Another Tiger Hero

TigerBlog is writing today with one finger that has a mind of its own.

It's the middle finger on his right hand, which means that letters like "I" and "K" are particularly problematic right now. He's also having a problem with commas as well.

The issue is something called a "trigger finger." No, it has nothing to do with weapons. 

This particular "trigger finger" has to do with having a knuckle get stuck due to some issue with a tendon that's being blocked. In TB's case, it's on an unfortunate finger, since once it gets stuck, it ends up getting unstuck by popping straight up when pushed, which, well, appears to give anyone in the vicinity the finger.

The solution was a steroid injection, which TB received yesterday. The problem is that the finger was numbed, leaving it with the feeling similar to having Novocaine in your mouth after a trip to the dentist. In other words, there isn't much feeling there now, which is making typing a bit of an adventure.

It can be caused by a bunch of different things, including repetitive motion, which fits in TB's case. Ah, the things he does to reach you every day.

The doctor TB saw yesterday was the second one he saw in this particular orthopedic practice lately. The first was last week, for an unrelated shoulder issue (this is from about 15 years of playing squash). That doctor told TB that the injection for the trigger finger is really painful. As it turned out, it wasn't.

When TB shared that with the hand doctor he saw yesterday, the response he got was classic: "Make sure you show him your finger on the way out." That's the kind of subtle humor the medical profession definitely needs. 

TigerBlog could never have been a doctor, for so many different reasons. Science was never his best thing. Blood definitely isn't. 

He does have great respect for those who have made it through medical school and then residency all the way to being a doctor. It's not easy. It's a great deal of sacrifice. And it puts those who can do it in a position to make a huge impact on society for the good.

TB is thinking about people like Vietta Johnson, the 2021 Class of 1967 Citizen-Athlete of the Year Award winner. She, like countless others, has used her medical expertise to bring health care to those who otherwise might not have access to it, here and in other countries.

The "Tiger Heroes" series has told story after story of former Princeton athletes turned doctors who have been invaluable in their contributions to society during the COVID pandemic and in so many other ways. The most recent story that TB saw in the series was of former field hockey player Shahrzad Joharifard, Class of 2005, who is now a pediatric surgeon in British Columbia.

You can read it HERE.

TigerBlog wrote about several doctors in his book on the first 50 years of women's athletics at Princeton, and their experiences as athletes definitely helped them in their medical training. They also took a great deal from their own experiences with injuries along the way. Joharifard is no different:

I had three ACL reconstructions during my field hockey career, and rehabilitating from these surgeries in order to get back on the field taught me grit and resilience, attributes that were critical to surviving 12 grueling years of surgical training.

If you want to know what she's all about, consider this quote from the story:

I am a pediatric surgeon, which means that I operate on a wide variety of congenital and acquired conditions in tiny premature neonates all the way to burly 18 year old's. In addition, I have spent a good part of the last 15 years working in various capacities in sub-Saharan Africa, initially with the International Rescue Committee in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a Princeton-in-Africa fellowship, and thereafter with a number of organizations in a dozen countries across the continent. Currently, I work with Partners in Health (PIH) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors Without Borders) to provide surgical care in conflict and post conflict settings.

Joharifard was a captain of the 2004 Tigers. She played on three Ivy League championship teams at Princeton, and she earned All-Ivy honors as a junior in 2003. The last game of her senior year, though, was one of the most excruciating losses TB has ever seen for a Princeton team.

It came against Penn, in a game in which the winner would get the Ivy championship. It was 1-1 until past the end of the second half, when the Quakers scored the game-winner on an untimed penalty corner. 

Maybe that loss helped drive her moving forward. TB has no idea. 

He does know that Shahrzad Joharifard is another of the alums of Princeton athletics who has gone on to reinforce that the values learned while being a Tiger never leave these Tigers, no matter where they go.