Living with Scleroderma

Reflections on the Messy Complexity of Chronicity

hand surgery

Im-patient

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One week and counting since my hand surgery. On Tuesday afternoon, we will meet again with Dr. S to review status and plan next steps. Contrary to my initial euphoric reaction to seeing that I still had 10 fingers when I woke up from the operation last Monday, I soon realized, when changing my dressings, that the situation was much more complicated.

I have temporary pins in the two fingers I thought I was going to lose, not permanent ones. I’m hoping that Dr. S has received helpful, wise feedback from the other hand surgeons on his listserv, but I am not optimistic that he will be able to save those two fingers. Like I said, it’s complicated. At the very least, he bought me time for a thorough review.

In short, he did exactly what he said he would. He stabilized my hands for the next phase. It’s a real relief to have the protruding tips of bone removed and the two broken fingers no longer flopping when I bandage them. I have six open wounds to dress every day. It takes about two hours and is very tiring, sometimes quite painful. Al is a great help, as always. I have certainly shed plenty of tears as I have tried to come to terms with everything. And he has given me plenty of good hugs.

It’s been an emotionally and physically draining week, especially when I realized the pins were temporary. Thank goodness for family and friends who have been a tremendous support, with meals, visits and phone calls that have given me a big boost.

But I wish it were over already. I wish that I could visit the original Star Ship Enterprise, go to Sick Bay and have Dr. McCoy wave that magical tricorder over my hands to heal them immediately. He was my favorite character. If wishes were fishes . . .

In addition to seeing Dr. S on Tuesday, I have an evaluation on Thursday at the Wound Center for hyperbaric chamber treatment that may accelerate the healing process. Dr. S had also mentioned the possibility of giving me Botox shots in my hands to block the sympathetic nervous system response that causes my blood vessels to contract so quickly and uncomfortably from Reynaud’s. Apparently, the shots would last three months and carry me well into the winter with warmer hands, another boost for healing.

So that is what I must focus on. I have stopped watching the evening TV news and only read or listen to thoughtful podcasts to keep up with current events. I figured out how to prop up a book and use a stylus to help me turn pages—a major achievement and relief to begin reading again. I am building up my stamina to sit at the computer for a couple of hours a day, so I hope to be able to get some client work done this week. I have cut back on the Vicodin to one pill at night. It causes crazy dreams, sometimes very scary, so I hope to be free of that soon. Each day brings small victories that deserve celebration and gratitude. No Dr. McCoy, just the hard reality of slow and (I hope) steady healing.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Image Credit: DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy from the original Star Trek, Wikimedia Commons

Outlier

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photoI am typing with three fingers on my right hand—middle, ring and pinky—and three on my left—ring, pinky and thumb. Usually, I use my right thumb as well. I actually had to stop and take attendance to figure this out just now, as I’m so used to compensating for digital ulcers that I automatically adjust how I type to which fingers are most healthy.

But my right thumb is out of commission for a few weeks, and my right ring finger, while occasionally useful at the moment, is also in need of a rest. Last Thursday, I finally had hand surgery to remove excess calcium deposits from both fingers that were interfering with my grip. Overall, I think it went well. I’ll know for certain next week, when I’ve healed more and the sutures are removed. I’m glad it’s over. I don’t want to repeat the experience any time soon.

The actual procedure went smoothly enough (despite our arriving nearly a half-hour late to the hospital’s ambulatory surgical suite, due to excessive rush hour traffic, which did not help my anxiety level that morning). Everyone was pleasant, informative and reassuring as they prepped me for surgery. I was glad to see my hand surgeon, who chatted with me as he marked my fingers with a purple felt tipped pen (“Yes” with an arrow pointing to the incision spot on each digit).

But there is a routine, auto-pilot aspect to the process that’s easy to succumb to (they must know what they’re doing, right?). Being assigned the role of patient—stripped down to a johnny and rubber grip socks, lying on a gurney, with your hair in a paper surgical cap and your glasses taken away—renders you more compliant. And vulnerable. In retrospect, I realize, from many years of dealing with the medical profession, regardless of setting or situation—I needed to be more assertive.

The IV nurse’s first attempt to insert a cannula in the back of my left hand was doomed to failure. I had warned her of my small, rolling veins—far too many experiences with IV antibiotics in past decades have rendered them hard to tap. But I didn’t think to stop her from trying, which I should have, because it really hurt and it didn’t work. Per normal, whenever I have blood drawn, the vein in the crook of my left arm was the right spot.

Next, the anesthesiologist came in to speak with me and asked me a bunch of questions about prior surgical experiences and my recent echocardiogram. But when I proceeded to give him a more detailed summary of the report, he dismissed me with the fact that he’d read it already (I certainly hope so, but then why ask the question?). At least he seemed to hear me when I said it takes me a very long time to metabolize anesthesia of any kind. “We’ll go on the lighter side,” he assured me.

