My Hand Surgery Saga (Some pretty ugly pics in here)

It all started with Carpal Tunnel surgery on June 25 (a year to the day from my triple disc replacement in my neck) That surgery went well and I got the stitches out on 8th. It looked great, it felt great. I was quite happy with it.

Then the very next morning, on the 9th, I fell. Right on the heel of the palm of the hand I had just had surgery on. The incision split open and started weeping serum. I patched it up with some Steri-strips and called it a day.

The next day (Saturday) my hand was insanely swollen and in AGONY. I pulled off the Steri-strips and lots of flesh came with it. I called the hand surgeon’s office. They told me to go to Urgent Care. So I did. X-Rays were normal.

On Sunday, I got a call from the hand surgeon asking me to come in to see his PA on Monday since he was on vacation all week.. I did.

The PA put me on antibiotics and sent me home. A few hours later I got a call from the surgeon. He wanted me to meet him at the surgi-center the next morning. He was reasonably certain he was going to have to operate.

He did.

It turns out I had what he referred to as a “Horseshoe Abscess.” Apparently, when I landed on my hand I forced mildly infected serum up the tendon sheaths that travel to my pinky and thumb. This spread what was a contained infection being treated with anti-biotics into something more. By the time I got to the surgi-center it had even become systemic.

The surgery was excruciating. He made five new incisions and reopened the old one. When he was done, there were 46 stitches in my hand. As bad as the surgery was, it was better than if I had waited. I may have lost my thumb if I waited another 5 to 7 days.

This surgery had me in bed for an entire week. Apparently I got a little septic and it took my body a while to fight it off. 17 days later the stitches came out. It looked like hell. One week later it was looking much better. Though at that point I could still barely bend my pinky or thumb.