It has been a crazy week. I’m now going to physical therapy three times a week for my shoulder, plus I had my follow-up appointment today with the orthopedic doctor for both my shoulder and my wrist.
It is officially official CTS. (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) It is moderate to severe, although I didn’t have a lot of problems with it before mid-July. I was able to knit without any problems, typing was only an issue at the giant desk, and in general I was doing fine. Now it is numb a lot (although less than it was when I had my first appointment on July 29th), and my wrist and elbow hurt from time-to-time.
The physician’s assistant came in to give me the prognosis, and then said, “At this point, we can either do a cortisone injection or surgery.” Call me crazy, but those aren’t exactly equal options. Wouldn’t you try the injection before you did surgery? I moaned and groaned about the injection though because the one in my shoulder last month hurt A LOT. I couldn’t lift my arm for 3-4 days. In the long run, it didn’t help my shoulder much (like it was supposed to) but it did help my hand/wrist. But it hurt. And I am a wimp. So when the doctor came in to look at me, I said that I really didn’t want it, and he said that was ok – but to be warned that it could eventually cause permanent damage that could not be reversed.
I checked out with my prescription for two wrist splints in my hand and no shot. Two wrist splints at night — how sexy is THAT??? I got about 10 feet down the hall when I realized that I really should do the shot. It might hurt for a few days, but hopefully it will help in the long run. I went back to the office and asked if it was too late to change my mind. They said it was ok, and took me back to an exam room.
If you should ever consider having the cortisone shot in your wrist, be warned. It is a special kind of pain. Searing, burning, shooting pain going across my hand and up my middle finger. I considered making gestures with that finger in response. Ok, ok, I wouldn’t have done that because they were taking good care of me – but the thought crossed my mind.
It isn’t hurting too bad now, but I’ve been warned that it will hurt tonight. This time they gave me a prescription for pain killers – would have been nice to have had those last time!
As for the shoulder, we did X-rays today, and he didn’t see anything on there. They think it is an impingement, and I get to continue the physical therapy for now to treat it. I’ve also got medicine to try to help with the inflamation, so hopefully I’ll see an improvement there.
Typing with a wrist-splint is fun.
