Hand Drama

I figured I'd post something for the people who have been curious about my Facebook status or comments I've made about my hand.

Three or four days ago I noticed that my left hand was a little swollen and hurt when I gripped anything or pushed it on a surface. I felt around and there was a weird little bump in the palm of my hand when I wiggled my middle finger back and forth. After consulting a few co-workers and Justin, they all convinced me to just go in to the doc and I obliged since I hadn't when I slammed my wrist with my trunk/hatch door and was still hearing about it. Well, the resident didn't know what it was so she called in her attending and even he said that I needed to go to an orthopedist. She had worked with a hand specialist at the Bone & Joint center here so she referred me to him and thankfully he had an open appt yesterday morning where he had just had a cancellation.

He came in to see me before they could take me for X-rays and confirmed that it was just a ganglion cyst on the flexor tendon sheath, and that I had three options: 1 - wait and see if it goes away, 2 - aspirate it (try to pop it), or 3 - surgery to remove it. I decided that since I was already there we might as well see if he could aspirate it to relieve the pain & pressure. He sprayed my hand with cold (kind of like spraying yourself with an air duster), put some local anesthetic in, and then used a bigger needle to feel around to pop the cyst. It didn't hurt too bad, but it felt WEIRD, because I could feel the needle in the middle of my hand. INSIDE my hand. After a few minutes he thought he got it and pushed around to drain it.

I asked how long the local would take to wear off and he said 'about 5 hours, give or take 3 hours'. Now, I've never had that much local in one place before, so I didn't know how I would burn it off. That's why my middle finger was numb all day. I still had some numbness when I went to bed at 9:45, so I figure it would have taken about 14 hours to completely metabolize the anesthetic he gave me. Geez!! It's one of the most aggravating feelings for me when something is numb, so it was a hard day! I couldn't type worth poo, so I didn't go back in to work where I wouldn't be able to do anything productive. I also ended up feverish and a little nauseous, I think from the worry about when feeling would return to my finger.

This morning there is no numbness, but the spot in my palm where the needles were is bruised and sore. The swelling has gone down a little, probably with my massive doses of Ibuprofen, so in a few days I should be able to tell if it worked or not, and if the cyst is coming back. I'd take this pain any day over not knowing what a weird bump in my body was!

Thanks to everyone who showed concern and wished for me to feel better soon. :) I'm glad I can type again!!!