Wired
On Wednesday, I visited with Wake Orthopedics to begin reconstruction of my left hand. I was very fortunate to get Dr. Harrison Tuttle to do the surgery.
I arrived at Rex Hospital at 11:00 am for same-day surgery. Some 1.5 hours later I'd completed all the paperwork and begun the lab work. At 4:30 I was finally wheeled into the operating room.
I had chosen an "arm block" rather than general anesthesia. That involves a sedation (like that used for endoscopy sessions) and Versed (amnesia drug) plus an anesthesia injected into the nerves leading from the neck to the arm. How do they find the correct ones? By poking around with a needle until the arm twitches, That and I knew immediately.
Reconstruction was accomplished by making incisions into the top of the hand, moving the bones into the correct alignment and holding everything in place with wires inserted into the tissues of the hand. The whole enchilada is encased in bandages and a partial shell cast. Needless to say, last night was an uncomfortable one, even with the help of Vicodin.
In ten to fourteen days, the wires will be removed and the hand will be placed in a hard cast until it is completely healed.
I arrived at Rex Hospital at 11:00 am for same-day surgery. Some 1.5 hours later I'd completed all the paperwork and begun the lab work. At 4:30 I was finally wheeled into the operating room.
I had chosen an "arm block" rather than general anesthesia. That involves a sedation (like that used for endoscopy sessions) and Versed (amnesia drug) plus an anesthesia injected into the nerves leading from the neck to the arm. How do they find the correct ones? By poking around with a needle until the arm twitches, That and I knew immediately.
Reconstruction was accomplished by making incisions into the top of the hand, moving the bones into the correct alignment and holding everything in place with wires inserted into the tissues of the hand. The whole enchilada is encased in bandages and a partial shell cast. Needless to say, last night was an uncomfortable one, even with the help of Vicodin.
In ten to fourteen days, the wires will be removed and the hand will be placed in a hard cast until it is completely healed.
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