What I Got

After a referral from my primary care doctor, I went to an orthopedic surgeon almost three weeks ago.  He did yet another round of x-rays at his office and said:  "It looks like you fractured your hamate bone."  I got this sinking feeling in my chest..."There's a lot of other things going on here.  The stiffness in your fingers and swelling really concerns me...I'm going to refer you to the University of Miami."  He called another doctor on his cell phone and got me an appointment for the very next morning.  He told me that I was getting VIP treatment and going to see a great hand surgeon at the best hand clinic in town.  This did little to calm me.  The sense of urgency in which he got me that appointment had already gotten me nervous.


I called in sick to work and so did Steve.  We met the hand surgeon and after looking at my x-rays, he confirmed what the orthopedic surgeon had said the day before.  He also suspected there was a lot more going on due to the swelling, loss of mobility, and numbness in my hand and fingers.  He ordered several tests to be certain of everything before deciding on the course of treatment.  That same day, I had an MRI and my first hand therapy session.  The following week, I had a nerve test and CT scan.  (I could write a full blog on each of those experiences).  Ready for the full diagnosis?

Here's what I got...

Fractured hamate bone
Fractured hook of the hamate bone
Fractured capitate bone
Partially torn ligament
Contusion (bruising) of the median nerve
Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome


How do these things heal/get treated?

Fractured hamate bone--immobilize (split or cast) the wrist and let bone heal
Fractured hook of the hamate bone--Dr. said this bone never really heals, so the best treatment is excision (removal)
Fractured capitate bone--immobilize (split or cast) the wrist and let bone heal; if my bones were displaced, he would need to surgically insert a screw to allow the bone to come together and heal
Partially torn ligament--heals and strengthens again over time
Contusion (bruising) of the median nerve --heals over time
Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome--carpal tunnel surgery

Check out the following links to see exactly what all of this is:
What is acute carpal tunnel syndrome?
Diagram of hand and wrist bones
What is carpal tunnel surgery?


The doctor was great and explained everything very clearly.  The fractures to my carpal bones were causing a lot of swelling as they (naturally) tried to heal.  This was causing all the pressure on my median nerve, which controls function/sensation in your thumb, index finger, middle finger, and parts of your palm.  This explains the loss of motion and feeling in my fingers/palm.  This is known as acute carpal tunnel syndrome; it is brought on by injury/trauma, and not by repeated stress on the wrist over time, which is the most comon cause of regular carpal tunnel syndrome.  The treatment?

What I got done:

Surgery--excision of hook of the hamate bone and Carpal tunnel release
Hand therapy--been going for two weeks and have had great progress...now I have many weeks of post-op therapy ahead of me.

I had my surgery on Friday...what an experience!  I'll blog about that and my adventures in hand therapy tomorrow.  Needless to say, I'm in pain, sleeping a lot, and blogging with one hand!  Pain is a lot less than yesterday, thankfully.  Speaking of thankfully, thanks for all the home cooked food I've been getting!  Wait til you see that list!

Goodnight.......zzzzzzzzzz.........