The Bad Kind. Naturally.
A week ago I went to the doctor to get my wrist checked out. A series of MRIs revealed my wrist had landed me in the category of “surgical exploration”. Presumably this means I’d be the medical equivalent of a spelunking excursion, complete with little mining hats.
This new doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, walked through the MRI with me.
“You have multiple cysts in your wrist which we can operate on,” she said, looking over her glasses at me.
“Cysts?” I ask dumbly. “Aren’t those generally considered to be bad things?”
“They can be,” she says shrugging. I worry when doctors shrug. That’s like having a bomb expert with a palsy. “But your cysts are benign.”
“Oh excellent,” I say amenably. Presumably she knows they’re benign because they came bearing gifts, good tidings, and have gentle opinions about politics.
She moves over to my side of the desk and starts manipulating my wrist. With no more than a gentle tug, not unlike the small movement you make when severing the Ramen noodles hanging down your chin after overestimating a mouthful, she pops my wrist out of joint.
“You shouldn’t be able to do this,” she says, looking at me to gauge my pain.
I’m actually in no pain but feel that maybe as a future guideline we should avoid any activities that are preambled with “you shouldn’t be able to do this”.
“I’m afraid operating on your cysts and removing them won’t help the wrist pain,” she says. The wrist pain of which she speaks is bad. It’s getting worse. It’s reaching the point now where sometimes I can’t cut vegetables up as the fingers lock painfully. I can’t open a bottle of wine and god knows it’s time to check out when you can’t open a wine bottle. Any back and forth hand motion is difficult. Lifting up the babies sometimes hurts as moving the wrist causes pain to go up the arm. Writing sometimes makes it ache. And I won’t even go into what this has done to my bid for Miss Handjob 2008.
“I think this is a ligament issue,” she continues. “Your ligament has become damaged as a result of your disease. As your joints degrade the ligaments start to pull more and more.”
“Can’t you operate on the ligaments?” I ask.
“We could, but your condition would just mean that the ligaments would pull again.”
“So
Oh sweetie. ((hugs))
Can you use voice software to talk to your computer and have it type for you? I am sure you do lots of writing everyday, perhaps that could ease some of the wrist load?
Ugh, I’m so sorry…
I have serious tendonitis in both wrists which showed up when Elizabeth was around 6 months old. It was as if my body said I could either work on a computer, or I could carry around a baby, but not both. My GP kept saying that it should get better the less I had to carry around Elizabeth, but really, it didn’t… I barely carry her at all now (she’s 7) and it’s still as though I’m wearing spiked bracelets inside out on a daily basis on both wrists. No pain medication seems to work at all.
Alice, at Finslippy.com, wrote about her struggle with neck pain and recommends the book “Mindbody Prescription: Healing the body, healing the pain”. Offering in support of the pain managemet inquiry.
We are all going to have some chronic wrist issues as we age with all the typing we do at work and in our personal lives. I am currently nursing a Tetris thumb.
It’s hard to accept a disease in all its consequences, poor you! Hand surgery is the supreme art of surgery, I would either run from Pontius to Pilatus to find a way to conservatively treat the wrist (incl. Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture etc. against the pain)than risk it to be irreversibly spoiled in a surgery.
There is always a way, if not in western medicine, try the eastern, at least there should be some relief.
I’m so sorry this is happening. I wish I had something constructive to add, but I don’t – I’m just pissed off this is happening to you, and I hope that you can look into and find alternative methods of managing…
Unsolicited advice to follow which may or may not be useful.
When I was a musician I had serious wrist problems, partly tendonitis and party a serious sprain, that eventually resulted in a giant, visible cyst bulging out of my wrist right on the tendon for my first finger. It was hideously painful and I tried everything. I tried drugs that were later removed from the market for their side effects (thanks FDA! I’ll call you if my heart gives out!). I tried cortizone shots and eventually consulted with a surgeon. My last ditch solution before delicate hand surgery was complete immobilization: a wrist splint that allowed no movement whatsoever. I could use my fingers some, once I got used to it, but no bending. I kept it on for six weeks all the time except in the shower and learned to do things more or less one-handed. When the splint came off, I had to relearn to use my hand because it was very weak, but the pain was gone, and so was the cyst.
I understand your problem is *extremely* different from this, but if you are going to reduce use of that hand anyway, I might recommend a firm, high quality wrist splint that laces up your arm and holds your wrist completely still. In my case, immobilizing allowed the chronic inflammation to sloooooowly subside, and the tendons to heal. Most importantly, this reduced the pain for me. I did have to give up certain activities as well (violin/viola are murder on your wrists, unfortunately) but I adjusted.
