| Lost password
155 users onlineYou are not loggend in.  Login
POST OP
 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12
 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12
05/02/2007 23:56
Mark_D 
05/02/2007 23:56
Mark_D 
Re: POST OP

Quote:



crabby? yes, nothing to do with DC though. hope all works out with everyone's DC. come clean though? don't even remember who posted that one..-whomever it was though...sure...meet ya under the Washington Monument at 3:00 (CLUE!) Should I bring my knife or is it a fist fight? the latter is probably not a good idea though......given our manual issues. Peace Randy H. and all...really do hope all hands are well! hope everyone out there does whatever works for THEM!-megan




Meeg:

That was gracious & considerate post.

I hope you'll keep participating in our discussions.

Mark

05/02/2007 23:58
Mark_D 
05/02/2007 23:58
Mark_D 
Re: POST OP

Quote:



So! I wasn't far wrong in my thinking, after all! Megan stirred the pot a little, and got the bees a-buzzing. Perhaps she reckons there's not much humour on this forum. It's all a bit serious, and doleful, and people want to tell their terrible (and some are) tales, and share their slow recoveries, and on-and-on ...

So - I'm off for a couple of week's climbing (while I still can - it probably does the DC no good, but who knows) on a great little Greek island, so, I'm afraid, the Washington Monument at 3.00 is impossible at the mo.

Vikings were certainly into long-distance sailing, but not rock-climbing, which was, like many other leisure activities, a Victorian invention (Napes Needle, Lake District UK, climbed by Haskett-Smith 188?) I'm sure the Norwegians do a bit.

Not so much trauma associated with climbing (unless you fall, but still try clinging on - that doesn't do hands/arms/shoulders much good) but trauma certainly seems to affect DC. My sister had her little finger straightened fine, broke her wrist, and after the plaster came off found that finger back to 90deg again

Cheers R



Craggy:

Have a good trip.

Thanks for your recent input.

Mark

05/03/2007 00:03
Mark_D 
05/03/2007 00:03
Mark_D 
Re: POST OP

Quote:





Hi all, My husband, Randy, has had DU for approx. 4 years. Up until now he has refused to admit that he has a problem. Now that he can't hold my hand, shake hands, put on gloves, etc. he is willing to address the problem. He has a lot of the contributing factors that are being studied. He is Irish, he smokes, drinks, and has used a hand drill at work daily for over 15 years. He has gone through a very stressful few years. He lost his father, only brother, step-mom and uncle within a 2 year period. Not to mention we have 2 children and live 1 mile from Columbine High School. I think he just doesn't want to deal with another problem.

His primary care physician, referred him to a hand surgeon. The surgeon only mentioned the enzyme treatment as an alternative to the surgery, but said that since it will take 1-2 years go get approval, it wasn't an option for my husband.

Thank God for the internet and all you wonderful folks who are willing to open up and share your experiences! If it wasn't for that, we would probably have taken the surgeon's word as the final expert opinion.....

From all the searching we have done, it looks like NA is the way to go. It seems that you can always have the surgery if the NA doesn't work, but it is more difficult to get the NA after surgery.

I have heard a lot of horror stories (and some successes too) regarding the hand surgery, but I haven't heard ANYTHING negative regarding the NA procedure.

It looks like our insurance won't be of any help because our deductable is $2,000. It will be cheaper to just pay for it ourselves.

If I'm missing something, please let me know. We are getting ready to book the NA for the end of this month or the end of June.

Any information or shared experiences will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much. Sandie




Sandie:

I think you're right on track.

But, as much as I support N.A. (done it myself), there are cases where more drastic approaches (Open Surgery) are better.

I suggest you see a Hand Surgeon who does both N.A. & Open Surgery.

Because I live in CA, I know that our two CA N.A. docs also do Open Surgery.

So, you could do a lot worse than coming to the Golden State & consulting Dr. Denkler or Dr. Benhaim.

Good luck.

Mark

05/03/2007 00:07
Mark_D 
05/03/2007 00:07
Mark_D 
Re: POST OP

Quote:



Sandie,

Neither of the general practitioners I saw about my hand had a clue as to the severity potential in terms of disability of Dupuytren's nor treatment options and actually one made no recommendation and the other suggested acupuncture.

It is a genetic defect that is inherited. I found no solid medical studies indicating that alcohol or physical activity/abuse was a factor. My father who was of Finish and Swedish ancestry, and his four brothers all drank alcohol to varying degrees, all smoked, and all were involved in very physical trades, two were farmers and one a stone mason, and although they all lived into their 80's none had problems with Dupuytren's. I have significant problems that started to appear at age 54. My brother at age 50 after 30 years working as a carpenter shows no signs of Dupuytren's.

Even with a $2000 deductible you will want to explore having the medical treatment run through your medical insurance provider to potentially get a lower rate for the operation. It never hurts to negotiate a rate in advance as the extra time for multiple incisions once the anesthetic has been applied is trivial. Dr. Denkler, for example, charges per finger which can add up quickly in a case like your husband's.

Although it is not recommended by Dr. Denkler, I would want to have physical therapy after any surgery, including NA for a condition as severe as your husband's. As a lay person you cannot know how far to manipulate the hand after the procedure and a certified hand therapist would be helpful in this regard.

Bruce






Bruce:

Good points.

But, let me note one contrary point.....Dr. Denkler DID recommend that I have therapy after Dr. Denkler did my N.A. last year.

