answers?

In Reply to: Newbie with CTS posted by Melinda on January 14, 2004 at 00:33:08:

You can probably figure on 4-6 weeks, to be anywhere near able to take care of personal hygene, and the essentials of life, with the operated hand. With some extra help, you could probably get by with doing the 2nd hand at 4 weeks after the first. Preparing meals is going to be pretty much out of the question, so recruit a cook or premake stuff that can be unfrozen and eaten.

Don't forget to make sure postop visits are included in the fees, they usually are, so you can ask about planning to have the 2nd hand done shortly before the cutoff date, and hopefully it shouldn't matter if the postop visits are after the cutoff, since they're usually included in the surgery fees. This is something that you need to clarify with your insurance, or have the dr's office do it, so you'll know the story.

Endoscopic or open? Depends on the person, and the surgeon. That's your choice. I would want the surgeon to use the method he's most familiar with. I'm no one's guniea pig. My research online suggests that there is an increased risk of possible tendon or nerve damage if you have the endoscopic procedure done on very small wrists. A 5'10" guy, I'd think no big, a 5'2" lady, I'd wonder about the risk, and ask questions about it. There's lots of information online. Print out some stuff, take it with you, and ask the dr about it if you need to.
I had the open procedure done - that's what my os uses, and I see him for other problems too, didn't want to change docs - and I'm 5'4". So, I was content with the open method. The fact that I waited too long and had adhesion problems with both the flexor tendons and the nerve, made me kinda glad he did it open, so he could "unstick" everything. I'm 4 wks thurs, an still pretty incapacitated. Not surprising, considering what surgery revealed. If you have any more questions, I'll try to answer.