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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / January 2005First post op appt.
I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not only does my arm and wrist look great, but I had no swelling at all!! In fact, I even got to skip the long arm cast and got to go straight to the short one. And it's waterproof so in a week I can take showers and even get into my hot tub without having to cover the cast!!! This short cast is so much more comfortable than all that wrapping/bandage. I can also fit my arm is my clothes' sleeves, so I can actually wear my own clothes without cutting the sleeves. He xrayed my arm and I got to see the plate and 8 screws in my ulna bone....count them....8!!! I couldn't believe that was my arm and it didn't hurt! I thought there would be 5 or 6 screws, not 8. He compared my first xray to today's and showed me where the ulna bone had been protruding up into the wrist and now it's back even with the radial bone. I wish I had a copy of the xray to take to school for show and tell!! LOL I told him that the pain was not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. He cha cha chinged twice....once when he first saw my arm and then after I told him about the pain. Happiness is when the surgeon cha cha chings at the first post op check up....and it's double happiness when he does it twice!! LOL The long incision where he shortened the bone is about 5 inches long. And then I have 3 small arthroscopic incisions. All look great. He wants me to wait a week to start back on the Enbrel and then I can go back to work after that. He said I shouldn't go back to work feeling achy all over from not being on it for so long. And when I go back to work, I am to do no lifting at all. I go back to see him in 4 weeks and if things go as planned he will remove the short cast. I'm beginning to feel the ramifications of being off the Enbrel. I oughta be insanely miserable by next week, but I'm so happy right now that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! Carol Woohoo! Another happy ending! I glad to hear your progress is going so well. Janet R | I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand | surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] | that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! | Carol This sounds really amazing. Charlie had his heel x-rays out last week and all those plated and screws inside and he can't feel them and can walk on them is amazing. Hope you hang in there till you can restart the Enbrel. It will be sooner than you expected right? Great news. Jo > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol That is just so wonderful, Carol! It's so great that you are reaping such benefits from being a good girl post-op ;) Well, darn. I was about ot go to bed, but now I'm so happy and smiling, I may not be able to get to sleep! LOL  SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Carol, that is very good news. Now do take care of that arm. Gwen > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol great news Carol Take Care janice | I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand | surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] | that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! | Carol >I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! Wonderful News!! keep up the good work. LOL Rose @}>->-- Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB Please remove "Ima" to reply. celebrating with you--confetti and chocolate all around!! Alix carol, that's super news! i can see your smile all the way from virginia. diane Carol, this is good news! I'd certainly enjoy the showers and the hot tub! Vickie B> Yipee Yahoo!! Great news!!! :-) Jean w0w, what delightful news! way to go, kiddo! ((((((((((((happy dance!!!)))))))))))) this just made my morning. that's an awesome post op appointment, carol. i'm sooooo pleased to hear about it. now, you just keep getting better and better. ok. i'll bite. waterproof cast?---as in, inflatable? or are they making them out of fiberglass resins, like surfboards or what?<smile> whatever they're made of, it sounds cool and like it's about time somebody came up with them. happy hot tubbing, sweetie.<g> kate > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol Carol, What awesome news! So glad recovery is going well. Please double check on whether it's ok to get the cast wet. My son has had two fiberglass casts. Both times he had to keep them dry. They wrapped his arm in cotton batting first. Couldn't get that wet or it would break down the skin under the cast, causing ulcers and infections. Adelle Ditto...my son asked for one of those cast after extensive wrist surgery and the surgeon said that they would perform like he wanted. He couldn't go swimming or bathe....it would irritate his skin. Janet R : Carol, : [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] : : Adelle correction: Would NOT perform as expected.... : Ditto...my son asked for one of those cast after extensive wrist : surgery and the surgeon said that they would perform like he wanted. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] :: :: Adelle Well, we'll see how it works for me. He doesn't want me to get it wet for a week because I still have a couple of small spots on the incisions that need a little longer to heal all the way. He said that the incisions need to be totally healed before putting the cast in water. I'll let you know next week how it performs. The true test is yet to come!! LOL I wonder if your son should have waited....maybe his incisions weren't healed well enough before he got the arm wet. Thanks for the warning. Carol > Ditto...my son asked for one of those cast after extensive wrist > surgery and the surgeon said that they would perform like he wanted. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > : > : Adelle Well duh for me....I just remember something rather important about him wanting that cast... He had removable surgical pins...3 of them...exposed right under his cast....he had little special windows to accommodate them. I'm so sorry...I just remembered that....Damn, I'm getting old....... Janet R : Well, we'll see how it works for me. He doesn't want me to get it wet : for a week because I still have a couple of small spots on the [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] : > : : > : Adelle > Well, we'll see how it works for me. He doesn't want me to get it wet > for a week because I still have a couple of small spots on the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Thanks for the warning. > Carol Ian didn't have surgery with his. They were non-displaced fractures. Adelle Adelle, I did double check. First the surgeon told me that he would be giving me a waterproof cast and then I asked him again if I really could take showers without covering it. Then I asked him if I could even get into my hot tub with it. And he