The big little finger op (Dupuytrens 2)

It was an early start but when you were up it seemed worth it. The sun was shining and the air had the freshness that comes with September. We headed north through Cottenham and along the Twentypence Road and arrived at the Princess of Wales hospital in Ely at about 0720. I was there for a fasciectomy to straighten out the little finger on my right hand. I’d expected an October date but a timely phone call presented this opportunity (2 Sep 24) and I took it.

The bonus of course was Ely and not Addenbrookes. The latter is like flying out of Heathrow where the stress levels rise and you don’t relax until your airborne with a gin & tonic. At Addenbrookes this is compounded by the lottery of finding a parking space in Parking House number 1. Not so in Ely; you just park in the car park and walk the 20m or so to the front door where you wait patiently for it to be unlocked at 0730.

I was one of three operands and as luck would have it I was number three. That could mean rather a long morning.

The surgeon in charge was to be Tereze Laing and she told me that my conditions was fairly advanced, I’d sensed it has deteriorated in the last weeks to the extent that I was no longer able to hold a wine bottle, and that she would not be able to achieve complete straightness. There might be the need for a skin graft so a plastic surgeon, Calver Pang was also present.

That meant a long wait, largely on my own, in a small waiting room watching Good Morning Britain on the TV. I was called for my op soon after 1100.

The operating theatre was round with lots of space and a low level of stress. It’s not like you see on the TV! In addition to Tereze and Calver there’s plenty of nurses, some from the UK, a couple of Indians, an Italian and one from Eastern Europe. Thank you to the immigration policies that enabled them to be here.

Unsurprisingly I’m flat on my back for the op with my arm stretched out, palm upwards. I’m to have a local anaesthetic but there’s no screen. However the way the geometry works I can’s see the op even when I turn my head. Not sure I’d have wanted to anyway.

Tereze administers the local anaesthetic and that hurts. But it’s the only time I feel any pain and I spend the next hour and a half or so patiently allowing her and the team to get on with the job. I feel like I’m holding my breath throughout.

It seems to take for ever and there’s very little chit chat until she tells me she’s starting to close everything down and stitch me up. I get to see her hand as she pulls the needle and its thread through. Then half way through she’s called away and Calver takes over. Another doctor (surgeon?) appears to take his place. Pretty smooth and excellent team work.

All pretty simple and straightforward really. No stress, no pain but no use of my right hand for the foreseeable future.