Hand surgery-joint replacement

Katiedaisy

Hi everyone. New to this forum and after some advice. I've got to have the joints replaced in my hand due to rheumatoid arthritis (the bottom ones in my right hand) as thanks to having two kids and coming off my meds everything went a bit haywire! Anyway, I have no idea ,what to expect. I saw my orthopaedic consultant the other day and he was hopeless! He just rushed me through and I wasn't able to asks any questions. I've since asked my doctor to refer me to another hospital. But anyway, what I really need to know is what does it involve. What's the recovery time like? I have a toddler and a 6 month old so I really need to know if I'm going to be able to look after them/ change nappies etc afterwards. Has anyone had the op who can share their experience? I've also asked to be referred to the royal orthopaedic hosp in Birmingham. Anyone been there? Thanks!

kentishlady

Hi Katie. Am sorry I can't offer any advice as I have OA, and can only say that I hope all goes well for you. Am sure some of the others will be along to offer their wisdom. Weekends tend to be a bit quieter on the forum.

I can only suggest that you try and get as much help as you can to make things as easy as possible.

Let us know how you get on.

Beryl

stickywicket

I've not had hand surgery though I know one or two people on here have. It's a bit quite at weekends so maybe they'll see your post now. Meanwhile, if you enter 'hand surgery' into the search engine at the top of the page quite a lot of stuff comes up. You could also ask our Helpline people for advise. I imagine you'll need to not use it at all for a while - just rest and do the exercises - and afterwards use it very carefully for some time if the surgery is going to improve things for you. I'm pretty sure you'll need help with the little ones.