The anesthesiology nurse was a bit more approachable and reassuring as he began the light sedative cocktail infusion that would help me relax during the procedure. As he pushed me into the OR, I was already starting to sink into a featherbed of valium. This was a good thing, and the addition of fentanyl made me quite comfortable (as comfortable as you can feel, under an extra layer of blankets because the OR is so cold—to keep the surgeons from overheating under all their gear, according to the anesthesiology nurse—when your head is being covered with a blue paper surgical drape and your hand that you can no longer see is being placed in some kind of protective sleeve and doused in chilly disinfectant). There was rock music playing—nothing I recognized, but good music, all the same.

Then came the local shots, which hurt like hell for far too many seconds—one in the fat pad beneath my thumb and the other, beneath my ring finger. The anesthesiology nurse was kind and comforting, standing by my left ear. Soon I felt nothing in my hand except odd pressure. One of the surgical team hummed to the music. I alternately closed my eyes and stared up at the surgical drape, which was perforated in the shape of tiny stars, as the team scraped out intractable globs of calcium, surrounded, my surgeon explained, by some abnormal cells that were essentially trying to encase the crud—like a tree closes off a wound. No wonder the stuff wouldn’t come out on its own.

Samples were sent off to pathology, and I was wheeled back to my berth. The whole procedure took about a half hour. Al was surprised to see me sitting up and drinking ginger ale when he was called back to my side. I was glad he was there.

I had hoped to see my surgeon again before leaving, but he was busy with other patients. His resident came by, instead. And here is where, once again, I found myself struggling to get my points across. I am allergic to oxycodone (Percoset). If I need a heavier pain killer, I take hydrocodone, the active ingredient in Vicodin. I thought I had some at home from a prior surgery, but didn’t recall. But he would not write the prescription. It wasn’t in their protocol. I don’t know if this is a reaction to the tighter restrictions on opiodes, but it made no sense. He wouldn’t budge.

In addition, I asked for a prescription of my most effective antibiotic. I had discussed this with my surgeon, who agreed it would be a “good idea” to start it when I got home as a preventive measure, given my propensity for infections. I had some left over from a previous infection, but not a full bottle. The resident informed me that research has shown antibiotics as a prophylactic neither help nor hurt, so he wouldn’t write the scrip.

“If it makes you sleep better at night, you can take what you have,” he said. In essence, he was telling me I was taking a placebo. I was really frustrated, but I was also exhausted and just wanted to go home. So I didn’t insist on seeing my surgeon and dropped it, knowing I could call my other docs and take care of it. The resident confidently told me that I would have minimal discomfort from the procedure and left.

As it turned out, it was a good thing I had some Vicodin that had not expired on hand. It took 18 hours for the local anesthesia to work its way out of my body—I could not assess the pain level before I went to bed that night, except for a glimmer of a warning of a problem in my thumb. I started the antibiotics and took one Vicodin before going to sleep.

By 5:00 a.m., I awoke with significant pain in my thumb. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 7. A second Vicodin didn’t really make much difference, because the pain train had already left the station. It took the entire day of alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofin, plus distracting myself, to get it fully under control without making myself too queasy from more Vicodin, even as the initial doses were essential to the whole mix. Al stayed home with me again, taking another day off from work, because I was so uncomfortable from the pain and woozy that I was afraid of falling. I missed the follow-up call from the hospital and decided not to return it. What were they going to tell me that I didn’t already know, better?

By Saturday, I was up and about, and a couple of days later, I’m back to almost normal, just managing the wounds. In a few weeks, I hope my right hand will be more functional. I’ve written this long entry, which is good progress.

But my experience reminds me that I have to be assertive, whatever medical setting I find myself in. There are times to listen and learn, and times to speak up and educate. Scleroderma does not fit neatly into a protocol. I am an outlier on the bell curve. The sooner those who seek to attend to my medical needs understand this, the better we’ll all be.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Thumb’s Up

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I’ve been getting clumsier in recent months. I drop all kinds of things—keys, coins, bottle caps, you name it, anything that involves dexterity and a good grip.

hands-1436113-640x480The other day I was cooking and picked up a full bottle of olive oil by the top, not realizing the cap was loose. Unable to hold on (fortunately, the bottle was plastic), I dropped it on the kitchen counter, spilling oil all over my favorite cookbook.

The cookbook is now well stained—not a disaster, once I unstuck the pages, since I consider my spattered cookbooks to be well-loved, like the Velveteen Rabbit. But still, I wish I hadn’t made such a mess.

