Hi. I finally became curious enough about my stiff fingers to search the Internet and see what comes up. Lo and behold, I do have nodules at the base of three fingers on my L hand and 3 on my R. My pinky, ring and middle fingers move with a "trigger" type, jerky motion and feel sore after I've been on the job or computer a few hours.

Must admit, I'm unsettled to think I have a "disease". How bad are my hands going to get? What could this mean for my future as a stenographic court reporter? (Been writing on a steno machine since 1986 -- have I worn my poor fingers out?) Oddly enough, I am of Swedish descent, which I was surprised to read is a diagnosing factor. Anybody have a word for me? I'm new to all this and a little scared. Thanks, Kristin

To Kristen(6-23) & Mike (8-9) postings,
First to Kristen, you may have a disease and the stiff-
ness and nodules you describe would indicate Dupuytrens but
you should get a confirmed diagnosis, but no more at this
point. Mike, did you post in the past under the email add-
ress of mike&jude@post.com ? I can't recall the topic?
Remind me of the post if that was you. I am glad that your
first surgery went well. I am curious, was the 2nd surgery
on the same hand or the other? How many yrs separated the
two surgeries? Did the nodules reappear in the same hand,
but in different places? Apparently you had a different
surgeon do the 2nd surgery. What made your decision to
change? I know that two days after surgery is too soon to
report any news but please keep us posted. Best of luck
to you.

Kristen - my situation is similar. Following PIP joint surgery the finger become pretty well frozen at about 45 degrees. I'm pretty sure the joint is 'encapsulated' but I don't really know what that means. Did any of the doctors give you a usefull explanation?

Searching the web, I believe I've seen references to surgery to free an encapsulated joint if the DC itself has not recurred.

Kristen (metzgen@hboi.edu)
Obviously you are mistaking our posting to Kristin
(knichols@netnitco.net) as one to you. Did mispell her
name with an e not an i at the end. We were responding to
the other Kristin's 6-23-03 posting who is "unsettled to
think I have a disease." Her last sentence "I'm new to all
this and a little scared." is obviously not you. Anyone
with 4 NA's behind them would not have been new to all this
less than 2 months ago. Our post was intended for her, not
YOU!! Mary Beth and Richard

Kristen,
I hope she doesn't have DD as well. Especially bad as
she depends on her hands as a stenographer. She stated that
has been her career since 1986. It would be really bad for
her if she couldn't continue with it. Sorry that you have
such an aggressive case. My husband's is very aggressive
too, so we really feel for you. Good luck and God bless.
Mary Beth