I had surgery on my hand

First things first: for those of you following along with my cancer saga, I’m happy to report that authorization for immunotherapy quietly changed this week from red (denied) to green (approved). A superstar auth team member in the oncologist‘s office likely facilitated this development.

Since I had some free time while waiting for cancer treatments to restart, I decided to move forward with a different health issue: trigger thumb. 

Last October I started to experience moderate pain in my left hand at the base of my thumb (4, at times 5, on the standard 1-10 pain scale). This progressed to clicking as I flexed and extended the thumb. Pain accompanied this motion. Since I use my hand ALL THE TIME, this condition was more than an annoyance. My range of motion was severely limited even with a thumb brace. I was in near constant pain. The condition wasn’t getting better. 

A concern of mine was how resolving the issue might interfere with the cancer treatment. I had prioritized my health this way:

1. Remove active tumors.

2. Prevent new tumors from growing. 

3. Everything else. 

There is a lot of Everything Else, and so something was bound to arise. Still, I was irritated at the unfairness of this situation. Shouldn’t I get a pass on other health conditions at this time? Actually No, and I needed to get over this weird, magical thinking. 

I started working with a hand surgeon. Trigger thumb is usually an inflamed tendon that cannot pass through a sheath without getting stuck. Non-surgical interventions attempt to reduce the swelling. After trying heat/cold, NSAIDs, steroid injection, all unsuccessful, I decided to go ahead with the next step: surgery to cut the tendon sheath. 

The experience has been delightful. I compare it to fun projects we’ve had done on our house, like painting or putting in a new, pretty kitchen. The cancer treatment, on the other hand, is more like foundation repair. 

The hand doctor gave me two anesthesia options: local anesthesia or deep sedation. I chose the local option, basing the decision on my experience with the in-office melanoma resection on my forearm in June 2022. The wide excision on my forearm was painless. I felt tugging and pressure — odd sensations when I was aware of what was going on — but nothing I couldn’t handle.

I have found that doctors generally do not want me to suffer unnecessary pain, and I trusted the hand doctor to follow suit. 

The only painful part of the hand surgery was the initial needle administering the anesthetic. What was very cool about this surgery was being in the OR, awake and chatting with the surgeon as he did his work. The whole thing took about 15-20 minutes and was much easier than having a tooth filled.

I have another day or so of keeping my hand elevated and dry. Then I get to unveil a new and improved thumb.