do you have all the accessories to feel good?
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De Quervain syndrome: diagnosis and treatment
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Tech neck: the smartphone causes wrinkles on your neck
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All the benefits of yoga
The article Serena Bortone: “Operated for tendonitis for chatting too much” comes from OK Health and Wellness.