Friday, February 4, 2011

Follow Up

Went to Bumrungrad Hospital today as a follow up from my wrist surgery last February.  Dr. Sumroeng Neti removed some bones in my right wrist at that time to eliminate pain that I've had since college.

The last time that I met with Dr. Sumroeng was in August, approximately six months after the surgery.  My wrist was still pretty stiff and still hurt.  When the good doctor told me at that time that the wrist had healed as much as it was going to heal, I was pretty disappointed.  More accurately I was full of regret at having endured the cost, pain and inconvenience of the surgery.  My wrist in August 2010 did not feel better than it had before the surgery.

As it turns out, the doctor was wrong.  Over the next month or two, the pain in my wrist went away, as did a lot of the stiffness.  And while my right wrist was not on par with my uninjured left one, it was better than it had been prior to the surgery.  One of the outcomes of this type of surgery is a loss in the range of motion in the wrist.  I did not really notice that, as I had already lost some of the range prior to the surgery.

At my follow up visit today, Dr. Sumroeng measured my range of motion, and declared it very good for the surgery.  He said that my case could be classified as an excellent result.

The only down side is that he told me to avoid heavy lifting and impact on my right wrist, as it will wear down more quickly than a normal wrist.  I was a little disappointed, because while I haven't lifted weights in the last two months, I was considering taking it up again soon.  The doctor said that lifting lighter weights shouldn't have an adverse impact, so I might start some high rep exercises.    Even with the limitations, I'm glad that I had the surgery.

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