thumb surgery

Here’s a bit of a diary regarding my surgery. I should have posted as it happened, but I couldn’t do it, so bear with me about back tracking.  I’ve included this because it is directly related to my ability to do creative things. Of course now I realize it is related to my ability to do practically anything!

June 8 – 2 weeks away from S DAY. S DAY being surgery day, when I’m having  carpo-metacarpal arthroplasty  to restore the range of motion in my right thumb. I’ll be in a cast for 6 weeks, followed by physio. Hopefully it will be a huge success and I’ll be able to have my left hand done as well. I’m anxious and starting to get a little nervous. I’m confident that the surgery will go well, but I’m nervous about how much of a change I’ll experience.

June 14 – I had an appointment at the Pre-Admission clinic at the Rocky View Hospital. I met with an anesthetist to review my options for surgery. Everything looked good – I’d stopped taking my vitamins and supplements, I was feeling healthy and in a good state of mind. Great. Good to go.  Then that night, I got a sore throat. By the next morning, I knew I had a cold. I spent the next week nursing my cold with a vengeance.  I couldn’t imagine being psyched and ready for my surgery and then derailed by a common cold!  So then I was nervous about being well enough for the surgery by the 22nd. The last word would be had by the anesthetist who was working on the day of surgery. I hated the lack of control, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it!

June 22 – All my resting and fluid intaking and inhaler usage paid off, and I was in good shape.  Good thing, because surgery was scheduled for 7:40 a.m. and I had to check into the hospital at 6. I tried to remain calm while Bob went home to get my Alberta Health card. (How can one possibly be expected to remember everything at 6 a.m.?) Fortunately there wasn’t much time to kill before my surgery.  I was still hoping to avoid a general anesthesia if possible and we all agreed I could have regional anesthesia.  My understanding of  regional anesthesia is that involves an area too large or impossible to freeze with a local anesthesia.  Regional is administered in an operating room in case a general is required.

The last thing I remember was discussing with my anesthetist how sleepy I would like to be during the procedure. I told him I would like to be aware of what was happening, and I would like to have things explained so I knew what was going on. He said, “Sure, we’ll explain everything.”  Then I was out like a light for the rest of the surgery. I woke up in recovery with a cast on my hand.  I was in great shape when I got home, not realizing that my hand was still numb. I sent off a chipper email to tell everyone how well my surgery had gone. Then a few hours later, reality set in.

June 23 – 1 day post surgery I was feeling totally miserable with overwhelming nausea and a wicked headache. Oh, and let’s not forget, my hand hurt a lot. I was taking heavy duty drugs and I’m not sure how much they were effecting me, but on the off chance that they were a problem, I stopped taking them. I downgraded to extra strength Tylenol and Advil. They seemed to do the job.

June 25 – I’m still resting a lot and finding all the things that are difficult to do with one hand.  I’m keeping my hand elevated, icing and watching for improvement. Feeling on top of the world compared to 2 days ago and expect more of the same.