| The First Six Months Post-Op |
| I was scared to death to move when I came home! I had a beautiful scarf wrapped carefully around my bandaged head. My "movie star" hat was artfully arranged atop the scarf to look chic, and not to scare off my children who didn't quite know what to expect. After a few days, I would let them see me with just the scarf, then I'd allow them to get a sneak peek of my head as I would move from my bedroom to the bathroom. By the end of that first week home, I was able to remove the bandages and go "au naturel". I felt better than I had in years...I had energy to do things again. I was sleeping at night, which was something I had not done in months. I came home on Wednesday, and was shopping on Saturday. The following week my mom took my boys and I to the local mall. My oldest son, 10, said that he forgot to bring my controllers to the mall so he could control me...I quickly informed him that that had no influence on my pocketybook!! I felt so great that I thought I could sit and weed my "weed-proof" patio. Of course I didn't want to bend over, as I was nervous about pulling out the staples. So everytime I wanted to move, I would put both wrists on the bricks and scoot my body around. It felt great to be of some use again. The next morning, a Sunday, my right hand was numb and tingling. It felt like my old carpal tunnel syndrome showing up again. Monday was no better, so I called the surgeon on Tuesday, he wanted to see me the next day. He , too, believed that it was a classic case of carpal tunnel. He told me to call my neurologist to have him check it out. Just 4 weeks after my operation, I went back to work full-time. In retrospect, I should have taken more time off, but if I can work, I like to be there. Three months post-op I was exhausted all the time, but continued to be at work. My neurologist did some tests on my wrists, which was extremely painful. Yes, I was correct in my initial diagnosis--it was a severe case of carpal tunnel in my right hand. I was to go "under the knife" once again. The surgery was quite easy, but recovery was another thing. My PD on my left side refuses to do work at all. So there I was, not able to do much of anything! |
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