Long post! But you shld read! had surgery - tendons ruptured in hand

[Guest guest]

Hi a, first, I want to thank you! I knew you would respond quickly to me.

I talked to a doc that works with my surgeon today and voiced my concerns, he

said I am right on course in my recovery. I was so worried all weekend, I was

actually crying! I’ve always said to people, if the RA has to get me, just leave

my brain and hands.. so I can write! It's been hell not being able to hold a pen

and write! I’ve written for 25 of my 36 years, and not doing it is murder on my

mental and emotional state of mind. Writing is just WHAT I do. I am getting

pretty good at being a lefty, slow, but it’s coming along.

I have to wear my splints for at least 6 weeks. I have a day splint and a night

splint. Then, I'll still have tons more therapy to relearn how to use my hand,

to learn how to use that tendon all over again. To learn how to write and form

letters. etc. So, I am bummed! But I’m tough, a lot of you know that.

I do have one of the best hand surgeons, I'll say, in the country. I was told

people come from as far as South Carolina and Alaska to have him fix their

hands. He's based in Oregon. He is amazing! Also for the fact that he had NO

time to see me or do surgery, and he squeezed me in and went out of his way to

get to me. THAT is a doctor who cares!

Coincidence? I was in Remicade, and my tendon had ruptured (of course, I didn’t

know what had happened yet at this point) a couple days before. I met a lady who

was also getting her Remicade and has had the disease 20 years, she was dx’d in

her 20’s. She had just had surgery done by, what would be my doctor, a few weeks

or so before and she had on her day splint. So, I knew what was coming. I call

my splint landing gear! It’s quite comical, the things I have come up with to

call this splint. But it works! The girl I met speaks highly of this particular

doc.

I told her what I had been experiencing and she told me: see a hand surgeon

RIGHT NOW. A good piece of advice here is, as soon as any of you experience

something like this, where your finger suddenly won’t move, also with trigger

finger, see a hand surgeon ASAP. What happens when a tendon ruptures in your

hand is, it will begin to recede and pull away from each other and the one end

will disappear up your arm, toward the elbow. For example, think of your tendon

as a rubber band, stretchy like that. When it breaks, it pulls back. If you wait

too long to get anything done, the doc can’t find the other end of the tendon to

sew it up, or repair it, if possible. So, don’t wait! My doc told me I had

already waited too long! It had only happened about 2 weeks before I called my

doc. I got lucky, he was able to still see both ends of my tendon. What happens

when they can’t find the tendon? They take what they do have and sew it to

neighboring tendons, so that when you move the finger next to

the damaged one, it moves when the good one movies. My ring finger tendon was

sewed to my middle finger tendon. So, after all is said and done and if this

goes the way it is suppose to, when I move my middle finger, it should also move

my ring finger.

Anyhow, I talked to that girl I met in Remicade and went home and called my

rheumy. 2 days after talking to my rheumy, I got a call from my hand surgeons

office. This is funny, she asks for me, I say that’s me. Then, she says, “ok, we

have some OR time scheduled for you on Sept 2. I’m like. What? Wait. Stop. I

said, OR time? She said yes. I said, is this about my hand? Yes, she says. Then

verifies who I am and making sure she called the right person. I then continued

with the conversation and said, I haven’t even seen a doctor yet about my hand.

She then goes, didn’t anyone call you? I’m like, you. She starts apologizing!

She said she thought someone had told me they would be setting up OR time for

me. She then started at the beginning for me. Her name was Janelle. Janelle told

me she had a date for me to see the doc at 8 am Sept 1, and the doc told her to

schedule OR time for the very next day, in case I needed work on my hand – he

already knew I needed work from what my rheumy told

him. The reason for scheduling like that is what I explained above, you can

lose the chance of repairing the tendon if you wait too long – so advice to

everyone – DON’T WAIT when something happens to your hand. Heck, or anything!

Feet, toes, etc. I’ve had this darned RA for 23 years and JUST learned that the

tendons can be affected by the RA. NICE that someone TOLD ME THIS a long time

ago so I wasn’t beating the crap outta my hands forcing them to open jars and

2-liter Pepsi bottles! And weakening the tendons!

Advice – don’t wait to see doc

Let someone else open jars and bottles for you.

BABY your hands now and from here on out, save them.

In fact, someone should have told me this, go see a hand surgeon NOW, and get

checked. There are procedures they can do NOW to prevent this. It does takes

surgery, but it’s the difference between losing your hand or saving it.

