Putzo Congratulations on a successful outcome! How exciting.

Retired Teacher it is amazing what some Physicians are willing to put their patients through. I would like to see one of them get this and deal with the we'll wait for further progression to whatever stage until we intervene.

Thanks for the stages link Moondanc

I am so looking forward to my 2nd opinion tomorrow. I am praying this Dr. will want to be proactive regarding my treatment. Anyone here want to suggest what studies that are posted here I should print out and take with me?

mobaygirl,

There is no line that says you should have treatment, or not. It is different for every person. There are many who choose no treatment at all. Then there are some who want treatment as soon as they see a nodule. There aren't any studies (that I am aware) which dictate the time for treatment. There is an optimum time for the different procedures, but even then it depends on the whims of each person. The "table top" test is a general area of concern, but for many people Dupuytren's causes no problems at that stage.

You said, "I am praying this Dr. will want to be proactive regarding my treatment. Anyone here want to suggest what studies that are posted here I should print out and take with me?"

Edited 10/24/12 00:32

RetiredTeacher:

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RetiredTeacher:

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mobaygirl:

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Callie, no I heard correctly and there was no misunderstanding. BOTH my Dr. and PT stated they Will NOT intervene until I have full contracture of my ring finger and pinkie. No RT, No NA, No Xiaflex , No surgery to remove the thickening or nodules. They are only wiling to perform PT which will not stop or slow the advancement.

I am awaiting a 2nd opinion which I will have on the 24th. If in this second opinion they state the same stance on treatment then I will go outside my HMO for treatment as I fully believe in proactively dealing with health issues.

I am also a patient who was told to wait until I could no longer lay my hand flat on the table before the docs in El Paso, Texas would do anything--2 orthopedic hand doctors no less!!!! It's a good thing we patients have this forum to compare notes on!

Mobaygirl,
I am with you about being proactive and everyone here is right--you have to make decisions based on the progression of the disease. My first node grew huge in 3 months and caused a 45 degree contracture in just those 3 months. The ortho surgeon did not even know what it was. He thought it was a giant cell tumor but when he did surgery, he found the DD. He removed what he could but I was left with a terrible scar and my finger is still at a 45 degree contracture. If I had known what it was, I would have had the NA first. When the next nodes started growing fast, too, I sought RT after researching it on this site. That just made sense to me because of the fast contracture that I have experienced. It has been a month since I finished the second round of RT and there is softening of the nodes and NO new contracture. Good luck with your second opinion, but you may want to see one of the doctors listed at this site.

Edited 10/24/12 16:39

Had my 2nd opinion and I LOVE this new Dr. ! He spent 30 mins just looking at my hands and talking with me. He himself has DC so he knows exactly what we are dealing with. He said he does NOT subscribe to the the lets wait until it get worse school of thought. He is very proactive in his treatment. He feels PT does nothing in the treatment of DC. Yes it should be used after surgery but sees no need to use it to treat. He is trained in NA as well as Xiaflex. His preference is to use NA. He has performed many successful open hand surgeries but never wants to see a patient of his get to that stage.

He read through all my records and made a lot of notes while talking to me, something my last Dr. did NOT do. He said he had NO idea why his colleague gave me a cortisone shot in the tendon sheath. He saw in the records he did but not the reasoning behind it. I was given shots of fluorinated methyiprednisolone directly into each of the nodes. He said this should help to soften and in some instances shrink the nodes.

I feel so much better after seeing him. He welcomed my questions anytime and he took down the web address of this group so he can get involved here.

Edited 10/24/12 21:01

mobaygirl:

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Had my 2nd opinion and I LOVE this new Dr. ! He spent 30 mins just looking at my hands and talking with me. He himself has DC so he knows exactly what we are dealing with.