Carpal Tunnel

 About three-ish months ago, I started having numbness and tingling in my finger tips. This quickly turned into PAIN. It got so bad one Saturday night that it woke me up while I was sleeping. By Monday, I decided it was time to consult my doctor. I went to the doctor and he did a couple things to my hands/wrists and told me he thought I had carpal tunnel. He scheduled me for a Nerve Conduction Study and we waited. The appointment for the test came and it was very unpleasant. 

My doctor said the results showed I had moderate carpal tunnel and he referred me to a specialist. That appointment was yesterday. I really liked the doctor. He said the test showed I had MILD carpal tunnel, but after he did his exam, he said he disagreed and it was more severe than that. He only examined my right (dominate) arm. 

Let me side note here. my symptoms since my first visit with my doctor have went from my finger tips, to my entire fingers, to my entire hand, and up to my elbow. That all happened in about three months.

He gave me three options. 1) Do nothing and wait. He said given how quickly my symptoms were progressing, he didn't recommend that. 2) I could do steroid shots but they wouldn't be a permanent solution and would have to be repeated every so often. or 3) We could do surgery and see if that would help.

I am not interested in doing something that isn't a permanent fix. This is painful. It is to the point now that I can't even stand to hold John's hand on my right side. At times it makes it difficult to grip the steering wheel and the strength in that hand is decreasing. We both agreed that surgery would be the best option. He said after we did surgery on the right side we would "reevaluate and see if we wanted to do the left." 

Right now, I am waiting for the surgery coordinator to call me to schedule the surgery. I know nothing is 100%, but I am ready to get this done. He said he would be releasing two different nerves, but I do not remember what either of them where called. He said one was at my wrist and one was at/near the elbow. 

Please pray that this fixes things and for a gentle recovery. Thanks everyone!