Hand specialist

By Nan Friday, November 12, 2010

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I have been seeing a hand specialist ortho doc for a couple of months now. He has said that I am a triple threat with the RA, I have trigger thumbs and lots of bone spurs and bone on bone grinding. Why must I go through the cortizone shots? First one was in the middle joint to help with the trigger thumb tendons. I didn't see much if any improvement. Then today he wants to inject my wrist/thumb area. I've had these done before with my rheumy and got no relief from the shots and swore I'd never let anyone do that again. It is extremely painful. I've had cortizone shots in my ankles, knees, shoulders and elbows, none hurt remotely as bad as the hand. I have seen my xrays and cortizone is not going to help the grinding or the spurs and that is what causes me the most pain and loss of motion. I let him do it because he was soooo insistant. He wanted to see if I received any relief from it. I didn't last time why would I now? He is suppose to be the best hand doctor anywhere around here and I feel grateful to see someone of this notarity. My rheumy sent me to him because he could not help with the problem he has done all he could do. I am just furious about this, I argued with him but he said he wasn't going to do any kind of surgery without knowing what the main problem is. I told him what the problem was and so did my rheumy. HELLO!!!!!? I went to my gp 5 years ago about my hands, before the RA diagnosis and was told I had tendonitis. So, in 5 yrs my xrays have went from tendonitis to bone on bone damage no cartlidge left. I think I have had my fair share of abuse over this. Anyone had simular situations? Any advice? I have learned to do everything to include writing without using my thumbs, My range of motion is almost nil, they are drawed up due to the trigger thumb and hurt all day everyday even waking me at night. Sorry I'm so mad but gosh, don't they listen at all.

What a relief, I was approved for ssd

Comments (7) | Add comment

V, Health Guide

11/14/10 7:51am

Hi, Nan. I don't have any advice, but I can tell you what I think. I think a doctor can be a gifted surgeon and that is important. But if he doesn't listen to his patient, what good is his gift? I thought the thing was, "First, do no harm." Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Regardless of this doctor's reputation, I would get a second opinion. I would rather have a doctor who is a good surgeon who listens, than a doctor who is a great surgeion who marches to his own drummer in spite of the overwhelming sound of reason and sanity right at his side. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. You don't need the extra stress it involves. Peace, V

Nan

11/14/10 1:21pm

Thanks for your comment. We all just go through so much already. I am seriously considering never going back to him. I have cried all weekend over this whole thing. And its not all about the unnecessary pain its about the possibility of maybe repairing or really being able to receive care that works. That something could get or be better instead of always worse. I think he took a big part of my hope away.

V, Health Guide

11/14/10 5:04pm

I wonder if the hand specialist is doing this because of insurance issues. Is that a possibility? You know how they want to try all of the "conservative" treatments first. Just a thought. Are your hands really painful, Nan? Sounds as though they are, bone on bone, etc. I still think you should see another surgeon for another opinion. I know it is really hard, and you are tired of all the blah blah blah. Try to get some rest. Baby yourself for a day or two. Throw caution to the wind, and eat a double hot fudge sundae ( I guess you can discern what my comfort food is!) Don't think about the hand surgeon for a few days. After you feel better, consider getting a second opinion. Give yourself some TLC, okay? Peace to you, Nan. V

ronie

11/15/10 2:11pm

Sweetie you do not have to endure any treatment you do not want. Regardless of his persistence, you must be MORE persistent. NO means NO when referring to anything.

Why is he so insistent? Who knows. could be a lot of reasons. First one comes to mind is what V said about insurance. Another could be how he as individual goes through his steps of deductive reasoning. Many "specialists" are borderline research qeniouses and have to go through every process step by step in order to get from point A to B. It is kinda like dealing with a child who has not learned that you can skip steps in certain things. They have a fit. "I have to do this!!!!"

At the end of the day, you have to find your voice. If you believe you do not want to endure any treatment at all, you have to be your own Advocate. You have to be more insistent than he is. Break out the tears if you have to. I have!!

Nan

11/15/10 3:46pm

Thanks guys, again you've made me feel better and impowered.

V, Health Guide

11/23/10 9:38pm

Hi, Nan. I was just wondering how you are. Did you go back to the hand specialist, or did you get a second opinion? Hope you are doing better. V

Lene Andersen, Health Guide

11/18/10 11:54am

no, they don't listen. Especially when they are really good specialists, because sometimes they drink their own Kool-Aid. this is one of those difficult moments where you have to muster all your courage to do some effective self advocacy and have a chat with him. You've given his method a shot, now's the time to for him to start thinking outside of the box and unfortunately, it's your job to guide him to the place where he can start doing that.

when you talk about writing, are you talking about using a computer or a pen? I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a voice-recognition software program, for my computer and it's the reason I'm able to write at all. It's reasonably priced considering what it does and very easy to use, you can start dictating right away and it can be a real liberator. if you are referring to writing with your hand, you can get these triangular thingies to put over your pen that makes your pen thicker and therefore easier to use - they're usually available at most office supply stores. I can also highly recommend gel pens, because you don't need to put pressure on the pen in order to write, which makes it much easier. I stopped using regular pens a long time ago, because even using slight pressure made my whole arm hurt and gel pens solved that problem.

Hand specialist

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