Three weeks later...
Surgery - according to my Dr. - went very well. Bones were reduced (aligned correctly) with some fancy hardware (which I'm told won't get me an intimate encounter with the TSA later this month when I fly out to Boston/New Hampshire). The last few weeks have been a trial of sorts. Not riding is really getting to me now, I miss it, and wonder/worry that my hand will be normal again (I'm assured it looks good so far). I've been in a soft splint since the surgery - took it off once for a day, and swelling became an issue fairly quickly - so we re-wrapped it.
Joints in my two affected digits are extremely stiff and painful to bend beyond about five degrees right now. If I try to make a fist, it feels like the joints are goimg to compress so hard that they might explode. This is irritating.
So, saw the doc again today - had an x-ray taken. Too early to detect any bone growth, but he wanted to check to see that all was still in place as he had left it (meaning: he wanted to make sure I have not busted it all up). The x-rays looked great said he, with a grin. I should mention, though he is a well-known Hand Specialist, he is primarily known for his plastic surgery (namely Breast Augmentation). There was a note from the radiologist stating that the "reduction" was "nearly anotomical" - which I take to mean "excellent".
Prognosis so far is: Splint for one more week, then report to the physical therapist for range of motion work. I can't hardly wait.
Though I'm not digging the time off the bike, I have to say its going by faster than I figured. Nice. Pain has been absolutely minimal, and I've only taken pain meds on a few nights - just to make sure that I didn't wake up in throws of agony at 4am or something.
Next appt. with the good doc will be 4 weeks, after I return from the east coast trip. I'm hoping to have some movement happening by then, as well as some indication of bone growth/repair.
Meanwhile, we've been driving many jeep roads/high country passes and camping a bit, even got to see a large moose right next to the largest natural body of water in Colorado... I even managed to photograph it, getting in nice and close with the zoom lens. Got home to find that there was card in the camera (no wonder it was wring raw files so fast at 5fps!). Nuts.
Good luck to all who are on the mend... and thanks for looking!
Surgery - according to my Dr. - went very well. Bones were reduced (aligned correctly) with some fancy hardware (which I'm told won't get me an intimate encounter with the TSA later this month when I fly out to Boston/New Hampshire). The last few weeks have been a trial of sorts. Not riding is really getting to me now, I miss it, and wonder/worry that my hand will be normal again (I'm assured it looks good so far). I've been in a soft splint since the surgery - took it off once for a day, and swelling became an issue fairly quickly - so we re-wrapped it.
Joints in my two affected digits are extremely stiff and painful to bend beyond about five degrees right now. If I try to make a fist, it feels like the joints are goimg to compress so hard that they might explode. This is irritating.
So, saw the doc again today - had an x-ray taken. Too early to detect any bone growth, but he wanted to check to see that all was still in place as he had left it (meaning: he wanted to make sure I have not busted it all up). The x-rays looked great said he, with a grin. I should mention, though he is a well-known Hand Specialist, he is primarily known for his plastic surgery (namely Breast Augmentation). There was a note from the radiologist stating that the "reduction" was "nearly anotomical" - which I take to mean "excellent".
Prognosis so far is: Splint for one more week, then report to the physical therapist for range of motion work. I can't hardly wait.
Though I'm not digging the time off the bike, I have to say its going by faster than I figured. Nice. Pain has been absolutely minimal, and I've only taken pain meds on a few nights - just to make sure that I didn't wake up in throws of agony at 4am or something.
Next appt. with the good doc will be 4 weeks, after I return from the east coast trip. I'm hoping to have some movement happening by then, as well as some indication of bone growth/repair.
Meanwhile, we've been driving many jeep roads/high country passes and camping a bit, even got to see a large moose right next to the largest natural body of water in Colorado... I even managed to photograph it, getting in nice and close with the zoom lens. Got home to find that there was card in the camera (no wonder it was wring raw files so fast at 5fps!). Nuts.
Good luck to all who are on the mend... and thanks for looking!
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