How I’ve coped with De Quirvains Tenostnovitis
A few years ago, maybe since 2016? I started getting symptoms of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (the sheath around the wrist constricting your main median nerve causing numbness, pain, locking, stiffness etc) So I headed to the Doctor who referred me to a physiotherapist who....did something... which didn’t feel medical :/ He sort of held my wrist and my hand then moved them in opposite directions which made a popping kind of feeling. Anyway, since then I would get weird feelings in the base of my thumb. I didn’t really think anything of them until it got so bad that it affected my daily life like preparing dinner, picking things up like a cup.
So again, I went to the Doctor who did some easy tests on me and referred me to get a steroid injection after the diagnosis. It did cause some muscle deterioration and bruising which didn’t go away and looked horrible: (Mind the scratches, my cat is a F*CK!)
The steroid injection worked wonders for a few month but then the same symptoms came back and stronger this time :( It started really affecting my study, so much so that it hurt to write so I couldn’t practice Kanji and subsequently I started seeing my grades drop dramatically from 70+ to 45+ and this really affected my mental health. If I wrote through the pain my thumb would punish me the next day to the extent if I moved it too much it would be really painful. It affected my work too, I was put back on light duties and sometimes that even seemed too much. I felt like I was failing in everything, my studies, my work, my mental health! So when I visited the doctor the next time and he told me that because the steroid injection only worked for a few month (Usually a year or more) that my only option was to have an operation, to which I agreed because it was a risk worth taking in my opinion.
So, he referred me to get an X-ray and an ultra sound where they found extreme inflammation on the sheath that surrounds your thumb (basically the same as Carpel Tunnel but only in the thumb). I then received an invitation to a private clinic where I met with the surgeon who was so helpful. During the operation since I was only under local I was awake throughout it so I was curious and asked if he would show me what was going on. He was confident that I could handle it and did. He showed me all my tendons which were as white as bone! and how they move, then showed me the sheath and explained that usually we have 2 tendons inside the thumb sheath but I had 4! So it was inevitable that I’d end up needing the operation.
Afterwards I wasn’t allowed to drive for 2 weeks and since I’m such a lucky girl, my husband took time off work to take care of me for a week. I was also off work and university, however I did try to do laptop stuff with just my left hand :’) it took forever!.
It has been almost a year (in Feb 2020) since the operation and I was told I won’t see a full recovery and mobility in my thumb until the year mark. I have had a difficult recovery if I’m honest. Bumping the wrist every now and again, picking up heavy objects too soon causing it to pop and punish me for a day or two. It has been a learning curve to say the least. I’m hoping I don’t have to visit the Doctor again with it but I do have this gut feeling that I will be since it feels like there is something sensitive on the surface which if slightly touched, sends a high pitched pain up my thumb and bottom of first finger :/ To try and avoid it I’m still doing the exercises that the physiotherapist recommended every now and then.
To round things up, I’m still very happy with my decision to go ahead with the operation because I can now write in order to study at uni, not as much as I’d like to but I’ve got to build up the strength slowly and listen to my body. I think it is also partly to blame for my anxiety that has crept up on me :/ But getting help from a councilor has shown me I’m in control! We can do this!
