The Carpal Tunnel of Love
If you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome you definitely need to consider surgery. I have commiserated with my wife and her CTS for quite some time. She couldn't sleep, waking up during the night with her hands hurting. She had lost feeling in her fingertips and had difficulty holding on to objects. In short, she was miserable. When she finally decided to go to the doctor, he told her that on a severity scale from 1 to 10, she was a 10. He explained the CTS surgery and that it might be too late to fix the damage. If the nerve is under pressure long enough, it could be dead. If that was the case, she probably wouldn't get the feeling back in her fingers.
So, about a month ago, she had the left hand repaired. We went to the outpatient surgery center and in about three hours, she was out and headed home. The majority of the time is spent in pre-op and post-op. The actual surgery took about ten minutes. She was given twilight sedation and was able to converse during the surgery. Considering how loopy she was after the surgery, I don't want to imagine the conversation that might have gone on. We spent most of the time in pre-op with her drinking tea and talking about her favorite subjects (I won't go into them) with the nurses.
It took only a couple of weeks before she started having feeling come back to her fingers. Since everything went well with the left hand, she scheduled surgery for her right hand. There was little swelling and no soreness. The scar is about 3/8" long on the inside of her wrist.
Yesterday she had the right hand done and the actual surgery took eight minutes. Apparently the sedation was a little heavier this time because she was out during the entire surgery and was about as goofy as I'd ever seen her afterward. When I went back to post-op she was drinking apple juice and telling the nurse it was the best apple juice she had ever tasted. She drank three cups of the stuff before I got her out of there. Of course she insisted on knowing the brand before we left. The nurse obliged and told her it was Makers Mark (which is a Kentucky bourbon) then corrected herself and said "Members Mark" from Sam's Club. On the way home she decided she was hungry and wanted some chicken so we went through the drive-through window at Chic-Fil-A . After we got the chicken strips and waffle-fries, she wanted to stop and eat it in the car. I pulled into a parking spot facing the street filled with rush hour traffic. The afternoon sun was blindingly bright coming in the side window as she munched her fries and dipped her chicken into the honey mustard sauce. Still goofy from the anesthesia, her bandaged arm over her head, she looked at me and said, "This is so romantic."
She's doing fine today. She's out and about like nothing ever happened. The nurse called this afternoon to check on her and asked if she'd gone to Sam's Wholesale and gotten her apple juice yet. I would recommend anyone suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome to see a surgeon. It's not a big deal and it makes you enjoy the little things in life...like chicken nuggets and rush hour traffic.
So, about a month ago, she had the left hand repaired. We went to the outpatient surgery center and in about three hours, she was out and headed home. The majority of the time is spent in pre-op and post-op. The actual surgery took about ten minutes. She was given twilight sedation and was able to converse during the surgery. Considering how loopy she was after the surgery, I don't want to imagine the conversation that might have gone on. We spent most of the time in pre-op with her drinking tea and talking about her favorite subjects (I won't go into them) with the nurses.
It took only a couple of weeks before she started having feeling come back to her fingers. Since everything went well with the left hand, she scheduled surgery for her right hand. There was little swelling and no soreness. The scar is about 3/8" long on the inside of her wrist.
Yesterday she had the right hand done and the actual surgery took eight minutes. Apparently the sedation was a little heavier this time because she was out during the entire surgery and was about as goofy as I'd ever seen her afterward. When I went back to post-op she was drinking apple juice and telling the nurse it was the best apple juice she had ever tasted. She drank three cups of the stuff before I got her out of there. Of course she insisted on knowing the brand before we left. The nurse obliged and told her it was Makers Mark (which is a Kentucky bourbon) then corrected herself and said "Members Mark" from Sam's Club. On the way home she decided she was hungry and wanted some chicken so we went through the drive-through window at Chic-Fil-A . After we got the chicken strips and waffle-fries, she wanted to stop and eat it in the car. I pulled into a parking spot facing the street filled with rush hour traffic. The afternoon sun was blindingly bright coming in the side window as she munched her fries and dipped her chicken into the honey mustard sauce. Still goofy from the anesthesia, her bandaged arm over her head, she looked at me and said, "This is so romantic."
She's doing fine today. She's out and about like nothing ever happened. The nurse called this afternoon to check on her and asked if she'd gone to Sam's Wholesale and gotten her apple juice yet. I would recommend anyone suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome to see a surgeon. It's not a big deal and it makes you enjoy the little things in life...like chicken nuggets and rush hour traffic.
Posted by TBF at 1/27/2010 6:55 PM 
Categories: Daily Life
Tags: Makers Mark members mark carpal tunnel syndrome surgery apple juice Chic-Fil-A Sam's Club cts
Categories: Daily Life
Tags: Makers Mark members mark carpal tunnel syndrome surgery apple juice Chic-Fil-A Sam's Club cts
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