carpal tunnel, part 3

I called the doctor's office on a Friday afternoon.  It was late in the day, and I assume everyone had gone home already.  They called back at work on Monday, and I took the next available appointment, Wednesday afternoon, for a pre-surgery consultation.  I told all the people that needed to know at work, got on the schedule, and headed into town early Wednesday morning.  I had enough time to go to the insurance office in person to let them know what was going on.  She told me to give her a call after my appointment, let her know what the doctor said, and she would look over my claim in the meantime. 

I go in to see the surgeon, and we discuss the surgery, and he clears me for it.  Basically, there is a not very stretchy ligament that goes over the carpal tunnel (a tight spot where finger ligaments, the median nerve, and I think the thumb muscle goes).  As best as I can understand, the ligaments will get inflamed from aforementioned aggressors, which causes the median nerve to get squished.  This is what causes the numbness/tingling.  The surgery cuts the ligament that goes over this tunnel, releasing the pressure on the nerve. 
 
"Well," I begin. "I am from out of town, about 200 miles west of here, so if it can be taken care of in the next few days, that would be ideal.  It would save me a flight in and out."
"I am in the operating room tomorrow," he responds. "So if insurance approves it, I can fit you in."
"This is a workman's comp claim," I inform him. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"Workers comp claims usually take a week to get approval, but we will give them a call and see."
With that, he left to make the phone call.  Since I had stopped by the office earlier in the day, she already had looked at my file and knew what was going on.  She approved the surgery, and I saw about 5 more people at the doctors office to get everything together.  A nurse came in for my vitals, the surgeon's assistant filled out more paperwork with me, the physician I had previously seen came in and told me to take care of myself, the scheduler got me a whole bunch of info on pre-surgery, day of surgery, and post surgery instructions, there was a perscription involved in there somewhere, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  I walked out of teh office with surgery orders for the next morning, checking in at 7 am. 

I still look back and shake my head at how the Lord totally orchestrated the whole thing, from an early flight in so I could see the insurance adjuster, to the surgeon already being scheduled in the OR the next day, to everything falling into place around me, I knew that He was there with me.  I was scared, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was arranged ahead of time.  That evening, I met up with friends for burgers then yogurt lounge, where everyone told me their best "coming out of anesthesia" story.

The next morning, I checked in, filled out some paperwork, and the whole process started.  Every person I talked to I had to confirm that I was doing left hand open carpal tunnel release.  I get dressed in the awesome surgery duds, have to pee in a cup to prove that I'm not pregnant (I laughed when I heard that is why they needed a urine sample), and the nurses started to get me set up.  As I was getting sat down, the surgeon comes by, says hi, and reassures me that I will be all fixed up in no time.  Suddenly, they realize that they are ready for me in the OR, so the nurses double team on the prep and get me through in record time.  One is asking me questions while the other is putting an IV in my hand.  After the interrogation was done, I thanked the nurse for distracting me from the IV. 

We went into the operating room, got laid down on the table, 4 more people asked me what they were doing, someone signed my arm to indicate the correct arm, and they told me they started the anesthesia.  Weirdest thing ever, it made my wrist ache.  (my right wrist, as the IV was in my right hand).  I asked if that was supposed to happen, and they said it was normal.  Ok, no worries, wow, I should lay down. I thought before closing my eyes.  Next thing I know, they were wheeling me into the recovery area, my left hand was all wrapped up, and I had no idea what was going on.  Tears started streaming down my cheeks.  I heard a nurse say, "It's ok, don't cry!" and I thought, I'm crying?  Weird... I guess its better than the other stories I heard. 

The friend picking me up was in classes for another hour or so, so I just sat back, they let me watch TV, and I drank a coke.  First how in the world am I supposed to operate with one hand? moment happened when I tried to open the straw.  I realized two things at this point.  One, how much I use my left hand, two, how much I don't like asking people for help.  I felt ridiculous as the nurse came and helped me get the straw out of the wrapper.  The surgeon came by and told me that the nerve was very squished, and he thinks I will be really happy with the results when everything heals up.  I could tell right away that it was going to be better.  Either that or it was the numbness...




The rest of the recovery process went really smoothly for the most part.  The first thing the guys in the hangar said when I came back was, "Where's your cast?  I wanted to cut it off!!"  10 days after the surgery, I went in to get the wrapping off and stitches out.  The surgeon repeated several times how squished the nerve was, and at some point said, "Well, we know you weren't lying about it!"  Putting those two statements together, I have come to the conclusion that he probably didn't really believe me.  I get it.  Its not something that is seen in people my age.  Most of the people he sees with carpal tunnel are at least in their 50s.  mid 20s is incredibly young to be having these problems.  But its fixed now, and I am just waiting on the recovery time to be done, so I can return to normal life. 

I'm so thankful that it happened the way it did, like I said, totally God's working.  Any later, and it would have put recovery time right into our insanely busy season.