Under the Knife

In a few weeks I'm going to have some surgery on my right hand.  Back when I was in college, I broke a small bone in my right wrist.  I'm not sure exactly how it happened because I woke up one morning and it was swollen.  I think that it might have occurred when I fell playing basketball, but at the time it had not really hurt.

About six months after the incident, I had a cast put on the hand.  The cast actually had some electric contraption around it that was supposed to help with healing.  So during my senior year of college, I had to learn to write with my left hand. When I took the GMAT, the entrance test for business school, and the testing facility offered to provide me someone to fill in the bubbles on the test.  I declined and managed to scratch myself to a score in the 98th percentile.

The treatment really didn't do anything to heal the injury.  Pretty much since the injury, I've had a limited range of motion in my right hand.  I can't do push-ups with my palms straight down, and I can only bend it back a little.  In addition to the movement limitations, it also causes me pain.  Sometimes the pain is pretty minimal, while other times it is extremely painful.

I've consulted doctors before, and essentially its now a matter of eliminating pain rather than regaining motion.  I had a few options, but the one I chose is one where the doctor will remove two bones from my wrist.  This should eliminate the pain, but causes a reduction in motion.  I spoke to the doctor, and he agreed that I might not experience any more loss of range of motion than I already have lost.  This procedure will have me in a cast for less than a week, and can be performed while I am conscious.

There was another alternative that involves trying to heal the bone through a metal screw and taking bone from my hip.  This would have been a good alternative if I had injured the wrist much more recently.  There is a chance it won't work, not even to eliminate the pain, and I won't gain any more motion than I already have.  Additionally, I would be in a cast for up to three months.  It just didn't seem like a good option, and the doctor agreed.

The doctor is a board certified hand surgeon, who worked at a major American medical center.  He speaks English pretty well.  I'm definitely not apprehensive having the procedure done here.