Post Op

The surgery went very well. Everyone at St. Joe's was amazing. Used a nerve block, actually two, and only needed a little over an hour of the two hour scheduled. Had a decent night's sleep getting up once for a percocet which kept the pain to a dull throb. Home care nurse came just before noon to change the dressing which gave us an opportunity to snap this picture. My son Mike stayed the night and did a great job of looking after me.

SI have an appointment to see the hand surgeon tomorrow.

And finally, a big thank you to Bea for helping me get through the day.

Surgery & GI Developments

Had a 3 hour pre-op meeting yesterday. The only potential problem centred around the type of anesthetic that would be used but after much debate and a consultation or two they decided to go with a local rather than a general. Phew, for a while there I was quite concerned because they wanted me to shave my moustache which I've had for pretty much my entire adult life. So, surgery is a go for Tuesday. Not looking forward to it at all.

On Thursday I saw my GI doctor and the result of that visit is that I will probably be going on TPN although we are trying a double course of antibiotics first as one last stab at cleaning out my gut. In order to be prepared for the TPN, my daughter and I will be attending training sessions in a couple of weeks. My daughter will be the one to hook me up at night and unhook me in the morning as I won't be able to do it myself. We will probably use a PICC line instead of going into the chest directly. The plan is to try TPN for a couple of months to put some weight on, 20 pounds or so, and then go back to the tube feed. but it's all pretty much up in the air for now so we'll just have to wait and see what develops.

Add this to the surgery and I'm feeing a little overwhelmed right now but am trying to remind myself to just take one thing at a time. In the meantime, it's a beautiful fall day so I'm going to take my dog for a walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Coping Well

The pain is now under control but I'm still coming to terms with the upcoming amputation. I am able to use my finger at present and it seems odd that, in a week and a half, it won't be there. I mean, it's functional and I look at it and it even looks fine, well, that part not covered by bandages anyway, and I just can't imagine it being gone. And then I was clipping my fingernails the other day and I realized it would be the last time I clip that one. Too weird.

Just some random thoughts on what I'm feeling right now. It'll all be fine I know. If you are interested in seeing the wound, I have posted an image on Flickr. Beware, it's not pretty.

Amputation

Yup, that's right, amputation was the verdict when I saw the hand surgeon today. As soon as he unwrapped my hand he matter-of-factly stated "I can't do anything with that. It [right index finger] will have to be amputated." I asked if he was serious but of course, he was. The bone is open to the air and is surrounded by cartilage and tendons - all the skin is gone. Not a pretty sight believe me. If all goes well over the next two weeks, I am slated for surgery on Tuesday, October 19. Guess I'll have to learn a new method for tripping the shutter on a camera. Shouldn't affect my guitar playing though. As for every day activities, well we'll just have to wait and see.

For now I just have to live with the pain. The doctor used some surgical scissors to remove tissue from the wound today and just now, 6 hours later it is settling down some.

Calcinosis Infection

I know my original intention was to keep this blog positive but lately that has been difficult. And now I have a new problem to report. the basal knuckle of the index finger on my right hand has become infected and it is, to put it lightly, making my life difficult. A week ago today, last Sunday evening, I noticed that the knuckle in question was red and swollen and it was causing me some discomfort. I progressively grew worse such that by Wednesday I could no longer put off a visit to urgent care at a nearby hospital. Over the next three days I was given antibiotics by IV, saw a hand surgeon who switched me over to oral antibiotics and am now receiving daily visits from a nurse who changes the dressing on my now draining, very raw looking and painful knuckle. (Of course getting the IV started was also a major challenge just to add to the discomfort.)

I have calcinosis in said knuckle and apparently some bacteria have made their way into the area through a small opening in the skin caused by the calcinosis which, in turn, caused the infection.

So, there you have it, yet another complication from scleroderma.