Follow Up and Splints

In between leaving hospital and attending my follow-up appointments, my hand had been feeling okay. I experienced quite a bit of pain the first night at home but I realised this was partly due to my shoulder and arm aching from supporting the heavy bandaging. We made sure after that that the weight was being supported more fully by pillows and cushions and not my weak muscles! I also experienced some pain on my thumb where the bandaging seemed to be really digging into me and felt very hard and almost sharp. My husband used some small sharp scissors to trim away some of the bandaging and peel it back to relieve the pressure against my skin. The skin underneath did look very sore and slightly blistered and I knew that I would definitely ask the nurse about this when I went to my appointment. Other than these specific things, my hand wasn't too painful and I was managing with only one or two doses of codeine each day which I was quite pleased about.

My sore thumb

Five days after my hand surgery, it was time for my follow-up appointments with the nurse specialist and occupational therapist. I was quite apprehensive about the appointment as the first time I saw my feet after their surgery was quite bloody and gruesome. I was also worried as the ward staff had mentioned that I would have my stitches removed today and that was one of the most painful parts of the recovery from my foot surgery.

When we arrived, first of all we went to see the nurse specialist. I asked her straightaway exactly what was happening today, and she explained that she was just going to remove the bandage and check the wound and the stitches would be removed at a later date. I was very relieved by this and it did line up with the timeline of when my stitches had been removed following my foot surgery. As she removed the bandaging, it was quite difficult for her to cut through the cloth and peel it away from my skin due to the amount of blood that had soaked into the bandage and dried leaving it quite crusty and hard.  I also showed her the blistered skin on my thumb and she agreed that it looked sore but was not concerned by it.

Finally, she removed the bandage and revealed some sticky plasters holding the wound together. I was surprised by how small and un- gruesome the incision was! She also told me that it looked like the surgeon had used dissolvable stitches to close the cut and that would mean no painful stitch removal! She told me she was pleased with the way the wound was healing and then applied a clean sticking plaster over the whole area as well as a small plaster over the sore skin on my thumb and then sent me around to meet the occupational therapist.

The occupational therapist was lovely and made me a resting splint to wear all the time for the next two days and then, after Thursday, for me to wear at night time and if my hand became sore. She also gave some simple exercises to start practising immediately, moving the other joints in my fingers to keep them more mobile. She showed me one of the daytime 'dynamic' splints and it does look quite interesting and unusual with hammocks and elastic. She also emphasised the fact that I must not use my hand for six weeks after the operation. I am worried that this will definitely mean I won't be able to return to work for the start of the new academic year but we shall have to cross that bridge when we come to it.  I was able to choose the colour of the Velcro with my splint so I chose fluorescent pink!  (They didn't have purple!)

Two days later, I returned to get my dynamic splint. It took the OT about an hour to make as it is quite intricate with moving parts. It's hard to describe so here are pictures instead.

She also gave me exercises to do which exercise the replaced joints a little, using the dynamic splint to work against. They do make my fingers a bit sore but not too bad. The splint itself is quite comfortable but does make my hand ache after a while. I'm allowed to take it off overnight and also if my hand feels tired. I managed about 8 hours on day one and 11 hours today which I didn't think was too bad.

Overall I was very pleased with these appointments. The nurse specialist was particularly helpful, clarifying questions which the ward staff had left uncertain in my mind, such as how long I needed to wear the compression socks for. Now to work on my exercises until a week on Monday when I have my next appointments with the nurse and OT.