I had surgery on my finger and after the ‘freezing’ wore off, OUCH.
Nothing major – just a ganglion cyst removed. The cyst was at the base of my finger where it meets the palm of my hand and it was causing pain. Sounded easy…minor surgery, in and out of the hospital in an hour, and then just keep the finger dry for a week until the stitches have had time to let the finger heal. The cyst was the size of green pea which doesn’t sound large until it’s inside your body pressing on your joint.
The surgeon and the nurse were both competent and kind – after I told them how nervous I was, they whispered during the surgery so I wouldn’t know what they were doing 🙂
Nobody mentioned this part:
- It hurt so bad when the freezing wore off, my face contorted with pain.
- I wasn’t able to push my seat belt in with that hand.
- I couldn’t cut my salad at a business lunch I attended, so I had to put those large leaves in my mouth whole and hope for the best.
- I will probably get questioned about being drunk if anyone looks at my signature on a contract I signed because I had to hold the pen with my thumb and the palm of my hand.
- Going back to work straight from the hospital sounded like a better plan than it turned out to be.
- My family’s sympathy for me and willingness to baby me was sweet, but ended long before the pain stopped.
- Posting to my blog takes a long time as I type with 7 fingers (the two surrounding the one in pain are also tender).
- It’s challenging to get ice out of the trays without using fingers from your right hand.
Working Tech Mom 
Were you awake during the whole procedure?
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The contents of a ganglion cyst can be removed with a needle and syringe in a procedure called aspiration. The procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic (where the area is numbed) and is usually performed in the outpatients department of your local hospital or GP surgery. The skin over your lump is cleaned and numbed with a small local anaesthetic injection. Your doctor will remove as much of the contents of the ganglion as possible with a syringe. The area is sometimes injected with a dose of steroid to help prevent the ganglion returning. A plaster is placed over the needle hole, which can be removed about six hours after the procedure. Aspiration is a simple and painless procedure and you will be able to leave the hospital or surgery straight afterwards. It is often the first treatment option offered for ganglion cysts as it is less invasive than surgery. However, there is a chance of a ganglion cyst returning after aspiration. If a cyst returns, surgery may still be necessary.
I was offered this as an option, and chose the surgery after considering the pros and cons. It’s hard to make decisions without being able to see the future path of each!
I slipped on ice a couple winters ago and broke my wrist. A couple days later I woke up with a painful bump on my inner wrist. I contacted my doctor after I realized that the cyst was getting larger. He referred me to surgeon and on July 1, 2010 I had a ganglion cyst excision. It is now October and I am in pain everyday. The pain is worse then before the surgery. I had some scar tissue and slight nerve damage that causes my fingers to randomly go numb.I am hoping that in a couple months things get better with physical therapy. The surgeon did not go in depth on the risks of surgery and the possibility of nerve damage. My advice is ask lots of questions and do plenty of research. Good luck all.
Thanks silver price. I sure hope I don’t end up with any of the issues you have been dealing with. Is it getting any better at all, or same pain every day?
Howdy just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know several with the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not positive why but I feel its a linking concern. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show exactly the same outcome. 284791
thanks for the heads up. I’m not sure what’s going on as it is working from my browser on the Mac. Maybe your computer didn’t want to see the graphical image of the gross incision!
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Oh, you should have let me know ahead of time. I could’ve sent you a care package with some special …. um … “gifts”. About 7.5 milligrams, 3 times a day, and that hand wouldn’t hurt a bit. You wouldn’t be able to sign things, or drive, or even remember your name, but you wouldn’t hurt! (Yeah, my headaches are a real pain, all puns intended, but the medications are GREAT! :D)
Oh, and yes, I’m finally online after two weeks without power in my area of Ohio. Well, my house and 4 others lucked out, by being on a special circuit put in to support a sewerage pumping station. Talk about falling into poop and coming up smelling like a rose! Pity my ISP couldn’t be on the same circuit….
John, I’m sure we could get into trouble if you sent me those gifts. Sorry to hear about your headaches.
Hard to believe all the power troubles this summer. We depend on it for so many things.