3 bones removed

Two weeks ago I had three bones removed from across the top of my right wrist after years of pain, shots and limited movement. The original injury was a torn ligament and I guess the bones got to rubbing together over time. Has anyone else had this done? Just wondering what I might expect in the future, comments from anyone who has has gone through it. I am looking forward to pain free movement and enjoying a lot of things I haven't been able to do in years, golf, etc. Any physicians in the group are welcome to give free advice. Thanks

Not a physician; but, I watched Chris recover from 2 right knee replacements and have a suggestion.
Follow your Physical Therapist's advice and push your recovery to whatever they suggest.
I have seen people who just 'settled' for whatever their knee 'let' them do and they have limited motion in their knees.

Good luck on the recovery process!
Mark

I may be in the same spot if treatment doesn't work for me. After over a year of major pain and loss of strength (due to the pain), as well as limited movement, the dr. suspects tendon problems. Sorry I don't remember the terms...but they are the ones on the outside of the wrist. As a mechanic this is a problem...its difficult to turn a wrench, and impossible to use a hammer. I have an MRI scheduled and PT twice a week.

While you are looking for feedback from someone who has dealt with it...I'm looking for feedback from you if you have any. What caused yours? What movements caused the pain? Which tendons?

Its bad enough that it affected my job...but even worse, using the throttle for hours on a long ride nearly brought tears to my eyes.

nhdiesel said:

I may be in the same spot if treatment doesn't work for me. After over a year of major pain and loss of strength (due to the pain), as well as limited movement, the dr. suspects tendon problems. Sorry I don't remember the terms...but they are the ones on the outside of the wrist. As a mechanic this is a problem...its difficult to turn a wrench, and impossible to use a hammer. I have an MRI scheduled and PT twice a week.

While you are looking for feedback from someone who has dealt with it...I'm looking for feedback from you if you have any. What caused yours? What movements caused the pain? Which tendons?

Its bad enough that it affected my job...but even worse, using the throttle for hours on a long ride nearly brought tears to my eyes.

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cause, using a gear reduction drill motor to enlarge a 3/8" hole to 3/4" hole, the bit caught and twisted the motor from my hands causing a complete tear of the scapholunate ligament. At the time, all they could offer me was bone fusion with no pain relief, no thanks. Over time, cysts and bone degradation set in. Any twisting or torquing movements could produce a spike of pain like an ice pick driven into the bone. The shots gradually gave less relief for shorter duration of time. My doc in Memphis was hoping to be able to shave some of the bone to give me relief until he saw the mri. There was too much contact of bone, so removal was needed. Had I done it sooner, maybe shaving bone would have worked, but this was the first doc that had given me that option. Point is,, sooner the better? I think so, but I just didn't want it fused. They have reconstruction now, but I never found a doc that offered that option. Perhaps I was not a good candidate as well. I've been fussing with this since 2001. Good luck on yours.

Hopefully mine isn't as bad as yours. She did seem pretty concerned because daily hard use over the past year could have caused further problems. It sounds like very similar injuries. I know one of the initial thoughts was shaving the bone, depending what the MRI shows. That is scheduled for next week. Hopefully mine was caught soon enough.

Good luck on your recovery! Please keep us updated.

Thx Mark, will do.

I totally agree with Mark. I blew out a ligament in my knee a whole bunch of years ago and found: (a) the best orthopedic surgeon, and (b) a bad *** physical therapist. I worked as hard as I could with the therapist and was back playing competitive racquetball in five months. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

John

Not a Doctor.
But a First Assistant in Surgery.
Many Variables are at Play.
Surgery can correct Physical Abnormalities.
I question. What bones where removed?
That must be answered before one can talk intelligently about this.
Chief concern is Arthritis.
Your 59 Glenn.
Physical Therapy will be key.
But not overdoing it, to set up re-injury, is also key.
Now what the doctor didn't tell you is you will have pain til the day you die.
How much pain; falls again into, many Variables.
A good physical therapist is paramount.
And 2 drugs called Mobic and Neurontin are wonderful if they right for you.

This is sort of similar to the bone spurs that I've had in both of my big toes. Pain like an ice pick shoved deep inside. Fusion was not considered as an option for me - I wanted flexibility. I've now had both of them sheared off at the top of the joint and life is much better and less painful.

Suggestion 1: do the PT and flex till you can't stand the pain and then go a little further. Keep tearing away at that scar tissue. The results will be better movement and likely less pain when it is healed. I always try to go above and beyond the suggested PT - this usually works well for me.

