The hand SAGA Part 4

Ok.. went to the new Dr. yesterday.
We are going to do 4 weeks of PT and then if it is still painful then we are going to do steroid injections. He is very up front. and I like that. He told me that he needed me to go through some of the steps that I had already gone through to get a good idea of what was going on now. He wants to do the PT to see if the swelling will go down and to see what issues I have with specific movements. If that does not work then he wants to do the steroid shots but only on one side at a time. He says that once we get the swelling down then we can really see what is going on in there and what is actually causing me troubles.

THEN we can come up with a plan of action for the whole wrist and thumb. The Dr. does NOT want to do the ulna osteotomy at all.. wants to find if alternatives will work. I can respect that completely. But if we have to then that will be the last resort. I was up front with him and told him everything that has happened so far. Told him I was really wary. He read all of the medical records I brought with me looked at all of my films, took new x-rays, talked with the radiologist, and his PA.
My appointment was at 9 am and I left at noon. long appointment. but a good one.

I stressed that all of this started in my THUMB and that I still wanted to know what was going on with it. He was a little confused because everything he looked at was focusing on the wrist and the ulna side.

He wanted to know why I had the carpal tunnel surgery and I told him that I had no idea.. he said that it does not say anywhere in my records that I even showed signs of it. I told him " I know" Then I told him that I was to go in for a nerve relEase and a scope.. I came out with a carpal tunnel, nerve release, 2/3 of my TFC gone and Ulna impaction syndrome. That I was told I WOULD have to have another surgery that included an Ulna Osteotomy and a BLATT.
he was confused.
Then he said that by the x-rays and the MRI films he and the radiologist DOES NOT see any gap in my scaphoid lunate as reported in my operation report. He was careful to say.. "Well I was not in there but you SHOULD be able to see that on these films somewhere"
So it looks like that part is not true.. at least at this point there is nothing other then the operation report that shows it.
He said that it looks like I have the start of arthritis in the thumb. I told him I would be his worst patient ever.. that if I did not agree with him I would tell him.. If I do not understand something I would expect him to explain..I told him I did not think it was arthritis because it should not hurt all the time and escalate like it has since April.. with no relief at all. He agreed.

He liked that I was trying to educate myself about what they were talking about and what they wanted to do to me. He liked the questions I asked. Then he told me to pick a side of the wrist. He said that he could not treat both at the same time. I told him I wanted the Ulna side worked on first.

I also told him that I would except it if we found out I had arthritis and that I would have to live with pain in my thumb.. we would work that part out.. but that he needed to find a way to stop the pain on the Ulna side. That it all had started in the thumb. That I had NO pain on the ulna side just some ticking/popping and now that was the worse part of it. That I still wanted answers or options for the thumb, but someone was GOING to fix the ulna side because it was not an issue prior to the surgery.