said I could but to make sure that I rinsed it off thoroughly after I got out to get the chemicals off of it. After he left the room, the resident that was there said that she wouldn't soak it in the hot tub water because even if I rinsed it off good, some of the chemicals may have already soaked into it. She suggested that I not put that arm directly into the water. It was ok to let water splash on it, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to soak that arm. She also told me to be careful it's all dry before I go outside after I've had the cast in water. I guess the thing will freeze if it's wet and hits frigid temperatures. Also, my arm doesn't have any cotton batting. It was first wrapped with this plastic wrap that looks like small bubble wrap. And the tape is on top of that. It's a really skinny cast. I've never seen one so thin. A friend of mine told me that her grandson broke his leg last year and had a waterproof cast. He went swimming last summer with a large leg cast on. I told her at the time that I would love to have one of those...never realizing that I would be able to have one. I'll let you all know how things go with it. Carol > Carol, > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Adelle It's probably a gortex liner. I've gotten to know quite a bit about casts with my kids constantly in the ER. SignatureRebecca Ford > Also, my arm doesn't have any cotton batting. It was first wrapped > with this plastic wrap that looks like small bubble wrap. And the > tape is on top of that. It's a really skinny cast. I've never seen > one so thin. It is a gortex cast. I had to go back to their office today. Yesterday I started to go into some really nasty pain. I woke up this morning in so much pain that I just couldn't stand it. I called the doctor and he wanted me to go there. Here my cast was too tight. So, I have another cast that is looser and about a couple of inches longer. Man, does my arm feel better!!! Carol > It's probably a gortex liner. I've gotten to know quite a bit about casts > with my kids constantly in the ER. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > tape is on top of that. It's a really skinny cast. I've never seen > > one so thin. Yow! I know how that hurts. Happened to Evan and me before. SignatureRebecca Ford > It is a gortex cast. I had to go back to their office today. > Yesterday I started to go into some really nasty pain. I woke up this [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > seen >> > one so thin. > It is a gortex cast. I had to go back to their office today. > Yesterday I started to go into some really nasty pain. I woke up this [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Carol oh man, do i know what that feels like, but on my leg. thought i was going to permanently have cold purple toes---had that happen so many times post op! it's a bugger that they can't seem to remember that there will be post-op swelling (even intermittantly, weeks later) and make some kind of allowances for it. i used to have to have the cast split, snipped or replaced so many times. i swear i'd go through an average of 3 to 4 casts in the first few weeks. a little tip, sweetie, whenever the cast starts to feel tight-ish or your arm starts aching, wrap a big ice bag around it. and if you are allowed to, elevate it as much as possible. in your case, that would mean over your head. but do try to keep it at heart level or above, whenever you can during the course of an ordinary day. it will help keep that post-op swelling down and make that arm feel so much better. kate >> It's probably a gortex liner. I've gotten to know quite a bit about > casts [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > seen >> > one so thin. I guess a lot of us have been there! It happened when I broke my wrist and the initially tried a closed reduction and cast for it. That lasted about 26 hours until I woke up in such pain that percocet didn't touch it. Had to wake up an orthopod at 1:30 to take care of it. Turned out to be a partner that I'd worked with when he was a resident. Mentioned that after the cast was off and he said, "I thought you looked familiar, why didn't you say something earlier?" I told him I had to get that cast off before I could think about anything else. Poor Mike stood there saying, "we did everything right - she's had it elevated the whole time." LOL I pointed out that if I hadn't, it might have reached this point at a *reasonable* hour! It does hurt like the dickens, and boy does it feel good when that cast comes off! SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare > And he said I could but to make sure that I > rinsed it off thoroughly after I got out to get the chemicals off of > it. After he left the room, the resident that was there said that she > wouldn't soak it in the hot tub water because even if I rinsed it off > good, some of the chemicals may have already soaked into it. I think I would fully agree with that. If nothing else, having the chemicals in the cast cold cause you to develop a sensitivity to them. I think of that becuase I seem to be devveloping one to the chemicals they use at the pool where we swim. I'm usually itching a bit all over by the time I get out and I have to use anti-chlorine shampoo as my body wash. So, please do avoid the chemicals. > Also, my arm doesn't have any cotton batting. It was first wrapped > with this plastic wrap that looks like small bubble wrap. And the > tape is on top of that. It's a really skinny cast. I've never seen > one so thin. That sounds cool. I've never seen one like that. Can you take a picture of it with your almost new digital camera for us? SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare What great news Carole. Doesn't it seem like such a long drawn out affair when you are first facing the surgery and you think it will never be finished? Now such a short time later the worst is over. I'm so happy that recovery is going to well for you. Ann {{{{{Carol}}}}} That's wonderful news! DeeTee ________________________________ DeeTee and Bob Taggart http://www.marykay.com/dtaggart3 http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8fwov/ ________________________________ > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol yippee!! Duckie > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol Signature_('> (_<_) _ _('< -quack (_<_) _ __('< *QUACK!* <_{__) _('< "|,,|_" (_<_) _('< "AFLAC!" (_<_) Oh Carol this is great news. I am so happy for you. I am doing a happy chair dance. Keep up the healing recovery quickly. SignatureLove and hugs to all Good thoughts coming your way too. Squirrely Jo > I'm so happy tonight that I just had to share my news!! I saw my hand > surgeon today for my first post op check up and got great news!! Not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > that I don't care!! Just wanted to share my great news!! > Carol |
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