Update: Movember

Well, for those of you asking for hand updates here it is.

I've been allowed to fly (unpleasant Virgin experience) and survived a trip to Las Vegas to see @Plowey race.

I've not got good movement of the knuckles, so the hand is "the claw" which immediately makes me do the Toy Story aliens voice. My niece thinks her uncle Bat should be worshipped by little green aliens. I like her :)

I keep forgetting and sticking my hand in my pocket to keep it warm, then a while later the fingers tingle; I pull out my hand and the scar and is purple and the hand is a funny colour. Either I can put my hand in the air, pump the fingers a few times and the circulation circulates and all looks good, or I can extend my arms and shuffle forward muttering "brains, brains" then when I reach someone just say "you're OK" and carry on. Another niece pleaser.

I should point out that she's grown up with a little boy of her own, who will one day have to be taught the joy of pigeon-punting in city centres :)

The pain has been pretty much under control, with a PNS suppressant to damp down the nerve pain and post-op swelling. Or at least it's meant to, over the last few days I've noticed the pain returns before the next dose is due.

That's since our return from Las Vegas and succumbing to a cold picked by sharing a metal can with recycled air from sneezing fellow passengers, lovely! Of course for me it's been full blown man-flu :(

So the hand, well the ring finger seems stuffed. I can't straighten the final joint, and the finger is rotated slightly so using the fingertip when typing causes more pain. Sometimes I catch that fingertip because of the hook and it twists the finger more, causing pain.

The little finger won't straighten, with the final joint hyperextending and the middle joint crooked. The nail seems to be deformed too, with a hump at the base and uneven colour.

The swelling is frustratingly slow to go down, possibly linked to the poor circulation that's causing the purple colouring if I forget and leave my hand down for too long.

The scarring on the first finger hurts quite often, possibly linked to having my hands down while typing. The main scar around the graft hurts too, or more likely the swelling around the edges of that scar hurts as the nerve was 'divided' (that means left on the A4074 somewhere) and I don't feel pain in the graft area.

Strangely at the end of the long scar heading towards my elbow a few inches below my wrist, I'm becoming aware of an area where I can't feel anything and it feels swollen. I suspect it's the donor nerve site.

Good news is that I'm getting stronger within the movement limitations, and I can pick up things and use a fat handled knife (not gracefully) to eat out - so Angie doesn't have to cut my food (unless I get tired).

I managed to use the micro 4/3 cameras on this last trip, even getting some sharp pictures - though way less than I wanted to. Quick handling is out, as is changing settings on the fly, changing lenses is right out unless indoors on a table.

It's so frustrating, the slow recovery from less than 3 seconds of injury.
Plus not being able to drive to work, being a home prisoner.

Angie will tell you I am NOT a good patient.

No patience, you see.

Paul, very glad to hear from you. Hope everything will heal as quickly as possible and you get 100% of you use back. Thanks for giving us an update. Your problems are worse than mine but I have had five operations to fix things that have happened to my right hand so I can relate, in a small way, to what you may be going through, Jeff

Wow Paul......you're walking a tough road. I'm sorry to hear all that you are going through. It's much worse than I imagined. I can't imagine how painful and frustrating in so many ways your life has to be. Your whole body is really affected. Even the mind is affected when you are always experiencing some degree of pain and/or discomfort, not to mention how much effort it takes just to live day by day - then add STRESS to the mix. "Normal life" takes on another meaning during times like this. I hope the rest of your recovery will soon be less painful in every way.

What is the prognosis for the affected area? Are you receiving any treatment; i.e. physical therapy?

Thank you for sharing with us - and giving us an update. I will pray for you.

Liz

Thanks for the update Paul. Hang in there.

Thanks for taking the time to give us an update Paul. Hopefully the recovery rate improves soon.

Good to see you were able to type the update,
wish you get well, and enough patience while this happens

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Liz

What is the prognosis for the affected area?

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I'm not getting any commitments on a prognosis, apart from the physiotherapist (= physical therapy) possibly not disagreeing that it'll be another 6 months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Liz

Are you receiving any treatment; i.e. physical therapy?

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Only physiotherapy which is about 15 minute appointment every 2 weeks and instruction on exercises I have to do.
I take a nervous system suppressor 3x a day, it's usually used for epilepsy, it suppresses the peripheral nerves and has stopped the pain. It is supposed to reduce the swelling and it taking its own sweet time doing that. But it's fighting agiainst the natural reacton since August so I guess it could take 8 weeks to get rid of the swelling.
I have three splints, one permamently on the ring finger to rebalance the joints so that I don't get a swan neck deformity. At night there's a mallet splint for that fingertip to stop it bending again redirecting the tension in the joints. Also at night there's a silicone/mineral oil patch across the scar and then a pressure cast over the top.

I went shopping and bought over the counter treatments in the hope they'd be OK.
The physio says the scar patches from CVS are almost identical to the material she uses (but they're only 2"x3" so don't cover the scar) and was surprised when I said it worked out at under $1 per piece.
Same for the scar guard liquid sliicone treatment. It's flattening out the scars on my index and middle fingers quite effectively, and she says I can use it on the main scars.

The physio recommended a battery massager to work round the edges of the scar and soften/loosen it. I managed to get it on the web for 1/3 less than she paid for hers on the web (result!) and after a month I've completely work out the tip on the massager!
At first I thought I'd have to bu a new massager because the tips aren't available separately, but I found them on a US website. Annoyingly my UK credit card doesn't work (their website crashes with an internal error) so I can't order them.
But I emailed a UK dealer and they can suply the tips at £8 for a set instead of $3 a set from the US website!
Cheaper than buying a new massager just to get the tips, but annoyingly expensive.

Still the right hand is a claw rather than clenching properly, but it is usable.
Today theres no pain in the ring finger while typing, so while it's still twisted (rotated and final joint bent) it is workable for typing.

It could be worse.

Paul,

Your therapy is very complicated and involved. However, it sounds like you are doing well, although it is a painful and long recovery. I hope that the prognosis turns out to be even better than you expect, and the time will not be so long.

It's good you are creative and patient enough to find the medical equipmnent you need at a better price, even though it is still costly. I hope you are getting some money from the insurance company.

Good luck, Paul, and please keep us updated. Thanks for taking the time to explain the procedures. At least we know what you are doing (in your "spare" time)!. :eek:

Keep up the good work!

Liz