That therapy was done under the supervision of my local Hand Surgeon (Dr. Benhaim, of UCLA). Dr. Benhaim also recommends therapy after after he does N.A.

Hope this helps.

Mark

05/03/2007 02:34
bstenman 
05/03/2007 02:34
bstenman 
Re: POST OP

Dr. Denkler did not recommend therapy much less a therapist. The CHS doctor I first saw insisted that if he did the surgery I use the therapist that he recommended as it was essential to the recovery that it be done properly.

It is more difficult with a NA practitioner as their patients are coming from out of their local area and they cannot recommend a hand therapist in the area from which the patient is coming, as in my case.

Overall this points to a common problem. Doctors rely on verbal communication with patients and their is no consistency from patient to patient. Many time I have received only partial information and would have had problems if I relied upon it. In fact this did happen with my visit to Essen as I had been told that there was a 7 treatment program, but not that the 7 treatment program (unlike the two sets of 5-day treatments) was done only on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, and so would take 3 weeks including 2 weekends in Germany to receive. As a result I am now having to make a second trip to Germany and spend a third week there.

Bruce

05/03/2007 07:58
craggy 
05/03/2007 07:58
craggy 
Re: POST OP

Quote:



I for one am not sure if I would want to be belayed by someone with DC problems

Quote:




Oh! So that's why people don't want to climb with me! Of course, with modern belay devices the amount of strain on the hand/fingers in the event of a fall is not great, probably minimal (in my youth we still belayed with the rope wrapped around the body - a very different experience)

Anyway - don't tell my wife (she coming to G with me)

Going soon. Cheers R

05/03/2007 15:53
Mark_D 
05/03/2007 15:53
Mark_D 
Re: POST OP

Quote:



Dr. Denkler did not recommend therapy much less a therapist. The CHS doctor I first saw insisted that if he did the surgery I use the therapist that he recommended as it was essential to the recovery that it be done properly.

It is more difficult with a NA practitioner as their patients are coming from out of their local area and they cannot recommend a hand therapist in the area from which the patient is coming, as in my case.

Overall this points to a common problem. Doctors rely on verbal communication with patients and their is no consistency from patient to patient. Many time I have received only partial information and would have had problems if I relied upon it. In fact this did happen with my visit to Essen as I had been told that there was a 7 treatment program, but not that the 7 treatment program (unlike the two sets of 5-day treatments) was done only on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, and so would take 3 weeks including 2 weekends in Germany to receive. As a result I am now having to make a second trip to Germany and spend a third week there.

Bruce




Bruce:

Interesting.

Perhaps Dr. Denkler thought my case called for therapy & for some reason your case did not.

Anyway, I'm sorry you again have to go across the Pond again for radiation treatment. Hopefully you can have some fun while you're there.

Mark

05/03/2007 16:47
Mike S

not registered

05/03/2007 16:47
Mike S

not registered

Re: POST OP

Flew from LA to SF to do NA with Dr. Denkler precisely 6 mos. ago to the day. 90-95 degree pinkie PIP. Unequivocally, Dr. D strongly urged me to follow-up with a PT specializing in hand-therapy. Furthermore, his staff searched for and found several local hand-specialist PT offices within reasonably close proximity to where I live. And, his staff called several of these on my behalf! Although his staff was unable to connect with a PT, as it was late Friday afternoon, I did pursue matters aggressivley and had an intial consult with a local hand-specialist PT the following Monday. Ultimatley, I continued PT for app. 4-6 weeks and found it very helpful.

Fast forward to today and while I won't say that doing the NA was 100% painless or without certain short-term inconveniences and cost, I remain ecstatically satisifed with the results. While not at a pefect 0 degrees (I had let it go too long due to fear of all things medical), the finger is as good today as it was immediately following the procedure (app. 15-20 degrees).

What a difference!

05/03/2007 17:25
Randy_H 
05/03/2007 17:25
Randy_H 

Case by Case Basis

Mike S,

Two things of importance from your post in my view:

1) Pinkie PIP is the absolute *most* difficult to straighten with both OS and NA. Anyone with a PIP of >25 degrees should consider NA ASAP. For Open Surgery most CHS will want you to wait until you reach 45d. Congrats on good results starting at 90d. Dinkler is *aggressive* about getting good results.

2) The biggest current objection to NA is a high rate of recurrence. Some say so high that it is an exercise in futility. However, in your case however, apparently not. Same with my PIP done by Eaton 2+ years ago. Still Solid. I'm sure you, like me, would do it over again in a few years should you need it. We are apparently in the >50% of cases where NA will be all we ever need. Certainly not all are so fortunate. It mostly depends on how aggressive one's disease is.

05/04/2007 18:52
Mike S

not registered

05/04/2007 18:52
Mike S

not registered

Re: POST OP

Randy,

Agree 100%. I've been (so far) one of the "lucky" ones. I'd definitely do NA again if and when necessary. Moocho kudos to you, Wolfgang, and others for all of your efforts. I had "followed" the Biospecifics site for a year or two before finally summoning up the courage to take the plunge.

Mike S

 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12
 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12
Wolfgang   Dupuytren   procedure   although   surgery   fingers   problems   degrees   disease   surgeon   condition   because   problem   dupuytrens-contracture   certainly   treatment   probably   uids=11307078&dopt=Abstract   climbing   surgeons