Suggestion 2: find a Chinese or Oriental market - look for Wood Lock Oil - Wong Tu Yick brand if they have it. It should be about $8-$10 a bottle. Think of this as liquid aspirin. I always have some in my tank bag or somewhere on the bike. Really helps ease the pain without pain pills. One bottle will usually last months.

Suggestion 3: lots of exercise to keep the joint limber and growing stronger. Expect 1.5-2 years before everything is healed enough to stop hurting. That has been my average on rehab to relative pain free living.

I also have a torn scapholunate ligament in my right wrist. One of many results of an encouner with a drunk driver. My lunate bone keeps popping out of position. The physiotherapist has to keep putting it back in to place- not particularily pleasant. I see a plastic surgeon for the second time on Monday. Your account troubles me if it is an indicator of what I can expect. I would suggest not exceeding what the physiotherapist tells you to do. I was pushing myself harder than they were telling me to and caused myself more trouble by retarding my progress. They are trained to know when mobility increasing exercises are required and when strength increasing exercises are required- and to tell the difference between the two. Listen to them!

Papa - Was it called an STT resection by any chance? They go in and grind some bone away and then anchor part of a 'fat' wrist tendon in between the bone for cushion. I had that done in 2003 (one wrist at a time) when I was losing control of my hands due to nerve damage. The pain was to the point of almost unbearable. What really moved me to do it was when I was headed hot for a bend and grabbed the front brake to scrub off speed and my hand refused to work. Nearly took out a car on that one. There was actually no therapy for my surgery but if they tell you to do some for yours, then press hard at it. The docs do the repairs, the therapists make them work! I still have some numbness on the tops of my hands where the incisions cut nerves, but they work fine.

treemuncher said:

Suggestion 2: find a Chinese or Oriental market - look for Wood Lock Oil - Wong Tu Yick brand if they have it. It should be about $8-$10 a bottle. Think of this as liquid aspirin. I always have some in my tank bag or somewhere on the bike. Really helps ease the pain without pain pills. One bottle will usually last months.

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Thanks for this tip Randy! I'm going to try some.
I hope everything works out for you Glen. Having pain everyday just sucks!

Thx for the suggestions. The doc told me to try and move my fingers and hold my arm above my head. At first, only the slightest attempt to move the fingers caused 9+ pain level. Now, I can move them within the limits the cast will allow, straining against it until the pain shoots. After reading what you guys say, maybe I should back off until I see doc tomorrow or my PT. I don't wanna shoot myself in the foot before I even get started.

Mark said:

Not a physician; but, I watched Chris recover from 2 right knee replacements and have a suggestion.
Follow your Physical Therapist's advice and push your recovery to whatever they suggest.
I have seen people who just 'settled' for whatever their knee 'let' them do and they have limited motion in their knees.

Good luck on the recovery process!
Mark

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Couldn't agree more. I had both of my knees replaced at the same time and I followed my physical therapists directions to the T. I haven't looked back in 6 years and went from a painful flexion of about 15 - 90 to pain-free 0 - 150 (20 degrees more than what is considered normal.) So yes, PT is most important for full recovery.

Getting better daily, more motion with less pain. Almost two weeks sans cast and I take my brace off occasionally. I asked the doc if there was anything I could do that would cause further injury and he said "no". Common sense and what others have suggested tell me to wait until I see the PT next week and not over do it. I'm just wondering who I can kung fu in my head while grimacing thro the pain,,,,hehehe
UP, it's called a proximal row carpectomy, and my nerves are all going crazy for now too. Sometimes, it feels like I have scraped all the skin off my palm with the burning sensations.

Hmm, and I bet you have some pretty 'interesting' scars like me ... ;-) I still have 'dead' spots on the back of my hands where some nerves got cut in the process back in 2003. But it is amazing what they can 'repair' these days! If it wasn't for repairs, I'd probably be in a wheelchair by now with little use of my arms and hands.

I had the scaphoid bone replaced with silicone in my right wrist because it was broken so long that half of it was dead. Had this done in about 1980 and no problems yet.

Glad to hear you are doing well Glen.

kempco said:

I had the scaphoid bone replaced with silicone in my right wrist because it was broken so long that half of it was dead. Had this done in about 1980 and no problems yet.

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Wish I had your doc.

My doctor died of a massive heart attack about two years after my surgery. He was 50 years old and taking a shower at the hospital after surgery.