Finger Flexor Tendon Surgery

“What do we love? PAIN!”

I feel silly. I have my surgery tomorrow afternoon, outpatient but they are putting me under. My brother (savior of all things) is taking me to the surgeon and picking me up and bringing me back to the burbs to recuperate until Wednesday night at the earliest.

I was thinking I’d be into work on Wednesday morning. My brother tells me differently. And now I’m freaking out, a little.

The painful part so far was when the kind ER nurse gave me a shot to numb the spots where she was going to stitch me up. Um, 2/3 of those spots did not take and it hurt like a motherf**cker. I thought I was pretty good with pain tolerance, but I winced and shrieked as I felt the needle going though the cut. Ouch. Tis at that moment I realized I might want to have an epidural if I’m ever blessed enough to give birth…I mean that was only a few stitches!

So when I was told that I was simply NOT going to drive and NOT going to work on Wednesday and I needed at least one day where I was listening to the surgeons orders and resting…well…it started to occur to me, that I was having surgery tomorrow.

And I’ve talked to at least three people who have had similar surgeries and they said it was painful after.

I apparently blocked the word *pain* from my consciousness. And now…I’m beginning to freak out a little. Damn the Google Machine.

Reality check: Many finger flexor tendon injuries do not sound all that bad, but in fact present a terrible problem – technically difficult to repair, requiring an extraordinary amount of therapy, and often not resulting in a full normal perfect recovery. You had a serious injury.

The location of the injury also has a big influence on how well people recover after surgery – cuts in the fingers don’t do as well as those in the forearm. These locations are referred to as “zones”, as shown in this diagram. The areas shown in red are referred to as “no man’s land” – because stiffness is such a common problem after injuries in this area.

I’m in the no man’s land of course!

And really, that’s the ironic thing about all of this. Tis only the tip of my left thumb. No big deal. Why will it require so much work and recovery and pain?

Pain…I’m not in that much pain and haven’t been. My thumb for the most part feels like it has been *asleep* and numb and tingly, unless I bump it and then I feel the SHOOT up my arm. And even that? I’d say is a 4/10 and only for a second. The entire time I was in the ER I didn’t get above a 3 pain wise. (But for the stitches part which was about a 4-5.) Of course I’m neglecting to remember I have two nerves damaged as well, of course I don’t feel the pain. (Yet.)

IT COULD BE SO MUCH WORSE. I feel pathetic…So far tis mostly a huge inconvenience, you know since I had to pack up my house into boxes and have been unpacking this weekend.

Is the universe telling me to SLOW DOWN ALREADY? (Or not to drink so much wine…or to drink wine from a box?)

Not sure, but I’m certainly slowed down. My one friend said she couldn’t even take a shower on her own after her surgery. Hmmmm…now this, this COULD be a good thing. I just need to find male volunteers. (Only kidding.)

Ack. Only time will tell. But for now, this chic is somewhat freaking out. And more so over the amount of time I will not be at work instead of the pain. I just started my new position last week and there are people to meet and places to go and things to do!

I’m trying to remember the worst pain I’ve ever been in and I can’t…think…

I’ve never broken a bone. I’ve never had stitches (before this injury.)

Earache? Pathetic right? Toothache? Perhaps I do have a higher tolerance for pain? Perhaps my inability to be patient and just rest will create more pain. No idea.

But I’ll find out tomorrow won’t I?