:( Sorry babe
So sorry you’re going through this! I’m with Lizvelrene and Paula – avoid surgery if you can. Since you are dealing with soft tissue pain, I wonder whether any fibromyalgia treatments and regimens would help you (my sister swears by myofascial release massage)?
I’m on board with the suggestions for a GOOD wrist splint and voice-activated software. You know what my issues are, and I can say without hesitation that the splint is a big help, and others I know use the Dragon Naturally Speaking software and love it to the point that they almost can’t live without it.
As for the pain, I wish I could tell you it gets better. But it doesn’t. You learn to deal with it or not. Maybe acupuncture? Pain meds will just eat up your stomach after a time, so there’s no point in going THERE. I’ve been there. You don’t need a visit from what my friend Kj calls the “little men with the pickaxes”.
And, for the record, that doc is lucky it was you in there and not me. I’ve been known to hurl things at idiot doctors who expect me to do unrealistic things. I am the worst patient ever.
I’m so sorry. This blows.
Ugh. Sympathies. I hope you can adapt & they can figure SOMETHING out.
sucks like a two dollar whore. I’m sorry.
Oh shit, Helen. Shit. I’m so sorry. Hoping they come up with a plan (or at the very least) a drug to be of some bloody help to you…..
well, fuck.
how the hell are you supposed to self-medicate with 9 glasses of wine if you can’t open the stupid bottle?
hugs to you honey.
I have no advice on the wrist pain, but there are some very good wines out there with twist off tops. I’m guessing you could do that left handed? Then at least you can have some wine!
Fuck.
I’ve got nothing to offer, just chiming in that I think it sucks and I’m sorry to hear it and am thinking about you.
I was going to say “wrist splint” but somebody already has, and better too. Immobilization will help your wrist heal (as well as it will) and will allow you to adapt new strategies to do the things you gotta do.
And get ankle splints while you’re at it. Better to have them before you need them.
Helen, I have sent two rather long emails already but had trouble with the last one. So if you don’t get them holler at me. This doc was wrong. There is much to be done about the pain, and you just need to find the right doctor, as discouraging as these visits are. It may actually take a bit of work(and you have so much free time), but you it will be worth it in the long run.
Pain control is the answer, and finding you the right specialist. Surgery is often futile as everything just stretches, and does not fix the pain.
I know one EDSer who had 30 as a child in a never ending attempt to fix and refix the joints. This is an extreme case, but an example, as she grew up in Ireland and so they just kept trying. She was not diagnosed until she was an adult.
She has had surgeries since, but none unnecessary since her diagnosis, so it does get better once you get your diagnosis and find some decent doctors.
You have the first part down, now on to part two.
It sucks. Lots.
Jesus, Helen. Sorry you had to get news like that. Praying that the specialists come up with a brilliant plan to get rid of the pain. Hugs.
:( *hugs*
I’m sorry that I don’t have anything constructive to say. You have stopped me being a baby over my own hand problems, mine don’t hurt and so far it’s just the one that’s dodgy. I think you just have to reconcile yourself to being a difficult patient with your stubborn insistance on actually earning a crust and looking after your family rather than lounging by the pool and shouting for the servants. “Lifestyle changes” my eye!
Medical marajuana? They have that over there, right? They must. It’s Europe, they’re all about legalizing things that we Americans haven’t gotten around to.
Eh, even if they don’t, I live in California, I’m sure if you wanted, I could just walk into any grocery store and get a couple kilos of it, pop it in a box, and send it. Hell, I could mark the box “Marajuana – do not light on fire” and they’d ship it.
You know, theoretically.
babes
Sorry
xxx
Sorry. (((((((((((((((((Hugs))))))))))))))))
A lifestyle change is deciding to run a marathon within 6 months.
Actually, that is quite doable, assuming that you don’t have any physical issues. You won’t be fast, but I can almost guarantee that you’d finish without injury. Exhaustion? There I can’t help you.
Unrelated, but my sister suffers from a condition which keeps in her in total body pain 24 hours a day. The two leading medications, which work on about 99% of the sufferers, don’t do dick for her. It’s tough watching her suffer, but she almost never complains. She’s got two grandchildren from her eldest, another child in college and a thriving home business. This seems to keep her going, and keep her happy.
What’s my point? Well, I don’t really offer advice as a matter of course, but it seems that you shouldn’t give up and stop. Then again, this is you I’m talking about, so I just don’t ever see that happening.
Maybe useless, but here’s an electronic hug from across the pond. Stay happy, as much as possible. And say hi to Santa for me; I know it’s about time for the two of you to chat again.