Mr. Puffy-Hand

Over the last few days I have started having trouble with my hand. The simulated time-lapse below explains the problem (click on it to see the details). My doctor friend at the hospital says he can get me better and for now, what choice do I have but to trust him? That and praying.

If you read my last post, you can probably guess what spurred that whole line of thought. I thought how there was a real, though slight, chance that this was the beginning of the end. First redness and swelling, then full-blown hand cancer. I actually did spend a few minutes thinking what it would be like if I lost those two fingers on my left hand. If it were infected and the infection got out of control. I'm on antibiotics now, and, they are now coming to save my hand.

From a biological perspective, my hand's situation is really not too dissimilar to that of the people defending Helm's Deep in the second Lord of The Rings movie:

1. The innocent people (my hand cells) are confronted with evil orcs (germs) that are determined to destroy them.
2. The elves (white blood cells) come and offer welcome, though insufficient, reinforcements as the battle starts.
3. All seems lost as the battle gets deeper and deeper into their little castle (the swelling spreads)
4. At the last moment before total destruction, Gandalf (my doctor friend) appears and leads a charge with his friends (antibiotics) down to destroy the orc-germs.

What I'm a dork? It's okay, you can say it. But, if you are thinking I am over-reacting to a little swelling, please remember that almost every day I handle extremely dangerous microbes, and that I don't know how hard it is for those little guys to work their way into my hand. I like to think it is difficult, but I don't know.