Old people often like to meet up to discuss their medical ailments and compare operation scars, and it seems I must be of that ilk as I am about to share with you what I trust will be a straightforward medical procedure I am about to undergo. Mind you I can't be as old as my mate Phill, you should see the stuff he shares with the world!
In two and a half weeks time I am booked in to the Day Surgery Unit of my local hospital to have my right ring finger unbent. I suffer from a rather lovely condition called Dupuytren's disease, which runs in families. My uncle had a similar op a few years back.
The condition entails that over the course of time fibrous tissue forms under the skin of the hand causing a finger or fingers to curl up. You may recall Thatcher had an op for her "claw" some years back. The thought that I share a condition with our ex-dictator does not fill me with happiness I must say.
Although not painful it can become inconvenient - you catch your bendy finger on things, you drop change you are given, etc. I first saw my doc about this around five or six years ago, and I was told not to bother going on the waiting list, as it was not an essential or urgent operation and I could be waiting for years. Earlier this year, after the condition had slowly worsened over time, I revisited the surgery and saw a different doctor, and lo and behold I get a slot only three months later. I get the impression the first doctor was fobbing me off as he considered my potential op a waste of NHS time when far more needy cases awaited treatment. This is of course conjecture, but if true I suppose he had a point, but then again I always found this particular practitioner a supercilious so and so.
Anyway, I digress. I have this problem in both hands, and it is far worse, although weirdly, less immediately obvious, in my left hand than my right. Due to the nature of my work, and the fact that our heaviest workload is from December to the end of January, and being left handed, I opted for the right hand being seen to first, with an expected recovery time of a fortnight. The left hand will have to wait until February next year, as the recovery time will be longer and it is my writing hand.
Warning for the squeamish - I fully intend to post "before & after" photos, but I will warn you in advance! Oh, and expect my hit and miss syntax and spelling to deteriorate as I give you updates soon after the op via one handed typing...
Wish me luck.....
PS - Any tips on dressing one handed gratefully accepted..
Hello Roger T - Fear not you are not alone. I too have Dupuytrens contracture in the little finger of my left hand. After being diagnosed with the disease 5 years ago I was told by my hand surgeon that, and I quote, "There is nothing you can do about it" Well, them's fighting words! My search for alternative treatments led me do discover that a pharmaceutical company had in fact developed an injectible drug called Xiaflex that when injected into the chord breaks it down releasing the hold it has on your finger and you are able to straighten your finger!
ReplyDeleteI had my first round of injections in June 2010 and it released the chord and I was able to straighten my finger. NO SURGERY!!! and a recovery time of about 2 weeks, full use of my hand and I was back to the gym.
My case required a second round of injections which I am scheduled to have today. They recommend waiting a few months between injections in order to better isolate the chord and to give the tissue time to rebuild. And my insurance covers up to 3 injections per finger.
If you want to learn more about Xiaflex check out the Auxilium website (the pharmaceutical company) as well as a website called HandRaisers. You can see my profile on Handraisers, I am nycactor.
I want to wish you luck with your surgery and would be more than happy to share with you the results of my second round of injections.
Best,
Jack G.
nycactor
Thanks Jack.
ReplyDeleteAs I don't have any medical insurance, I'm relying on the good old NHS here in the UK to sort me out (8 days to go). They say the scarring will be minimal on my right hand, but I may investigate Xiaflex for my left hand, where scarring will be more of an issue. I'll mention it to the consultant and see what he says.