We have all asked ourselves this question, or have been asked it before: what is the one bodily thing you cannot live without? Some people would say sight, or the ability to hear, taste, smell, etc. If you had asked me this a week ago, I would have said something along the lines of my sight or smell. But, after being unable to use my right hand for the past week, I can wholeheartedly conclude that I cannot ever give up the use of my hands.

Since roughly junior year, I have had sporadic pain in my right wrist when I would bend it. After a few days, however, it would dissipate and I would have full function again. Every few months, it would come back, and then go away again. These past two weeks, though, the pain came back like never before.

It was a Sunday night when it started up again; having felt this pain before, I knew to put on my wrist brace to keep it still throughout the night. I went without it in my classes on Monday so that I could take a quiz and write down notes, but when I wasn't in class, the brace was secured and my wrist was still. Come afternoon, the pain became worse, and in band, the pain got so unbearable that I had to stop playing my flute at least half an hour early.

Had that just been the end of it, I would not have worried nearly as much as I did. But, of course, that was not the end of it. While in my friend's dorm room, I moved my wrist in a painful way, and as a result a numb, tingly feeling shot up the right side of my hand and up my ring finger. Nothing like that had ever happened before, and I was freaking out.

Tuesday morning at 11:00 I was in the Health and Wellness Center, and emerged roughly half an hour later with a diagnosis of tendinitis and a prescription of rest, immobilization, and routine anti-inflammatory pain killers (essentially, take Advil regularly). I would be unable to write, play my flute, or use sign language for the next week, and I would have to return the following week to get my wrist checked out again.

That week was one of the hardest and most depressing weeks of my life. My right hand is an essential part of my everyday life, and suddenly I was without use of it. Everything became more difficult, even eating. When you use one hand exclusively over the other, you take for granted the abilities it gives you. Eating was a concept that I never really considered much before, but now it was awkward to just use a fork or a spoon. When you can't bend your wrist just to get a forkful of food up to your mouth, it can be very frustrating at times.

Throughout the week the pain slowly decreased, but it wasn't until Monday night of the following week that I noticed that there was nearly no pain. After my follow-up appointment, I was told that I would still have to wear my brace full-time for at least another week, and then afterwards I would need to wear it at night when I sleep and during band rehearsals (which will be no small feat).

The time that I was unable to use my right wrist and hand gave me a lot of time to think about what many people, including myself, have taken for granted in terms of their body. Walking and using your hands are things that most able-bodied people overlook every day, since they have full function of easy concepts. But try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who cannot do simple things, such as walking or using their hands, with the same ease as us. Now, nothing is simple, and you have to either push through your inability to carry out simple tasks, ask for help, or work around it.

It is important to be grateful for the things you can do, and try not to take them for granted. One day, who knows -- maybe you'll have to live without a crucial body part for a temporary time or permanently. Losing the ability to use my hand, even if only for a few weeks, has taught me to appreciate the simple, little things in life, like being able to write by hand or open a door. It was a lesson I had to learn the hard way, but despite all of the pain and frustrations, I would not have it any other way.

Now that I have almost full function in my wrist and hand again, I am back to writing, signing, and playing my flute, but I will never again take those things for granted.