Left hand knuckle replacement

lindalegs

Hello Numpty, DD and Sticky

Thank you for your kind and supportive replies. I am alright once again you'll be relieved to hear

Day 20

I attended my physio appointment on Thursday and the movement I have in my new knuckles is beyond the hospital's expectations, which is down to following their exercise instructions almost to the letter! I am now allowed to scoop up small morsels of food ....they did say bite-size but, for me, that would be large portions! :oops: This is only for my evening meal but it is good progress nevertheless. I don't have to see the physiotherapist for 3 weeks now and then my splint will be relegated to the night time only. YAY!

Off to a pizza party later as younger-son-Legs has built a pizza oven in his garden!

Love,

stickywicket

It doesn't surprise me that you've done all the exercises as prescribed but isn't it great when it pays off

Enjoy the pizza party. Will you be feeding yourself? Woo hoo! Progress, indeed.

lindalegs

stickywicket wrote:

It doesn't surprise me that you've done all the exercises as prescribed but isn't it great when it pays off

Enjoy the pizza party. Will you be feeding yourself? Woo hoo! Progress, indeed.

Perhaps a morsel or three ....I have a straw ready for my tumbler of wine! Eat your heart out Sticky

And yes, it is great when the hard work pays dividends!

Enjoy your Sunday Sticky whatever you're doing.

Love,

stickywicket

I knew, of course, that you'd have the wine situation under control whatever else went pear shaped :cheers:

I was actually enjoying my Sunday with Mr SW, a couple of old friends, Sunday lunch and a rather nice long cocktaily drink they'd found in W**tr*s* - the juice of blood oranges, campari and prosecco. No straws were involved

Carry on recovering :deckchair:

lindalegs

stickywicket wrote:

I was actually enjoying my Sunday with Mr SW, a couple of old friends, Sunday lunch and a rather nice long cocktaily drink they'd found in W**tr*s* - the juice of blood oranges, campari and prosecco. No straws were involved

Carry on recovering :deckchair:

That drink sounds lovely and summery .....I had to make do with chilled fizzy Pimms :hammock: ........you see I was born to suffer

Love,

lindalegs

Day 21

I fed myself breakfast with my new hand ...a major accomplishment!

I am washing dishes mainly one-handed just using my splinted hand as a prop. I managed to clean the bathroom one handed and the toilets! Going to try to hang out the laundry shortly ....I feel that could be challenging whilst wearing my splint!

Love,

dreamdaisy

Oh Legs, that is very good news indeed and I am pleased for you. There's no doubt that you have endured a very tough time so the feeling of 'getting back to normal' must be lovely but take it steady girl, yes? I don't think there's anything harder than being a patient patient - it's a challenge and then some. You've done everything right so far so keep up the good work. DD

PS Please pass on my best wishes to Mr Legs, methinks he also deserves some credit; greater love hath no man . . . .

lindalegs

dreamdaisy wrote:

....PS Please pass on my best wishes to Mr Legs, methinks he also deserves some credit; greater love hath no man . . . .

Thank you DD I do have a man in a million who has stood by me for 38 years (next month) when he could've run for the hills. (He nearly did 2 weeks ago :shock: ) It is hard for him too.

I can now hand the washing out whilst wearing my splint! YAY!

Love,

lindalegs

Day 28

I've been to the GP today because I noticed a small angry red spot on my scar which has a head on it :shock: I was worried that my 1st finger knuckle might be infected but I'm told it's only superficial. l'm just bathing it in salt water a few times a day.

Panic over! :deckchair:

Love,

barbara12

Hi Linda..its good you got some of the emotions out..I am sure Mr legs is safe to come out now..sorry I am going back a few days..but so glad to read you are on your way up..washing the pots ..could you not have held off...and good to hear the redness is nothing to worry about..you keep on improving..xx

mermaid

Hi Linda,
Just to wish you well with your knuckle replacements recovery. I had mine replaced in 1986 and they still work after a fashion, in factI have a better grip than with my right where all my knuckles and finger joints fused themselves and nothing could be done.

One replacement (do they still use Swanson joints?)worked it's way out through my skin and had to be removed later, same with pins in my fingers but no big deal as they had fused.

I did have physio on my hand and as the circulation was bad, had paraffin wax baths first before exercises, it was lovely! My hospital doesn't do that now (cost, H and S?) Shame!

Loads of luck and good wishes for a good result xxx

lindalegs

barbara12 wrote:

Hi Linda..its good you got some of the emotions out..I am sure Mr legs is safe to come out now..sorry I am going back a few days..but so glad to read you are on your way up..washing the pots ..could you not have held off...and good to hear the redness is nothing to worry about..you keep on improving..xx

Thanks Barbara. I am continuing well and now am very adept at doing things one handed ....and I enjoy washing the pots :shock: :shock:

Love,

lindalegs

mermaid wrote:

Hi Linda,
Just to wish you well with your knuckle replacements recovery. I had mine replaced in 1986 and they still work after a fashion, in factI have a better grip than with my right where all my knuckles and finger joints fused themselves and nothing could be done.

One replacement (do they still use Swanson joints?)worked it's way out through my skin and had to be removed later, same with pins in my fingers but no big deal as they had fused.

I did have physio on my hand and as the circulation was bad, had paraffin wax baths first before exercises, it was lovely! My hospital doesn't do that now (cost, H and S?) Shame!

