CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

What’s the latest with Ken? He continues to recover from his left Hip Repair Surgery that was done last Halloween. Progress is good. But there is still the problem with the right knee that was scheduled to be replaced in mid-October. That scheduled surgery lost out to the hip repair surgery when his hip popped out of place. The knee is still a problem. What to do about it? Ken still has not made up his mind. He will make a decision about knee replacement surgery when we get back to Richmond in the Spring.

All of that took a back seat recently when Ken’s left wrist and hand became swollen and extremely painful, and a big lump appeared on his inner wrist. Before we left Richmond to come to Florida, Ken’s thumb had been bothering him so he saw a Hand Specialist. The doctor gave him a shot in his thumb and gave him a thumb and wrist brace. Ken dug out the brace and wore it for about week. It helped some, but the pain was still excruciating.

We had noticed there was a Hand Specialist in the office next to my hip doctor in Sebring. We called my doctor’s office and got the number for Diana Carr and set up an appointment to see her on Friday, February 13, as we were moving from TT Orlando to TT Peace River. She examined Ken’s hand and wrist, wiggled his thumb and poked the big knot – all of this to diagnose Ken’s problem as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

The knot was a Ganglion Cyst.









Dr. Carr arranged for Ken to have a Nerve Test on Monday morning, and if the test confirmed Carpal Tunnel, she would operate on his hand on Tuesday. She could remove the Ganglion Cyst at the same time. In the meantime, she prescribed an anti-inflammatory which worked like a miracle! The swelling went down, the knot disappeared, and most of the pain was gone.

The nerve tests confirmed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, February 17. Everything went like clock-work, and Ken is now recovering from Carpal Tunnel Surgery.

One funny note in all of this (well, maybe not so funny). When we first went to Dr. Carr’s office, they asked for our Florida address. We told them we were staying at Thousand Trails in Wauchula. Dr. Carr said that was where her morning patient who broke her wrist was staying. Ken asked, “Was she playing Pickleball?” “Yes, she was. She fell on the Pickleball court.” On Monday, when Ken went to see Dr. Carr following the nerve tests, Karen (that’s her name), was there. On Tuesday, when Ken went for surgery, Karen was in the next bed for the pre-op. When Ken went to see Dr. Carr to have the bandage removed on Wednesday, Karen was there. Ken presented Karen with a pickle pin right there in the doctor’s office!!! She was thrilled!!