Walking Wounded

OK, I dislocated my left thumb (1st metacarpal) on Sunday, September 24th. Internist couldn’t get it back in place and escalated me to a general practitioner who also couldn’t get it back in place and escalated me to an orthopedic reconstructive surgeon who put me under, set the bone, put me in a cast, and scheduled a follow-up visit for Thursday, September 28th. Although I reported that the thumb throbbed and tingled a lot during my follow-up visit, surgeon thought everything was OK, and scheduled me to have the cast removed on Monday, October 2nd. After removing the cast on Monday, the surgeon had me get it x-rayed and unfortunately, it turned out to be dislocated just like it was when I originally presented over a week before. Surgeon couldn’t operate right away and had me work with his admin to get it scheduled for Tuesday…Tuesday came and went with no surgery and pushed the operation to today but only as stand-by, no guarantee status. Only after my wife assertively pressed for another orthopedic surgeon to take over and commit to doing the surgery TODAY did I get formally scheduled.

So, what’s going on…is my injury not considered urgent…I’ve only gone to work one of the eight business days since the accident…they gave me a big bottle of oxycodone “take one every four hours as necessary to control pain” but after taking three on the first day, and one on the second day, I swore those evil mother berker’s off so I’ve been making due with just Advil and not even that yesterday and today so I could present for surgery immediately. I’m not a baby (in fact, I overheard two doc’s describe my tolerance during the resetting attempts as “stoic” and the x-ray tech on Monday said “you must have a high pain threshold” as she showed me my x-ray.

Anyway, is this normal or does it sound like something is going on behind the scenes…they don’t want me going elsewhere because they’re trying to cover up a mistake…I’m worth good money to them (I have fantastic insurance) or ???

Eh, every person is different.  Hopefully you get the next procedure quick and this will be just a painful memory.

I don't think anything is going on behind the scenes.  I think your spouse throwing a fit did help get you bumped up in the schedule.  They don't want you going elsewhere because you are their patient and they want to see you through to fixed.  It is also in your best interest not to doctor hop, in general and with some exceptions. I have to tell my mother this all the time, as she likes to "fire" her doctors.

As far the thumb goes, bummer and all, but I think you almost certainly were in place after the first surgery.  They typically shoot x-rays in the OR whenever they do anything, and they would not have sent you out of the OR if it wasn't in the right place.  Now why it didn't stay there, that I don't know.  Never did thumb bones, just spine bones and skull bones.  I did break my thumb.  Well, the dumb berkeleying kid in a Jeep broke my thumb when he totaled my Elise with me in it.

Dr. Hess said:  Well, the dumb berkeleying kid in a Jeep broke my thumb when he totaled my Elise with me in it.

Let it go man. Just let it go

Thank you for your inputs Wvumtnbkr and Dr. Hess.

I've got a finger that fell apart after they pulled the pins. Eventually I got an artificial joint. That's also broken. Hands are difficult and even their best attempts don't always work the first time. When they get you in physical therapy, DO IT! I just have one finger that doesn't bend, it's annoying, and a big part of my reduced mobility is my fault for being a crappy patient. 

Stick with it. Get better. 

From the age of 8 through 18 I broke every bone from elbow down, on my right arm.  The worst by far was my thumb.  My dad didn't believe me that it was broke and thought I was trying to get out of doing homework (I couldn't hold a pencil) so it was a couple days before we went to the doc.  They had to reset it.  That berkeleying sucked.  My dad did the "it's okay to say it hurts" routine on me, where when I finally admitted it hurt, called me a wuss.  He loves telling that story.

As Mazdeuce said, don't skip the PT.

Sounds like your dad can be a real swell guy.

My thumb still isnt correct and it was broke when i was 8, warming up our pitcher before a little league game using a normal glove. the feild nurse said it was jamned and yanked it a few times. ended up being shattered at the tip and broke at both knuckles. Too this day it has very limited mobility and sometimes locks in one position unless i yank outwards on it. Follow the pt! My parents didnt.

Not wanting to make light  of y'alls  situation,  but loping off the end of my index finger with a skill saw qualifies for ............nothing. Please be careful, your experiences are important to all of us ....