There’s a good explanation for all of this klutziness: My right thumb (I’m right-handed) has built up layers of dead skin over abnormal thickening. It’s gotten so bad that it’s becoming difficult to hold even a pen or pencil. I’ve been tolerating this as best I can, bandaging it and even applying some urea emulsion cream that I got from my podiatrist to try to loosen the layers so I can remove them.

But none of this has really worked, and I realized this winter, when Al’s employee health insurance coverage improved (thank goodness), that it was time to see my (once again affordable) hand surgeon at Boston Medical and get his assessment. I knew my thumb needed debridement, and I knew I couldn’t possibly do it myself.

It took two months to get in to see him, but I finally had my appointment last week. It’s been years since I last needed his help—once to remove stubborn calcinosis from my left thumb that had adhered to the bone, and another time to remove two surgical pins from my right index finger, left from previous hand surgery to correct a severe flexion contracture, which were causing pain.

Seeing him was well worth the wait. He is the antithesis of the stereotypical surgeon—patient, empathetic, willing to discuss all options at length. He took a look and commented that some of the pain I’m experiencing is probably due to more calcium stuck under all those thick layers of skin—right at the pressure point (why I can’t hold onto stuff).

I mentioned my bad reaction to lidocaine with epinephrine when I had calcium removed from the bridge of my nose last month. “I never use that combination with scleroderma patients,” he said. “The epinephrine causes the blood vessels to constrict.” Who knew? My other doc (and his resident, who gave me the shot) should have. And this is why I love my hand surgeon—he understands this disease really well.

He was not gung-ho about operating, because of all the risks of infection and my poor digital blood circulation that exacerbates healing. But he explained the choice as one of two options: either continue to live with it, as best I can, or solve the problem surgically. “That’s what we’re here for,” he said.

We agreed that I’d come back to see him in May, get a hand X-ray and discuss how to proceed. I could either have the surgery later that week or wait until June, when the weather is warmer (I hope), to boost the healing process. I have to balance my desire to take care of this as soon as possible with the most favorable conditions, including adequate time for my thumb to recover, pacing between family celebrations at the beginning and end of May, and anticipated balmy weather.

Of course, I can only guestimate the latter—the day of my appointment, the mercury hit 77° F, a record-breaking day in Boston for early March.

But at least there is a solution in sight. Meanwhile, I’ll just need to be more mindful when I pick up the olive oil bottle, or my house keys, or spare change from my wallet. And give myself a pass next time I drop something else.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Image Credit: Tibor Fazakas

Hula Finger

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Decades ago, when scleroderma first attacked my hands, my right index finger began to droop. Over the course of several years, it stiffened into a hooked flexion contracture, bent to an immobile 100-degree angle.

To me, it looked like a claw. It was ugly, hag-like. I hated it. I was constantly smashing my bent knuckle into drawers and cabinets whenever I reached for something. It hurt when I shook hands. It was an embarrassing deformity.

The hardest piece was that it had been my favorite finger, enabling me to maintain deft control of pencils when I drew, of needles when I sewed, anything that involved fine motor coordination. I had talented hands with great kinesthetic feel, and my right index finger was the most talented of all.

As the risk of permanent knuckle ulcers and infection grew, I decided to look into corrective hand surgery. I went to one of the best orthopedic hand surgeons in Boston for an assessment. The surgery was doable, but I was scared. What if it didn’t work? What if I lost my finger in the process?

While I debated what to do, our youngest, Emily, expressed a very different view. For her, my digital hook was her favorite. Born a premie and always petite, she had tiny, slender fingers, and she loved to hold my bent index finger like the handle on a tea cup whenever we would snuggle. Her gentle touch was always a salve.

It took me a full year to gather up the courage to have the surgery. All went well, no complications or infections—though my hand surgeon commented that the operation was challenging, my skin as fragile as an onion’s. He shortened the finger so I could still pinch the tip of my resorbed thumb and stabilized the joint with two steel pins.

Emily was disappointed that she couldn’t hold it the same way anymore, but old enough to understand why the surgery was necessary. Gripping the finger, with its internal pins, was painful. So we found other ways to hold hands, as hers grew.

Then the bones in my finger began to resorb. Gradually, the pins poked their way out of the bone and stabbed my knuckle from the inside. I saw another hand surgeon, and we agreed he would remove the pins. As my finger had healed well from the initial surgery, it had formed what he called a “false joint,” and would still be useable.

So, the pins came out. My finger looked a bit squashed and quite stubby, but this time, I was much less concerned about aesthetics and just grateful to have a working finger without pain.

And there was one new attribute that delighted Emily: Since the joint was now more tendon than bone, I could rotate the tip of the finger in a circle, like a hula dancer. I’d hum a tune and make it jiggle, and she would giggle. Another saving grace.

I had my first hand surgery when Emily was five. This week, she turned 20. We still occasionally joke about my hula finger. And we still hold hands when we visit.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.