The FOC is Back

Perhaps I ought to rename this blog "Gail is on Medical Leave Again," since that seems to be when I pay attention to it. But I must say that it's a good way to keep everyone informed, since it also feeds to my Facebook page. And given that I can only type with one hand, it's nice to only have to type once.

I had surgery on my left wrist yesterday to remove a ganglion cyst and to arthroscopically explore my wrist's anatomical structure. Quite a mouthful for a procedure that only took about two hours, but there's apparently a lot going on in there.

I've had the cyst for a long time--at least six years that I know of--and have had other ones removed before. This is actually my third wrist surgery since 1998, the second on my left side. All in all, the cysts are no big deal unless and until they grow and start to impede activity. This one crossed that line about 8 or 9 months ago, and I've just been waiting for a good time to have this one removed. Of course, there's never a really good time for something like this. But this seemed as good a time as any. Besides, it was getting really, really annoying.

The anatomical stuff is a whole other issue. Apparently some of the bones in my wrist tilt in the wrong direction, which often leads to fairly severe problems that require fairly drastic repair. Since my x-rays and MRI seemed to disagree with each other, we went for the exploratory option to see what (if anything) was really wrong.

As much as I love our local hospital (though I don't really like to visit there, of course), there's a lot to be said for going to a teaching hospital and getting the benefit of lots of expert attention. Everyone was great. For the first time, I had a nerve block for anesthesia. It numbed my entire arm for about 24 hours (which is an incredibly strange feeling I might add--nearly impossible to describe). But the block eliminates the need for other meds, so I woke up very easily and felt pretty good rather soon after.

The cyst turned out to be rather large and a bit complicated. It had attached itself to two major tendons and an artery. Happily, Dr. Miller was able to get it out and all should be well with healing and time. The bones may be another story. He said something semi-cryptic, that they are on the border of the spectrum of more serious issues. So basically, we'll have to wait and see how things go. So far, my bones have managed somehow to adjust to their deformity so we'll have to hope they can keep it up for the foreseeable future.

For now I live with this rather annoying splint, which will come off next Thursday. But I'm feeling pretty good--pain is minimal for now, and Motrin seems to be keeping it under control. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.