AnotherExperience to Share!

Here I am again, big as life and twice as ugly. I guess it is about time that I share my CTS surgery with my fellow bloggers.

First of all, what made me go to the doctor in the first place? Well BOTH of my hands went numb during the night, EVERY night. I mean COMPLETELY NUMB and the feeling did not go away until I had been up and around for several hours. There was alot of pain in the wrist and elbow area on both hands, the right hand was the worse. I was almost useless and spent most of my time picking up things off of the floor that I had knocked down or dropped because I had no feeling of hanging onto something. Just going to the grocery store was a nightmare! My late husband had been through it, including the operations on both hands, also my middle son, Brian (who is a butcher for Safeway) had the very same thing done and has recuperated nicely. My own situation was/is more complicated because I have arthritis in both hands.

When my husband had his CT surgery, they merely gave him a Valium, and proceeded to operate and it took very little time, it was kind of an "assembly line" type event.
But I had a bonafide operating room and was put to sleep! The pre-op hypo was so nice, I could use a few more of those, like daily!

I can see alot of changes in the system to make money on CTS Surgery because it is so common nowdays. I had no less than 4 appointments before I was finally operated on! This was kind of aggrivating because at the Pre-Op it was just for family history, and the doctor already had all of that because he was the one who did my knee replacement! However the pre-op was nice in a way because this is where they inform you what to expect and how to care for the incision afterwards.

I arrived at the Sugical Center by taxi on surgery day, being that I chose to spend the night before in a hearby motel. After the operation, my daughter picked me up, drove me back to the Coast and stayed with me for 2 weeks. You cannot take a taxi home and you must assure the surgical staff that you will have someone at home to help you.

If you are anticipating CTS surgery, please furlough your 501 Jeans for the duration, and any pants with buttons that do not fall magically in place! 'Forget your recliner chair, you will not be able to operate the wooden lever with that hand. Women: forget about wearing a bra for at least a week, maybe two! Even squeezing the toothpast tube was a major undertaking! In short, I was miserable. I am normally a very independent person and having to depend on someone else for almost every move was very irritating.

FORGET the tongue in cheek, scary, warning statement, "Who is gonna wipe?". THAT will be the least of your problems! Most surgical centers do only one hand at a time. Doing both at once would be quite a truama and not something I would attempt.

Yes, I had an interpreter. I asked for one for surgery day and for post-op. The interpreter and I had a good laugh when I commented to the doctor that he forgot to tell me that I couldn't put on a bra! He laughed and replied, "I wouldn't know about that, I was always better at taking them off!" My interpreter and I cracked up.

On the 25th of March I will find out more about my left hand.