As some of you may know, I have had chronic problems with my right hand and wrist.  Odd sensations, a feeling of internal pressure, and pain.  Prior to having any health insurance I had gone to an acupuncturist and a massage therapist.  Neither was terribly helpful.  Yoga did seem to help and the pain was receding though the weird sensations remained.  Then one day I noticed a lump on the top of my hand.  It was only visible if I flexed my hand down, stretching the skin.  Weird. What could it be?  A bone out of place?  Wouldn't that be terribly painful? Fortunately I know someone who has a formidable knowledge of anatomy.  When I showed it to him without hesitation he said, "That's a ganglion cyst."  Then he felt it.  "Yup, feels like a cyst."  Naturally I looked it up on the web.  Then I made an appointment with an orthopedist and got the thing aspirated (i.e. sucked out with a hypodermic needle).  This did not get rid of all the problems though the pain was mostly gone. As predicted by all the websites I'd visited the cyst returned.  So I had it aspirated again.  Still, no complete relief.  The doctor said I might want to consider surgery.  Normally I try to avoid that sort of thing but I simply cannot continue this way.  I switched doctors at this point, opting for a hand specialist to do the surgery.  I am going next Monday.  I feel sort of beatific thinking about how wonderful it will be to have a hand that really works.
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3 comments:
I'm glad you got it properly diagnosed and can have it fixed! I'm sure it will be a huge relief to have full function back without pain, even if there's an annoying spate of surgery/recovery in there. I'll be thinking of you on Monday...let me know how it goes. (Note: Two or three words will be fine. :) )
@Karen: Thanks. I'm looking forward to it. I'd kind of like to watch but I suspect it would distract the surgeon and that seems like a bad idea...
Good luck to you and especially the surgeon!
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