FOR the past several years, decades in fact, I have been experiencing numbness and tingling in both hands, but the worst nightmare was to be awakened by a burning sensation in my entire right hand.
I have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, but since it is a minor affliction and not in the “major na ugat(veins)” category, I brushed it off. But it was panic time when my hand felt like it was being torched.
Dr. Bong Gayoles, here I come! Dr. Bong is a great rehabilitation medicine expert.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the result of pressure on the median nerve in our wrist. The median nerve and several tendons run from the forearm to our hand through a small space in our wrist called the carpal tunnel and that nerve controls movement and feeling in the thumb and first three fingers. The little finger is exempt.
The pressure on the median nerve causes swelling. Anything that makes the carpal tunnel smaller results to swelling from hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes, to mention a few. But the most prevalent is having the same hand movements over and over again like baking, gardening, and for the illness of the millennium-texting and computer – where the wrist is bent down (your hands lower than your wrists).
The doctor will check the feeling, strength, and appearance of your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands.
Dr. Manuel “Bong” Gayoles suggested a nerve test called electromyogram.
There is only one doctor, Dr. Amador “Mads” Aguirre, who does it here it in Bacolod at The Doctors’ Hospital. It was a three-month wait as the machine broke down and had to be repaired in the United States.
Electromyography measures the tiny electrical discharges produced in muscles. During this test, Dr. Aguirre inserts a thin-needle electrode into specific muscles. The test evaluates the electrical activity of your muscles when they contract and when they're at rest. This test can determine if muscle damage has occurred and also may be used to rule out other conditions.
Dr. Mads upon evaluation said the condition was severe. While both hands are in need of surgery, the left one should be done first.
Heading back to Dr. Bong, he recommended a lady ortho-surgeon. Upon seeing her, I did not hesitate and decided to have this long overdue surgery done.
Wednesday of last week was my date with Dr. Gladys Tan. When I was in church earlier that day, two thoughts crossed my mind: to chicken out or to have both hands done simultaneously. Anyway, my better judgment won out and I was at the Sanitarium now called BAMC, or Bacolod Adventist Medical Center a bit la-tish for my 8 a.m. appointment.
After admitting necessities were processed and Philhealth accessed, I was off to the operating room. Now in my hospital gown, four nurses came to attend to my medication and preparation. I must say, I commend the male nurse who did the heplock insertion. My veins are tiny and quite invisible but he did a most wonderful job. For the first time I came home with no bruises.
Dr. Gladys explained to me on my visit to her clinic that it was a minor surgery and just an outpatient procedure to last no more than 30 minutes. I expected that we would just be seated with my palms on the table.
However, I was stretched out on the bed with all those giant klieg lights directly overhead with my left hand strapped to some contraption.
Oh dear! The last time I was in an operating room was for my caesarian section on Andre some 30 years ago.
She applied local anesthesia on my left palm. She said it would hurt. It did, but bearable. The hand started to get numb. I asked if it will be gross and if I could watch. Dr. Gladys said: “A bit” so I decided not to. It might just trigger a panic attack. She walked me through the whole exercise. I smelled something burning and she confirmed my thoughts. She was cauterizing the area.
In less than 15 minutes she was done and starting sewing me up. I knew that she was using the tiniest thread but my hand felt like leather upholstery being stitched by a giant needle with extra thick thread. On the last stages of sewing, I did watch the procedure.
We were all done in 30 minutes max. Then to the recovery room we went. With a bit of Nubain, I dozed off and woke up two hours after feeling absolutely great. We were home before three in the afternoon.
The biggest delight of not only having the guts to get on with the surgery was that I paid zero for my hospitalization due to Philhealth (Thank you very much!). It was only the doctor’s fee that I had to shell out.
The challenge of having a carpal tunnel surgery is not in the surgery itself. With painkillers for the next days, there is hardly any pain. It is coping with just one hand for all your basic necessities. My niece had both hands done and she cursed her decision for 10 days.
Considering that my dominant hand was free to operate, there are still some functions that needed assistance like hooking your bra or buttoning your shirt and pants. In the days that followed, you develop some degree of creativity. You learn how to use your teeth to assist your right hand, you swing your towel to the other side of your body to dry yourself, and many more innovations.
A carpal tunnel surgery is indeed a minor surgery, and healing is swift.
My grateful thanks to the efficient nurses who attended to me in the operating room and recovery room, and most especially to Dr. Bong Gayoles and Dr. Gladys Tan!