This is not my usual post at all, but it is the thing that concumed my morning. A lot of you know I have been dealing with carpal tunnel like symptoms in my right hand for the past year. After wearing a brace and trying steroid shots in my wrist, I finally saw a surgeon this spring. He sent me to have the nerves in my hand and arm mapped last week and then this morning I went back to consult with the surgeon.
I do not in fact have carpal tunnel, at least not according to the nerve mapping, unless it is such an early and mild case that it is not showing up on the test. That sounds good, right? Instead, I have a nerve that is pinched at my ulna. This is a little more complicated than the wrist thing. The pain in my wrist may or may not be related, but certainly all the numbness is. The surgeon felt like dealing with the elbow would most likely also fix the ache in my wrist.
My options were to do nothing, try an oral steroid and prescription strength anti-inflammatory, or open up my elbow and move the nerve over.
Obviously, do nothing is the cheap route, but I am not sure how often I am going to get Jack to scrub the shower for me . . . or truly how much I want to keep writing and typing and driving with a numb hand.
The surgery option is expensive and it means wearing a cast afterward for a few weeks and making Jack take a day off work, not to mention the joy of surgery and moving a nerve.
So, that leaves us with meds, which I will go the pharmacy to pick up today. I am also going to do a stretch that might help open up the area around my ulna. Most of all, I think I am praying for healing. Our God is mighty and merciful and I believe that he can heal all things. I know this is an inconvenience and nothing more. It certainly is not a tragedy, but I think we are allowed to ask for help in the small trials as well as the big ones.
Anyway, I am going to pray, stretch, and get some medications and then go back to the doc in a few weeks to consult again.
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