Trust me when I say, go see a surgeon now. If you can see damage in your hands,

or not, there IS damage going on! My doc told me after the surgery that once he

got in there, he found that the pinky tendon was also ripping, so he repaired

that as well, and also told me that the other tendons are in danger of rupturing

and that it was just a matter of time. This tells me that my left hand is

probably not far behind. There is a procedure I can have done to go in and

reinforce those tendons now before they rupture. Not only will it save my hand,

but it would be less mental and emotional pain at the thought of losing a hand.

Not to mention saving on recovery and relearning how to use the hand.

I got really lucky! I have a great rheumy who has great connections. I have

wonderful medical insurance. And, I basically called right away about what was

happening. I didn’t wait.

It is going to be slow going for me, but if I can help one of you with my

experience, then that will make this all worth it. As horrible as it is.

Here is a great site I found that shows the different procedures they do on

hands, and finger joint replacement.

Please note that the pictures on this site are graphic! They show pics of actual

surgical procedures.

Scroll to bottom. On left side, figure 44 is what happened to me.

http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/handandwrist/tabID__3349/ItemID__164/PageID_\

_5/Articles/Default.aspx

~Rainy

a <a54@...> wrote:Hi Rainy. So sorry you're having such

problems with your hand. How

awful. I've read that tendon transplants can be done to restore

movement, so if your surgery has failed, you may still have other

options. Please don't panic, although I surely understand why you

would. Did you go to a hand surgeon? The skill of your surgeon has a

lot to do with the success of your surgery.

I think your recovery will depend on the severity of the tendon

rupture and will also depend on nerve involvement. Sometimes when

the tendons rupture, nerve damage occurs and could affect recovery.

Don't judge your healing with other people. We all heal differently.

http://www.dynomed.com/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/hand_and_wrist/

Flexor_Tendon_Injuries.html

a

" The cat is the only animal without visible means of support who still manages

to find a living in the city. " -- Carl Van Vechten

RainySue19@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I'd cry too if I thought I'd loose my hands. For a writer it is a

terrible thing to deal with. But in this day of voice software, it's

still possible to write without the use of your hands. We're lucky to

have such tools available to us, but I hope you don't need them. Try

not to panic. It could be the swelling that is causing you not to be

able to move it. I completely severed my tendons in my pinky finger

while cutting into a roll when I was in my 20's. When you cut tendons

in that area, it's called " no man's land " and there is no possibility

of getting function back. My hand surgeon tried 3 surgeries, which

gave me SOME mobility. I was really into the guitar and loosing that

important finger was just devastating to me. I now know there are a

lot worse things than loosing one pinky finger!

I'm glad you have such a great surgeon. Thanks for the great advise.

Please let us know how you're doing. It's so nice to have you back

with us.

a

On Sep 22, 2005, at 4:42 AM, Rainy wrote:

>

> Hi a, first, I want to thank you! I knew you would respond

> quickly to me.

>

>

>

> I talked to a doc that works with my surgeon today and voiced my

> concerns, he said I am right on course in my recovery. I was so

> worried all weekend, I was actually crying! I’ve always said to

> people, if the RA has to get me, just leave my brain and hands.. so

> I can write! It's been hell not being able to hold a pen and write!

> I’ve written for 25 of my 36 years, and not doing it is murder on

> my mental and emotional state of mind. Writing is just WHAT I do. I

> am getting pretty good at being a lefty, slow, but it’s coming along.

>

>

>

> I have to wear my splints for at least 6 weeks. I have a day splint

> and a night splint. Then, I'll still have tons more therapy to

> relearn how to use my hand, to learn how to use that tendon all

> over again. To learn how to write and form letters. etc. So, I am

> bummed! But I’m tough, a lot of you know that.

>

>

>

> I do have one of the best hand surgeons, I'll say, in the country.

> I was told people come from as far as South Carolina and Alaska to

> have him fix their hands. He's based in Oregon. He is amazing! Also

> for the fact that he had NO time to see me or do surgery, and he

> squeezed me in and went out of his way to get to me. THAT is a

> doctor who cares!

>

>

>

> Coincidence? I was in Remicade, and my tendon had ruptured (of

> course, I didn’t know what had happened yet at this point) a couple

> days before. I met a lady who was also getting her Remicade and has

> had the disease 20 years, she was dx’d in her 20’s. She had just

> had surgery done by, what would be my doctor, a few weeks or so

> before and she had on her day splint. So, I knew what was coming. I

> call my splint landing gear! It’s quite comical, the things I have

> come up with to call this splint. But it works! The girl I met

> speaks highly of this particular doc.

