Hello everyone!

So since thanksgiving, my left pinky finger has been numb. Not totally sensationless, mind you, but it's kinda like that pre-tingly feeling you get when you sleep on your arm and blood is starting to gush back into it after you wake up. It's not painful or anything, but it makes doing any normal tasks that require usage of the pinky (like TYPING) to be rather difficult. I have had to totally readjust the way I type because I can't use the left pinky -- I can't feel if it's hitting a key, and if it is, I can't tell which key it is headed for... So I've pretty much had to shift my left hand over to keep the pinky from touching any keys.

At the end of February, I had an EMG test. This is an extremely unpleasent test, so I would reccommend that none of you ever get one. Basically, they send electric shocks of varying intensity at various points up the arm. They also stick needles into various muscles to 'listen' to them to see how hard they are working. The electric shocks are not fun at all, especially when they are doing shocks at the elbow, which sends the shock down your whole arm, which causes the muscles in the arm to involuntarily spasm.

This test concluded that I have a moderate to severe case of Ulnar Neuropathy. The ulnar nerve is somehow getting pinched or disrupted in the elbow, which isn't letting the full signal get to my pinky finger -- causing the numbness.

I have scheduled surgery for March 29th. The doctor will make a 12cm incision at my elbow, find the ulnar nerve, and then move it to a location where it's not going to interfere with anything. There will be 6 weeks of recovery time until I am able to resume normal usage of my hand, and then an additional 12 to 24 months until the nerve completely heals and the numbness totally goes away.

This should be a minor operation, taking about 1 hour to do. I am most concerned because I am a big wuss and have no threshhold for pain. I hope they give me some good local anesthetics!

So, anyone else had a similar procedure here?

 

This is one you are going to be awake for? Fun times, but at least you are going to get it working right.

 

As far as being a "big wuss" ask for something to calm you down about 30-45 min. before they do anything. My son has a problem with needles, and they gave him something before attempting an IV. Let us know how things turn out. My son has a problem with a narrow radial artery, but no surgery in his future.(his pointer finger goes completely numb and turns a deathly white) Best of luck to you!

 

Hope your car is an automatic & not a 5-speed. 6 weeks of not driving the stang would kill me.


Good luck on the 29th.

 

You consider yourself a big wuss! I felt ill just reading that!

Good luck! I'll keep you in my prayers!

 

I havent had any experience with anything like that, but I do want to wish you good luck!

 

I think it was all a rouse, and just maybe you were used as a shock therapy test subject So I do hope that it does get better with less pain for you !

 

Good luck! I had an artificial disc inserted in my spine 2 years ago(I can't believe it's been that long). I think you will be okay. I picked up my Mustang from the dealership the same day I got out of the hospital two days after my surgery. The dealership thought I was nuts. The owner had to come meet me while I was waiting on the paperwork. I had already waited 4 months for my car and I wasn't waiting another day if I could help it.

 

Good luck with the surgery -- you will be amazed at the results through the recovery I'm sure. (and like someone else said, just reading it had my stomach in knots as well). I've had similar surgery on both hands - the first time I was awake but my entire left arm was numb, and I could talk to the surgeon. Never felt a thing, and the recovery was uneventful, just follow your doctor's instructions. When I had my right hand worked on they put me under for the procedure, and again I was surprised that I really had no pain afterwards.
I'm sure that you will find afterward that it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be --