Hey Everyone
Thanks to all the people who have asked about my finger, and the problem I am having with it.....let me catch you up on what you have missed.
Feb 13 my right hand index finger was a little cold.....I thought that was a bit weird.
.......later that week.
Feb 18 went to see a Doctor. He thought/guessed it was a vascular emboli (tiny blood clots) that are preventing flow to the finger tip. TAKE 12 IBUPROFIN A DAY, AND HEAT IT. (if it is not better in two weeks, come back)
......a couple of weeks go by....lots of yo-yo work......
Finger is not better....it is getting worse. The cold is always there, and it is turning purple. Also it is tender to the touch.
March 11th See doctor again....he tells me to get an Angiogram. (on a side note, I did not know how major or a process an angiogram is.....I thought it would be an in and out type of thing. I ended up having to spend 11 hours in the hospital and the put a cathader in my leg, and fed it through my arteries up past my heart and into my sholder to inject a dye down my arms. Pretty amazing thing)
March 15th Angiogram done.....results not as the doctors expected. (no clots or emboli....or even a colapsed artery....some kind of damage they think. Reffered to a hand surgeon.
March 17th Meet with the hand surgeon to go over the options. He diagnoised it as a VASOSPASM. (probably the best thing out of the 4 possible problems we discussed) A vasospasm is a constriction of the arteries due to injury.....he is sure it is due to the yo-yo coming back and hitting my hand over and over for the last 7-10 years. So the options:
NOTE: He brought up changing careers.....doing something that is not so stressful on my finger/hand....but I told him that was really not an option unless it was the difference between keeping the finger, and cutting it off.
1. drugs. The first thing they are having me do is take a drug that is supposed to relax the arteries, and get them to open up and allow flow.
2. If that does not work in the next week or so, then surgery to remove the nerves and tissue around the arteries in question....hopefully allowing them to open up and flow (works 50% of the time)
3. Remove a portion of the finger......we did not really discuss this much. He expects the drugs to probably work.....and if not, the sugery will most likely help enough to prevent amputation.....but it might be an option at the end.
Take a look at the photo. This is what the angiogram showed of my arteries. As you can see in the pic.....blood just is not getting to the finger.
So....in a nut shell, I have a VASOSPASM.
Thanks for listening.
Dave
Oh, and I am suposed to use a protective glove on my yo hand from now on. (Maybe I will design something special to protect....and look cool too!)