Wednesday, August 15, 2007

carpal-metacarpal joint resection with tendon transplant


The arrow marks the spot!
After a delay of a month. I've finally had needed hand surgery (see blog title). The cartilage in above joint was shot, and the fancy name means that my learned hand guy cleaned out said joint and nipped out a piece of tendon from above my wrist. Then he inserted it in the
open joint, held it in place with some fancy plastic, sewed it up, stuffed it in plaster and elastic and charged a lot of money for the experience.
Surgery began at 8:30, took 1 1/4 hours, and I was home by noon.
I have the greatest respect for my doctor, and I trust him to do the job right. In fact, I have matching scars on my right hand and arm from the same procedure 5 years ago. It worked then, and I expect it to work now. He's been doing his job for years. If he tells me to do something...I do it. I have confidence in him because he's proven himself. and yet...he could fail.
Why do we so easily trust men, yet find it so hard to trust God....Who has never failed?

9 comments:

Tony said...

Hi Kat,

I pray you recover quickly from your surgery and that the knowledge of God you have will supply your every need during this hour.

This post is a good word...why do we so readily trust men but fail to wholly lean on Christ? Evidence is sometimes everything. You had great evidence that your doctor was reliable and could be trusted, but how much more evidence we have that our God is trustworthy!

Grace, and blessings for a complete recovery!

Anonymous said...

thank you, tony-
i'm leaving for my post-op exam in a little while. since i'm l-handed, everything takes longer :(
kat

Dinah said...

I had the same surgery, I believe, in my right hand (dominant hand) this past April, and am scheduled for repeat performance on the left 9/7. I'll be praying the Lord give you all the grace necessary to remain buoyant and in good humor as the realities of "one-handed-ness" emerge... again.... As well as rapid healing with full range and strength returning quickly!!!

Anonymous said...

hi dinah
just got back from my post op. the heavy bandage is off, and i've got a molded splint and 2 band aids. still hurts a lot, so i'm going to take my pain meds...and a nap! thanks for praying.
kat

Dinah said...

Hmmmm, probably different procedure if you are out of the cast so soon... I'll be praying for pain relief too. I'm sorry you are suffering. No fun. :(

Anonymous said...

Oh Kat, I'd be typing with one hand too. My little Abby watched me typing yesterday and said, Grama, how do you do that? I said, what? She said, "You look up type those words without looking." It cracked me up.

I hate taking the meds...make me fuzzy headed. I've left some comments on threads when under the influence of percocet and re-read them the following day and cringed.

You only have to trust your doctor a couple of times a year. God is Who we trust with every tiny detail of our lives. We tend to think we must "do" something for things to happen because we are goal or result oriented. Sometimes we just need to let go of our goals, plans and preconceived results and just let God have them all. That's how I've come to trust Him more. For years I thought I had to control everything, fix everything, help everyone. God has shown me, it's not my responsibility to do that. My responsibility is to trust, lean and acknowledge. Then when He directs, obey. that's simple enough. but often I try to complicate life. Hasn't been that way of late. I love His reminders that He is in control.

blessings be yours for a rapid healing. selahV

Anonymous said...

selahv, you said, "You only have to trust your doctor a couple of times a year. God is Who we trust with every tiny detail of our lives."
so true--the doctor just has to "cut and run", but GOD is in my life for the long haul!
i'm a "fix it" person, to, and it's hard for me to have other people doing stuff for me. GOD uses other people, though, and i need to learn that lesson.
thank you for praying. i am seeing improvement every day--stitches should come out next monday.
kat

C.Bradley said...

Hello, I have been told that I have carpal-metacarpal subluxation. I'm having surgery in March. Can any one tell me about where I can see online the surgery?
Thank you for your time C.

Anonymous said...

c. bradley--
You can see some info on the surgery that I had online at http://www.cedarhand.com/basaljoint.html
I actually had my surgery in Milwaukee, at the Orthopedic Hospital of Wisconsin, but the technique looks like the same thing I had.
I do hope your surgery is successful. Surgical results on on my right hand about 6 years ago were great--no pain and full use. My left hand is dominant, though, and this time I've had some residual numbness and don't have quite the strength and coordination I did last time. Full healing does take about a year, though, so the strength should improve. I don't have any pain, which is wonderful!
Best wishes!
Kat