BEWARE OF DOCTORS AND THEIR BRIGHT IDEAS
I had occasion to visit my doctor yesterday. More fool me!
I have an affliction of my right hand which is called “trigger finger” (those who know me well will find that hilarious). What it is is a small polyp that has grown on the tendon of the middle finger of my right hand (See? Not the trigger finger at all really). When this enlarges it means the tendon cannot slide smoothly into the sheathe that covers it and the finger jerks as it is straightened or bent.
I have had this problem for about 5 years, but a visit to the doctor, where he injects god alone knows what into the joint where the finger joins the hand sorts it in a couple of days and the effects last for about 7 or 8 months.
Well I started to feel the old problem coming on again and I made an appointment to suffer the injection. Usually this is fairly painless. A sharp sting, then a little discomfort as the fluid is injected. After that the finger swells slightly, feels very cold for a couple of hours, but after 2 or 3 days the problem goes away.
Not so yesterday.
This bright spark had been on a course about tendons, and as he knew I was coming in in a day or so, he asked the specialist about my case specifically. Now this is where it all starts to go to hell in a handcart, as they say.
This specialist suggested that he inject, not on the finger side of the knuckle joint, but on the hand side. He said it would be more effective and last longer that way, so mindful of the costs I suppose he took the advice.
When I turned up he explained all this to me, and, as this was from a specialist, I could hardly argue. I told him to “give it a go”.
Big Mistake! The needle going in hurt like hell, but I thought “put up with it, this will be better in the long run”. Then he pushed the plunger. Christ that hurt, but I sat still, sweated a bit, and put up with it. All be better soon I thought.
When he’s finished the finger didn’t feel cold, I could move it about (which wasn’t the case with the old injection site) and all seemed well.
This morning, the finger felt a bit stiff, but that is not unusual with this treatment and so I thought nothing more of it and toddled off to work.
Through the day the finger started to get more and more stiff. More and more painful. By 1500 hours I’d had enough. Couldn’t move the damned thing, couldn’t touch it even without pain, so I phoned the surgery and asked to speak to the head torturer that I’d seen the day before.
Surprise, surprise. He wasn’t available, but the nurse would speak to him and call me back.
She did, about half an hour later. “The doctor says to persevere and if it’s not any better tomorrow, call us back” she said. Bloody woman!
So here I sit, an almost totally right handed man unable to use his right hand. And I have discovered something. It is virtually impossible to pee standing up. I can’t manage the bloody zip in my trousers.
So be warned, my friends. If something works and someone comes up with a bright new idea, tell them to bugger off.
An old friend of mine once said “Doctors are fine, but keep them on the outside of you at all times”.
I should have remembered his words.
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oh wahy.i,m sorry about your misfortune but i still laughed at parts of your blog..i had a trigger thumb..right hand and also right handed..mine would get stuck and i’d have to pull it straight..to say it hurt is putting it mildly..so appt. made for surgery..a 15 -30 minute surgery went on for almost an hour..seems my sheath was thicker than normal..or course it is..nothing is normal about me..lol..i have panic attacks after any kind of surgery and they usually give me something for it thru my IV before i even go in to the recovery room..well they were late..i woke up and started into the panic mode..lucky for me a nurse knew right off what was happening and sedated me..i went home a few hours later..with a bandage as big as a baseball mitt..i,too had problems with some bathroom tasks..even asked my mom to help me..she wouldn’t..lol..my mom also had a couple of trigger fingers..one was even frozen in the bent position..seeing how well my surgery fixed mine she finally had hers done..and i wouldn’t help her in the bathroom either..lol
i thought i fixed that typo..lol..
Sorry Way I was expecting you to come out with some expletives to the Doctor all the way through that.I hope your finger is soon batter.
I did, Tania, but I kinda like this site, so I censored them myself.
ha ha ha
Hahaha!!! Way. You have been very, very bad somewhere for this to be inflicted on you but hope for improvement soon. In the meantime a few cuss words will probably make you feel better……but it wont help your hand. Oh well……..
It’s like when computers go wrong, Faye. I always say “kick them”
It doesn’t help, but you feel SO much better afterwards, lol
Yeah right!! And I really (dont) believe you would say “kick them”.
Maybe you should try the redneck method in the video.
Laughing …
Waylander, I am so sorry this was such a painful experience for you and after reading your blog I could almost feel your pain. Please know reading this at the end of an awful work day made my day seem not as bad. Sorry for your plight but you gave me a chuckle, thank you.
Hope your finger is better soon.
Hope your finger is better soon way, maybe next time a question “how many times have you done this procedure” is one docs hate so he can do the swearing lol
Times like this, I bet you wish you were ambidextrous! . Left hand will come in handy and you may find you can do tricks with it you never dreamed of lol!
Mspandora:- A laugh was the intent, so I’m happy it gave you one.
Illgner:- would you care to make the ambidextrous reference a little more clear? lol
Hmmm. Does the phrase “guinea pig” ring a bell? Feel better soon!
I know how you feel Way – I am right-handed too and when I had my right shoulder repaired it was extremely difficult to use my left hand when going to the toilet – I did practise before the op but that didn’t help after the op. I empathize with you, and I hope the finger improves each day for you. Take care xox