I'm having my right wrist operated on tomorrow (I'm right handed) and I've very uneasy about it. I'm sure that the surgery will be successful, it's just the recovery part I'm worried about. The doctor said that I won't be able to use my right hand for about 12 weeks. This surgery is something that NEEDS to be done, otherwise the bones in my wrist will fuse together. I unknowningly tore a few ligaments clean off a couple of years ago, and up until recently, I thought I was just VERY prone to bad wrist sprains (which I thought was the cause of all the pain and swelling all the time.) My doctor thought I just had carpal tunnel syndrome, which is rare for someone as young as I am. After seeing a hand/wrist specialist (who will be performing the surgery) it was confirmed that I had a few ligament tears which was causing my wrist bones to be all out of whack. I was told that I had two options... continue to wear a wrist brace and have the bones fuse together later on, or allow them to operate and repair the ligaments while I'm still young. This surgery has a high success rate, so I'm not too worried about the procedure itself.

I don't know what I'm going to do to keep myself occupied during the two weeks I have off of work, and the 10 weeks of recovery I'll have after that. Just about EVERYTHING I enjoy doing (aside from reading) requires me to use my right hand. It's really depressing to think about.. I've always released my stress in some sort of creative way, most of which requires use of my right or both hands.

This is all so frustrating :(

snap!! im having wrist surgery 27th next month so I know how you feel,I have broke my scafoid bone in the wrist 5 times in the last 6 years.Got to have this op too.let me know how you get on hun!

wow.. what a coincidence. My scaphoid bone is one of the detached ones..

Painful isnt it....where you from? do you have a good orthopaedic doc?

I see a military doctor.. I was hurt while on active duty, so they have to pay for it :)

I live in London and work in a former military hospital.Would like to know how you get on with your op if that ok.

I live in London and work in a former military hospital.Would like to know how you get on with your op if that ok.

I will let you know most definitely :) I highly recommend seeing a hand/wrist specialist if there's one available to you. The doctor doing my surgery has been a orthopaedic surgeon for close to 20 years now, and he's been specializing in wrist/hand surgeries for quite sometime..

its been two days since the surgery...the first day was hell because the vicodin i was given didnt do anything AT ALL. My pain was so bad, i was shaking and crying..i called the doc the next day and he prescribed some oxycontin...

now i don't feel a thing...the muscles in my forearm spasm alot, and my fingers look like sausages...i have a hard time wiggling my fingers. The procedure went well though (3 hours...ugh) and i'm sure it'll all heal nicely. i have to wear this splint that feels like it weighs a ton, and i go back in two weeks to get the sutures removed and a cast put on..

and now i can only type with one hand :(

I feel your pain on the recovery front. I'm now 2 wks post op from my appendectomy and I have officially lost my mind. My boyfriend came down for the night last night (he lives upstate, where I usually live when I'm not STUCK recovering at my parents house!). Granted, I can use both of my hands, but I'm still tired a lot. I'm bored of TV, there's no wireless internet at my parents house so I have to use the old PC which rather sucks, all my "stuff" is upstate and I'm not allowed to drive, thus can't go out. So, you have my sympathy. I'm glad your surgery went well. Mine included a 9 day hospital stay. I hope your down time goes by fast! (I have another doc's appt on Thursday but I doubt I'll get medical clearence to go back home. :( )

I have not been through what you girls have been through but you can always call up old friends and have them over to cheer you up.

I am sorry for your situation. My dad's in the same boat- he had to get a shoulder ligament or something reconnected. He's stir crazy and driving my mom nuts being around all the time.

Maybe it's time to get some "learn to dance" dvd's from the library. Or martial arts or something. Catch up with old friends you haven't called in a while?

You could become ambidextrous out of this, which would be cool

Hope your feeling ok hun....i have my op on 27th jan :-(

Thanks for all the good wishes for recovery everyone. Yes, I've been going stir crazy, but my friends are always stopping by (whether I want them to or not) so at least I have a little bit of entertainment. I'm becoming rather bored with reading, watching tv, playing video games one-handed.. A friend brought over some board games, which has helped quite a bit. The heavily-medicated-one-armed-girl (me) schooled everyone at monopoly last night. Yeaaah.

You could become ambidextrous out of this, which would be cool

In this instance, I'm kind of forced to become ambidextrous.

Other than accidentally yanking out a suture (there was a piece of gauze sticking out from the bandages, and it was starting to bug me so I gave it a yank..), recovery is going well, and there is a good prognosis.

i have my op on 27th jan :-(

Good luck! When the doctor tells you to use your hand as little as possible after the surgery, I would take his or her advice.. I keep trying to use that hand out of habit, and it just lands me in more pain.

ok il take your advice.....not looking forward to it obviously but seeings as I have broke that wrist 5 times and had a cast to deal with all those times I guess il cope lol x

I swear I have to be one of the worst patients because I seem to think that I'm superwoman and I can heal with lightening speed. Lol

Yeah me too......Im having this op on my wrist on 27th jan then on 17th feb im having a rather large gynae op and im worrying about all the time im going to have off sick!!! I work in the dept where im having the second op so Im sure il pop into my office and start working when I get bored on the ward lol

I've always released my stress in some sort of creative way, most of which requires use of my right or both hands.

I've read that the left hand is controlled by the right hand side of your brain, and the right hand side is responsible for art and visualisation. In fact some wannabe right handed artists deliberately try to work with their left hand hoping to take advantage of right brain pro visualisation activity. As you are reading alot in your current state I recommend "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.

Hope your recovery is going well - Angelene 17. Good luck - gillyxx. I am having wrist surgery on feb 10th. :brood: Apparantly I have a torn ligament, fraying ligaments and an unusually long Ulnar. All of this results in my wrist locking up at any moment in time. Of course this is wonderful, as you can never predict when it will "lock" up. :grr: I guess they are going to scope the wrist and then shorten the Ulnar. Something about plates and screws and stuff.
So other than trying not to use the wrist for a few weeks, any other suggestions? Fortunately I am fairly ambidextrous, but still do not enjoy the thought of having to use only one hand.