High Five

Hand surgery went well yesterday.  I'm sitting here typing one-handed while the bandaged hand looms in my peripheral vision like the Queen's wave.  Once in awhile I do the elbow-elbow-wrist-wrist motion, mostly just to amuse myself.

I'm supposed to keep it elevated above heart level yet today to minimize swelling (and throbbing).  Thankfully, so far it doesn't seem to be too much of a royal pain.

I did have some weird dreams last night.  Twice I woke up after having dreamt I'd accidentally put my hand in a sink full of water and gotten it wet.  My brain was working overtime to reinforce a big no-no of wound care, apparently.

As I said to the surgeon as he was wrapping it up, "that's my get-out-of-housework-free pass" for the next few weeks.  The folks in the OR laughed.

I'd asked not to be fully sedated as was their plan, requesting just local anesthetic and a mild sedative instead.  It worked out fine.  Total tourniquet time, I heard him say, was 14 minutes.  Glad I went the lighter route.

I heard him tell his assistant when he made the incision and saw what the lumps were beneath the skin that it was Dupuytren's.  That surprised me.  My grandma had that, and she had permanent contractures of her ring and little fingers on one hand.  My dad had the beginning of some thickening on his palm, but no fingers bent down.  I was able to tell the surgeon that bit of family history right then and there.  

So apparently it wasn't cysts after all.  It was proof that I'm a Viking.  ;)

Dupuytren's has been called Viking's disease because it tends to affect people of Nordic, Celtic, and Northern European heritage.  Lucky me, I tick all those boxes.

Hopefully, healing will go well.  Meanwhile I did put some fabric through the sewing machine yesterday and today, some light/dark pairs I had cut prior to Tuesday.  Nothing fancy, just nice and easy sewing therapy.