Diane:

Thanks for your thoughtful post.

Incidentally, I do agree with Craggy that we should sympathize with Meeg's situation.

Like the rest of us, Meeg has to deal with a potentially debilitating disease. That’s not fun, whether you’re in your 50’s (me) or your 30s (Meeg).

And, yes, Craggy, Randy H. is more than capable of defending himself.

In fact, because I suffer from bilateral Dupuytren’s Disease, I hope that Randy never, ever needs me to come to his rescue with my “fists up”. I’m afraid that my hands are not up to the challenge of fisticuffs.

Perhaps Craggy is also correct in saying that I was “over the top in {my} criticisms of Meeg”.

If that’s the case, then I’m sorry. But, I just cringed when I saw the mean-spirited things that were said about Randy:

“whether you get paid by {Dr. Eaton}, are brainwashed, or just really closed-minded... *Randy H*--challenge me...I'm sure you can't ignore this post, Dr. E. or your oversized sense of self won't let you.”

Randy deserves much better than that. I guess I became “cranky” when I read those words.

But, let me admit that Meeg may simply not have realized how hurtful her words were. I hope that she will continue to participate in our discussions – her input will be more than welcome on this Forum.

My suggestion is that we (Mark D included) do our best to squelch personal, ad-hominem attacks on this Forum. We’ll all benefit if we treat each other with sympathy & respect.

Mark

craggy,

Meeg can't be a Troll as defined on the old BioS site where a person's posting name was hijacked by another pretending to be the original person. This site uses registered usernames and passwords to prevent that. Meeg is just another example of someone who is either uninformed about NA and not shy about his/her disdain, OR Meeg is a contrarian, or both.

The reason this thread is so popular is that while NA is currently the *only* alternative to Open Surgery it remains controversial because of the intransigent resistance to it by most hand surgeons. To be honest, it was the controversy and the heated discussions on the old BioS Forum that lead many to examine the facts carefully and give NA a try. So in that sense a public challenge against NA and those who would champion it turn out for the good. The use of personal attacks, however, discredit those making the charges and weaken their positions.

That's an interesting finding about climbers craggy. As I recall only about 5% of the US population has some level of Dups and I doubt that UK is a lot higher. 19% is significantly high for a UK population. My personal suspicion is that the number of people carrying at least some DNA predisposition for Dups is higher than that 19% number, but most never manifest symptoms unless they experience strong trauma to the hands or wrist. The number of Dups sufferers on the BioS Forum that saw a correlation between trauma and onset was quite high. I know of no study supporting this conclusion, but it seems reasonable.

Correction: *Registered* posters can't be Trolled, nor can they act as a Troll while logged on. That's why anyone who wants to be a "regular" around here should register their name. Trolling nearly shut down the BioS Forum discussions before the Spammers finally succeed. That's why this site was designed to eliminate *both*. Nice to have you here craggy.

Trauma to the hands of someone geneticaly predisposed can certainly trigger Duputryn's. It's in the literature. And the Canadian equlivant of workmans compensation recognises vibration as a trigger. I used to play in a handbell choir. I played the big base bells until my shoulder told me to move up to bells a little lighter. If I was still ringing I'd ask at the next handbell invitational.

ntsc,

Thanks for joining us on this new Forum. You have been on quite a journey with our shared disease. At the vary lease your post should remind a number of us that things could be worse.

I'm surprised that with the aggressiveness off you disease you did not mention skin grafting. Many believe that it seems to be the best fire wall against recurrence. It certainly sounds as if your case may be too aggressive for NA, which is unfortunate.

You are correct that years ago many on the BioS Forum looked at NA vs OS as and "Eithor/Or" proposition. It was NA vs OS. I have not held that view for quite some time. I believe that NA should be viewed as an entry level solution before moving up the ladder of invasiveness to full OS. (Higher rates of recurrence is the problem with NA) Then if OS does not stop recurrence the last resort is skin grafting. My assertion is that it is Eaton's hope and prediction that well over half of new cases can use NA indefinitely and not ever need to move up the ladder to more invasive procedure. Yes, NA is not appropriate for very aggressive cases.

Also I hope I am also clear that the goal of those who support NA should be that fellow patients become fully aware that NA is a viable, proven and safe option. What they do with the information is their business. Unfortunately most CHS will not give them that information, and/or advise against it. I certainly fit the description of someone who is determined to help circumvent this misinformation.