"You've Had a Rough Go of It!"

The words I chose for the title of this post were spoken to me yesterday by my orthopedic doctor. It was said in the context of me telling him why I came in a week earlier than originally scheduled (my original appointment, scheduled for next Tuesday, was preempted by the need to have a surgical procedure related to my kidney stone attack back in September - which, by the way, had pushed my biceps surgery back a week). Dr. Dragann remembered the week delay. And then he said, "You've had a rough go of it!"

Well ... I am not going to complain. For the first 58 years of my life, among the MANY times I have been in hospitals, only twice was I there as a patient - two trips to the ER for stitches, both in the head -- no comments please! :) So I am grateful to God for His goodness to me across the years. And now, for reasons known only to him, I have had a "tough go of it!" And it isn't over yet! As a result of the bicep surgery, apparently when my arm was positioned for surgery, a condition that I had (which I did not know I had) flared up. The condition is called ulnar impaction (or abutment) syndrome. In plain language this means that the outside forearm bone (the ulna bone) is impacting the wrist bones ... causing pain and a lack of both mobility and hand strength. So what does this mean? Dr. Dragann told me that there is a chance it could improve on its own ... "How big a chance?" I asked. "Hmm a small chance" he replied. So I asked him what the options were if it did not improve. He informed me there are two surgical options ... one arthroscopic in which they go in and basically shave off the top of the ulnar bone. The other is to take a section out of the middle of the ulnar bone and then rejoin the two parts with a metal plate and screws. According to him, he has seen much better results with the latter. I asked him what the recovery time was like ... and, well, let's just say if I have to go that route I will be asking God for more grace! He assured me that all will be good in the end (and added that he had the same surgery done on his one arm/wrist).

I am really upset about one thing though. Sounds like my "stellar" golfing career is over. He told me he had to give up golf after his surgery. Oh well, I guess I can live with that!  :)

Thanks for stopping by ... and THANKS for your prayers,
pj