>

>

>

> I told her what I had been experiencing and she told me: see a hand

> surgeon RIGHT NOW. A good piece of advice here is, as soon as any

> of you experience something like this, where your finger suddenly

> won’t move, also with trigger finger, see a hand surgeon ASAP. What

> happens when a tendon ruptures in your hand is, it will begin to

> recede and pull away from each other and the one end will disappear

> up your arm, toward the elbow. For example, think of your tendon as

> a rubber band, stretchy like that. When it breaks, it pulls back.

> If you wait too long to get anything done, the doc can’t find the

> other end of the tendon to sew it up, or repair it, if possible.

> So, don’t wait! My doc told me I had already waited too long! It

> had only happened about 2 weeks before I called my doc. I got

> lucky, he was able to still see both ends of my tendon. What

> happens when they can’t find the tendon? They take what they do

> have and sew it to neighboring tendons, so that when you move the

> finger next to

> the damaged one, it moves when the good one movies. My ring finger

> tendon was sewed to my middle finger tendon. So, after all is said

> and done and if this goes the way it is suppose to, when I move my

> middle finger, it should also move my ring finger.

>

>

>

> Anyhow, I talked to that girl I met in Remicade and went home and

> called my rheumy. 2 days after talking to my rheumy, I got a call

> from my hand surgeons office. This is funny, she asks for me, I say

> that’s me. Then, she says, “ok, we have some OR time scheduled for

> you on Sept 2. I’m like. What? Wait. Stop. I said, OR time? She

> said yes. I said, is this about my hand? Yes, she says. Then

> verifies who I am and making sure she called the right person. I

> then continued with the conversation and said, I haven’t even seen

> a doctor yet about my hand. She then goes, didn’t anyone call you?

> I’m like, you. She starts apologizing! She said she thought someone

> had told me they would be setting up OR time for me. She then

> started at the beginning for me. Her name was Janelle. Janelle told

> me she had a date for me to see the doc at 8 am Sept 1, and the doc

> told her to schedule OR time for the very next day, in case I

> needed work on my hand – he already knew I needed work from what my

> rheumy told

> him. The reason for scheduling like that is what I explained above,

> you can lose the chance of repairing the tendon if you wait too

> long – so advice to everyone – DON’T WAIT when something happens to

> your hand. Heck, or anything! Feet, toes, etc. I’ve had this darned

> RA for 23 years and JUST learned that the tendons can be affected

> by the RA. NICE that someone TOLD ME THIS a long time ago so I

> wasn’t beating the crap outta my hands forcing them to open jars

> and 2-liter Pepsi bottles! And weakening the tendons!

>

>

>

> Advice – don’t wait to see doc

>

> Let someone else open jars and bottles for you.

>

> BABY your hands now and from here on out, save them.

>

> In fact, someone should have told me this, go see a hand surgeon

> NOW, and get checked. There are procedures they can do NOW to

> prevent this. It does takes surgery, but it’s the difference

> between losing your hand or saving it.

>

>

>

> Trust me when I say, go see a surgeon now. If you can see damage in

> your hands, or not, there IS damage going on! My doc told me after

> the surgery that once he got in there, he found that the pinky

> tendon was also ripping, so he repaired that as well, and also told

> me that the other tendons are in danger of rupturing and that it

> was just a matter of time. This tells me that my left hand is

> probably not far behind. There is a procedure I can have done to go

> in and reinforce those tendons now before they rupture. Not only

> will it save my hand, but it would be less mental and emotional

> pain at the thought of losing a hand. Not to mention saving on

> recovery and relearning how to use the hand.

>

>

>

> I got really lucky! I have a great rheumy who has great

> connections. I have wonderful medical insurance. And, I basically

> called right away about what was happening. I didn’t wait.

>

>

>

> It is going to be slow going for me, but if I can help one of you

> with my experience, then that will make this all worth it. As

> horrible as it is.

>

>

>

> Here is a great site I found that shows the different procedures

> they do on hands, and finger joint replacement.

>

>

>

> Please note that the pictures on this site are graphic! They show

> pics of actual surgical procedures.

>

> Scroll to bottom. On left side, figure 44 is what happened to me.

>

> http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/handandwrist/tabID__3349/

> ItemID__164/PageID__5/Articles/Default.aspx

>

>

>

> ~Rainy

>