Fastina
11-01-2006, 10:22 PM
Ulnar Nerve Translocation...this is the surgery I had on July 24th of this year.
I hurt my right arm at my part-time job on June 4, 2005, by moving shelving and merchandise. I was going strong and had a severe pain in my arm and dropped the shelf I had in my hands. When I looked at me arm, I had a rash on my arm between my elbow and wrist and it was burning. I stopped, went and showed it to my boss, wrote a report and left for the rest of the day. The next morning, I could not feel my lower arm and could not straighten it out. I went to immediate care, after calling work and getting it approved, and they said I just strained it and took me off work for a couple of days. Well, the couple of days have long passed, 7 different doctors, numerous tests and the surgery.
Now, on to recovery....I go to physical therapy 3 days a week, were I call my therapist the "torture maiden" and see the doctor every 4 weeks to follow up. Originally, I was told, I would have the surgery and be back to work in a couple of weeks. The doctor has kept me on 1 handed duty since the surgery because of the complications I am having with my arm and hand. I am not able to straighten out my arm, have pain, numbness and tingling and still fight with swelling around my elbow. Since the surgery, I am also not able to raise my arm above shoulder level without having pain. The surgery has affect everything from my neck to shoulder to the ends of my finger tips. I have muscle spasms like you would not believe, can not get a full nights sleep and the hardest of all is not being able to pick up my grandkids.
The doctor said it will probably take at least a year for my arm and nerve to heal and the therapist told me the other day, it will probably be more like 18 months. I would say I probably will lose my full-time job as the 12 weeks medical leave has passed and they say they do not have anything one-handed I can do. I have seen them have some people return from medical leave and a week or two later that person got "laid off". So, I am expecting it, when and if the doctor releases me back to two-handed work.
I apologize for this being so long, but I really am hoping someone here has had this surgery and can give me some outlook. Thank you in advance for any advice or moral support.
I hurt my right arm at my part-time job on June 4, 2005, by moving shelving and merchandise. I was going strong and had a severe pain in my arm and dropped the shelf I had in my hands. When I looked at me arm, I had a rash on my arm between my elbow and wrist and it was burning. I stopped, went and showed it to my boss, wrote a report and left for the rest of the day. The next morning, I could not feel my lower arm and could not straighten it out. I went to immediate care, after calling work and getting it approved, and they said I just strained it and took me off work for a couple of days. Well, the couple of days have long passed, 7 different doctors, numerous tests and the surgery.
Now, on to recovery....I go to physical therapy 3 days a week, were I call my therapist the "torture maiden" and see the doctor every 4 weeks to follow up. Originally, I was told, I would have the surgery and be back to work in a couple of weeks. The doctor has kept me on 1 handed duty since the surgery because of the complications I am having with my arm and hand. I am not able to straighten out my arm, have pain, numbness and tingling and still fight with swelling around my elbow. Since the surgery, I am also not able to raise my arm above shoulder level without having pain. The surgery has affect everything from my neck to shoulder to the ends of my finger tips. I have muscle spasms like you would not believe, can not get a full nights sleep and the hardest of all is not being able to pick up my grandkids.
The doctor said it will probably take at least a year for my arm and nerve to heal and the therapist told me the other day, it will probably be more like 18 months. I would say I probably will lose my full-time job as the 12 weeks medical leave has passed and they say they do not have anything one-handed I can do. I have seen them have some people return from medical leave and a week or two later that person got "laid off". So, I am expecting it, when and if the doctor releases me back to two-handed work.
I apologize for this being so long, but I really am hoping someone here has had this surgery and can give me some outlook. Thank you in advance for any advice or moral support.