Friday, May 28, 2010

Finger Amputation

On July 1, 2009, I elected to have my left digital finger removed.

Yes, I say elected.  I made this choice.  No suggestions from any doctors or anyone else.  The finger was permanently fused in the bent angle.  Imagine, one finger always being like it's in a fist.  I hit that knuckle on everything.  It was always ulcerated.  Always sore.  Always in the way.  It made me cry, every single day.  I had started to use my middle finger in it's place.  It had become a useless, painful, annoyance.  It hindered a lot of my everyday activities.  

It essentially was fused in this position, but pulled up, sticking out above the rest of the fingers more.  All of my fingers are curled into a very similar position of the middle finger displayed here.  Just in a slightly more relaxed and functional position.
Yes, I could have had the finger straightened, like I had the pinky on my right hand, but I think it would still have been useless.

I consulted the rheumatologist.  Then scheduled a consult with my favorite hand surgeon.   Both were a little surprised that I was coming to them asking to have this done.  Apparently, most people are a little freaked out by such an idea.  Both doctors were VERY supportive and honestly, I think the hand surgeon was a little excited.  LOL!

The surgery went well.  He removed the index finger back into my hand so that it would look a little more "seemless."




This is a picture of my hand 2 weeks after the finger removal.  Just after having the stitches removed.  You can still see the swelling.  It's not "gorgeous" by any means, but it wasn't pretty before the surgery either!  This is much better and way more functional!


A view of my hand, today, 28 May 2010.  Almost 11 months after the finger removal.  As I've mentioned, my other fingers continue to curl, but my hand is still "mostly" functional.  My knuckles still are very sensitive and susceptible to being "bonked."  I use tools or have had to modify the way I do things.  Some things seem impossible, but I find a way to keep moving on or I've learned to ask for help when I need it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am trying to decide on a surgery and i am considering this one. I was shot in the middle knuckle of the left index finger and basicaly destroyed the knucle and most of the bone.

PARKER said...

I blew my hand up lost my index finger and part of my middle finger I was carious how your doing with it I'm trying to decide if i want to do what u did for your hand all I have is my knuckle lost my whole index finger