Loads of luck and good wishes for a good result xxx

Thanks Mermaid, it is good to hear of someone else who has had this done and so long ago. It does sound quite horrible to have had one work its way through your skin, that must have hurt lots!

I don't know the name of the prosthesis used but they're made of silicon plastic. You sound as if you manage OK with yours now.

(I'm glad I didn't know they could work their way out of your skin before I had mine done :shock: )

Love,

lindalegs

5 weeks on

I saw my surgeon today and he's very pleased with the movement I have.

I've lost nothing on the bend and seem to have gained slightly with my 1st finger bend being 110 deg and the others a normal 90 deg. I can't straighten my first finger yet but it is still swollen and is much better than it used to be before the operation.

He wanted to move onto to the next operation in my grip reconstruction but as I can't face that yet he's given me an open appointment for a year. He says there's no rush in which case I've decided to wait till I can use my hand again and let the dust settle before making any decisions. (This has knocked the stuffing out of me and being unable to feed myself, brush teeth etc has been much harder than I thought it would be. )

I see the physios on Thursday (11.08.16) when I hope I'll be allowed to take off my splint during the day. I'll report back and put some photos up then also.

Hope you're all enjoying this weather, if you have it in your part of the country :deckchair:

Love,

stickywicket

Oh yes, he was to move on but you, and Mr Legs, are the ones dealing with the outcome. Dealing very well by the sound of it but I can well understand your wishing to postpone the next one until you have re-learned how to perform bodily essentials for yourself and had a little respite.

stickywicket

How's it going? Splint off yet? Have you taken up flute playing? Hope all is well.

lindalegs

Hi Sticky,

Yes, all is well, thank you for asking

I am now splint free day and night and what a relief that is! I still exercise my fingers by moving them one at a time towards my thumb to build the muscles up as the tops of my fingers still tend to drag the knuckles to the left and I have to take care of keeping my repositioned tendons in place.

Below are before and after photos and although my first finger knuckle is still swollen after the op all my fingers are straighter than they were! :roll:



And this is 7 weeks post op. I don't know, at this stage whether my first finger knuckle will always be swollen like this but they feel so much better and straighter. And let's face it anything is an improvement to what they were.


When I hold things now I use all my fingers instead of just the first finger and thumb making things feel more secure in my grip. Also my wine glass is safe in my hand now so a win, win situation I think!

Love,

stickywicket

Well, a secure wine glass is worth all the pain and misery, isn't it :cheers: I do like it when forum members get their priorities right ie in line with my own Is it guaranteed secure however many times the glass is refilled? If so, I might be knocking on my surgeon's door.

Seriously, the drift has clearly been addressed so I guess the hand is going to be far more useful even for less pleasant tasks than wine drinking.

Well done Legs! Well done Mr Legs! All credit to your relationship. That was tough on both. But you'll be even stronger for it.

lindalegs

Thanks Sticky, I'll raise my very secure, very full wine glass to you later on!

Cheers!
Love,

Starburst

Hello Linda,

I saw you on the NRAS HU forum and meant to reply. I cannot believe the difference, wow. It must be worth it to hold the wine glass alone, eh?!

I'm in awe of you and your courage and your general attitude to RA and life. We could all learn a lot from you.

Xx

lindalegs

Starburst wrote:

Hello Linda,

I saw you on the NRAS HU forum and meant to reply. I cannot believe the difference, wow. It must be worth it to hold the wine glass alone, eh?!

I'm in awe of you and your courage and your general attitude to RA and life. We could all learn a lot from you.

Xx

WOW! Thank you Starburst for the huge compliments Perhaps I'm blessed with an accepting nature therefore a life with RA is less of a trial for me.

The wine glass, a cup of tea, my grandchildren's hands are safely and securely held in my grasp now, amongst other things of course.

Yes, I do post on the NRAS forum too just to help anyone who's going in for the same operation know what they might be facing. We all need to learn from one another and although I know all experiences will differ, the more in the 'melting pot of info' the better. (NRAS are just as nice a community of ARC, we all support one another.)

Hope you're okay.

Love,

barbara12

Hello Linda I am another that is in awe of you, all the time I have been on this forum you have made people laugh in some way or another..even when you are suffering...I am so glad things are going well .. long may it continue..x

lindalegs

webmanager wrote:

Hi Linda
I just want to say this thread is such a valuable resource for others, I hope it has also proved to be supportive for you. This forum is a wonderful place for people to get support and learn from each others experiences. Hope the wine is going down well
:cheers:
Best Wishes
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

The wine went down very well, thanks ....and no doubt will again at the weekend In truth it can be drunk very effectively through a straw but then you're inclined to gulp and not sip :shock:

Yes, the ARC community have been very supportive especially when I was finding my recovery a trial. It's amazing how much we get a lift when someone has replied to a post even if it's only a few words. I also think the support we get helps in the healing process because of the mental side of things. The ARC Forum is a great place to be part of and I'm so glad I belong to it.

Thanks for replying.

Love,

lindalegs

barbara12 wrote:

Hello Linda I am another that is in awe of you, all the time I have been on this forum you have made people laugh in some way or another..even when you are suffering...I am so glad things are going well .. long may it continue..x

Ahhhh thank you Barbara that's very kind of you

I think life gets easier if we manage to laugh at ourselves and with others.

I do hope you're well.

Love,