It has a year (hard to believe!) since I had surgery to relieve my right hand for a pretty advanced case of this terrible disease and I wanted to share my experience.

First, the operation was more involved than I expected. Although not painful and in fact, the pain following surgery was no worse then some dental visits, the recovery took longer than I had hoped for. The initial surgery healed quickly, but my hand was very tender for a long time. I have seen postings on the forum where people say that they were out of work for weeks or months. That's a little surprising to me as my case is considered aggressive and I was using my hand within two weeks - just had to be careful. But, each case is different. Also, my fingers remain straight and the only problem is watching out for the "firm" handshake from strangers. That can be uncomfortable.

Second, where is it today? I will require surgery again on my other hand, but thank goodness that my surgeon is not only an excellent doctor, but is somewhat prudent about surgery and it looks like it will sometime next summer. If the next surgery goes as well as the first, then I expect that most the disease will be gone (from the knife) by next year. There looks to be lots of discussion on the forum about good versus bad experiences with doctors and I sure cannot complain.

Although the operation was no fun and few medical procedures are, I'm glad I had this done and hope that if others are facing a surgery themseleves, I hope this message is helpful.

I'll post again after my next operation.

Cheers.

hi aqll
well here I am, day 5 post op.
all went very well- had dups in 3 fingers of left hand.
3 hour surgery versus short timw for N/A and if i could CHOOSE I certasinly would NOT go the surgery route.

I however did not have the NA option available this time.
Dr Eaton himself told me I had to have surgery.
So all went well but it's NO PICNIC. I have pain and I face long PT now.
Stitches come out next week so I'll feel better then.

My advice to all here- go the NA route for as long as possible.
if anyone wants more details, just email me.
cheers, miriam

To the person who posted as Frances.

Why would you post such a strange message filled with symbols that mean nothing? I cannot understand if your message is supportive or has another meaning.

Please, keep it civil and readable.

To Miriam:

Best wishes and do keep up with the PT work. Surgery was no fun for me, but I had and I think it was the only practical approach. I found that the worse of it passed very quickly and except for the scar, which is hard to see unless my palm is extended. Movement with my fingers is good and I got that back quickly as well.

Sam

To all fellow patients.

I had surgery about three years ago and will need it again in a couple of years. I'd prefer to avoid it and will continue to look for alternative treatments and options, but if I need surgery, I'll do it. It was not bad at all. About a week of difficult times using my hand and fingers, but then I was surprised how quickly it healed. The followup care was good and I really kept to the exercies.

Maybe I was lucky. Maybe not. I sure don't like hospitals though and not looking forward to a return visit.

Sam
thanks for your kind wishes for a speedy recovery

I wonder what speedy means? it's now been 18 days- am still in pain, cant ben fingers ans still h ave stitches that need to be removed but cant finr a way to do this w/out agony.
Fingers are still swolen- I do have diabetes- maybe this slows everything down but doctor said surgery was successful!