Joe, a few weeks later probably won't make any difference. I would try the hand specialist near by.

Collagenase will still take several years before becoming generally available and I am pretty sure it is not available in Canada or elsewhere either. But that's not an issue because already today you can get the same results with NA. I guess you don't have cords and contraction yet, which is good, but it also means neither collagenase nor NA would be appropriate.

Wolfgang

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I am having difficulty finding a local doctor to inject my DD lump with Steriod. There is a hand specialist an hour away, but they are 5 weeks out for the first appointment. And I have no idea if they will recommend or do the injection.

I can travel into Seattle or Tacoma if that helps. And I will also be in New Orleans in a few weeks.

When talking to Dr. Kline's office, they mentioned Colagenace, a chemical in trials which is better than steriod's in treating DD Lumps. Does anyone know how long it will be before it is available? Is it available now in Canada perhaps?

Thanks!

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The injected substance is being licensed by a firm that has no been successful in producing it in sufficient quantity for the clinical trials necessary for FDA approval. The phase III trials according to the people at Stanford are on hold for at least two years. Add a year for the trial and a year for FDA approval and best case is the treatment will be available for your to get sometime in 2011.

In the meantime I would recommend you check out information on radiation treatment which at early stages can halt progression.

Bruce

Injection > radiation > NA > open surgery......*is* a sensible order of progression. However, for Injections and/or radiation to work they be started early. From what Wolfgang reports, radiation may be more *powerful*, but, it is not readily available in the US. It's mostly Germany. I have found cortisone injections to work *very* well, which I had in conjunction with NA. I may seek more. However, again, a lot of US CHS don't do injections as a preventative. The standard care in the US is

Nothing > Open Surgery

This is a shame. I think this state of affairs might change if all CHS were required to have an OS just for the experience. 'Kind of like how shrinks must undergo psychotherapy before they can practice :-)

Meanwhile look into Injection > radiation > NA, regardless of what your CHS might say about these "unproven" approaches. There *is* plenty of proof. It's just that anything short of OS is not currently in vogue with most CHS.