Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Surgery.......

 

Otis update....He is adjusting very good to our house. The only trouble we are having with him is sleeping in the kennel. After 2 weeks of sleepless nights we let him win and he has moved into the bed with us. Now most nights he sleeps all night. He still likes to get up once in awhile to go poop. We are working on a feeding schedule to put a stop to that. Morgan is also adjusting well to Otis. She likes having another  dog around.

 This is me about 2 hours after I underwent endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. I chose to have it done endoscopic rather then the old way where they cut open the palm of your hand because it is a lot faster recovery.  I will only have two weeks of recovery vs four to six weeks the old way. I was also able to have both hands done at once because I was able to move my fingers and hands right after the surgery. The doctor told me that endoscopic is also way less painful.  I was a little nervous about having them both done at once but it all went good. About the only thing I could not do the day of the surgery without help was unzip and unbutton my pants. And open the cover of my pain pills. Once I got home I put on some sweat pants and Rick gave me my pills and I was set for the day.

 After two days I got to take the wraps off. It felt so good to get them off. As you can see in the picture above my hands were still pretty swollen. I also go a huge blister on the side of my left hand. I think the warp was a little to tight and when my hand swelled up after the surgery in rubbed. Since my hand was numb for 12 hours I did not notice it until the next day. As the swelling went down over the next few days the bruises showed up. My hands were pretty sore still but I was able to do most things. I could not do any heavy lifting and still had a little trouble opening bottles and jars.

 This is how they look six days after the surgery. The swelling is pretty much gone along with most of the bruising. The stitches will come out on Thursday, 8 days after the surgery. 

They are still a little sore but everyday they get better and I am getting most of the strength back in them.  I still have to be careful when doing things. If I turn them wrong it will hurt like crazy.  I also found that if I over use them they get sore.

The really good news is they are no longer going numb and the pain I was having in them from the carpal tunnel is gone. The pain I am having now is just the healing pain. I am so glad that I had the surgery. I am also glad that I had them both done at once. I had so many people tell me not to do them both at once but I trusted my doctor when he said I would be able to take of myself from day one and he was right.  I had to take two weeks off of work and I think that will be about right. I think by the time I go back they will feel pretty good.

I got lucky to have such great weather for my time off. I'm sure my time off will go by too fast and then it will be back to work for me :(

Sharon