Impending Disaster

I have an illness on my thumb. It is yet to be determined whether or not it is lethal. I am preparing for the worst. It sounds very odd and gross, and knowing that it is me that this is happening to makes me want to cut off my finger. If I just knew what it was maybe I would calm down, but since I don't know it seems yucky and frightening.

A couple days ago I started noticing these bumps on my thumb. You can't really see them well. They are like minuscule little air bubbles under the skin. And when I text or do anything else that puts pressure on the pad of my right thumb, I can feel them and they hurt. Like little splinters or something. But it can't be splinters because there are 12 or more of them and I would have noticed getting 12 shards of anything stuck in my hand.

Yikes!

Last night I had a full on panic attack about this disastrous development. I looked on the internet and the closest thing I could find was something called dyshidrotic dermatitis. The pictures are all a bit more extreme than my case since mine is only on my thumb and you can't see it unless you look really really hard. But the websites I looked at says that the condition is one that some people develop in their 20's or 30's either randomly or because of weather, stress, or a medication/chemical. It can start on one fingertip and spread or it can remain localized. And it can go away and never return or show up once every couple weeks for the rest of your life.

Needless to say, I am scheduling an appointment with my Jewish dermatologist pronto. He is very very intelligent and I have complete faith that he will know what to do. Until then, I am staying off of Google, and utilizing my impressive skills of distraction to avoid obsessing about my possibly fatal future regarding my thumb.