I too have ended up with a pen tablet. XP-Pen mini 7"

Broke my wrist snowboarding which ended up with my wrist getting pinned back together. After it surgically "fixed" and healed and I started using that hand again, I got super inflamed tendons in my wrist to the point it would wake me up a night and barely able to use a normal mouse at work. I ended up trying 3 different types of ergo mice, none of which helped. In desperation I ended up ordering the pen tablet, it felt good in my hand right away and after struggling with brain/hand/cursor location for 2 weeks it's become my preferred method. I mapped the shortcut keys on the tablet to copy/paste/middle click/ double click which is awesome.

For me the tablet lives right in-front of the keyboard, just like a laptop trackpad. I tried off to the side, but couldn't get used to it.