Living with MCL

It must be. Why else would the hand specialist be so ready to operate on my hand to correct my Dupuytren’s Contraction?

That sure wasn’t the response I was expecting when I went for my appointment with the hand specialist yesterday. I thought I would go in, and the doctor would look at my hand, and say it wasn’t that bad, and I should just keep an eye on it making sure it doesn’t get any worse, and then come back in a couple of months for a follow up.

Needless to say, I was caught completely off guard. I really wasn’t ready for this. I had heard horror stories about the pain associated with the operation, and proceeding would obviously put a crimp in my cycling. I was hoping he would propose the use of injectable collagenese. That I would have gone for.

But no, the doctor indicated injectable collagenese hasn’t been approved for use just yet. BUMMER!

So now I have to make a decision. Do I or don’t I want to risk the operation?

The doctor was very reassuring, trying to allay my concerns, stating that since my contraction had not progessed that far (30°), it wouldn’t be a difficult operation, and he thought I could be back on the bike in about 3 weeks. He did indicate I could watch and wait (something most lymphoma patients are very familiar with), if I wasn’t quite ready, but to keep a close eye on it, and make sure it doesn’t progress too far. Then it could become a problem

I just don’t know. The horror stories I’ve heard, still linger in the back of my mind, but I did put my name on the list to be called, to set up a time for the operation anywaze. I don’t have to have the operation right away, and could schedule it for a few months from now when the weather is not very conducive for riding.

Oh well, such is life

As if having mantle cell lymphoma, and everything that goes along with it, wasn’t bad enough, and as if coming to the realization the body doesn’t always respond the way the mind expects, still isn’t enough, what you soon discover as you age, is the body has a seemingly endless array of ailments it’s waiting to inflict upon you.

About a year ago, I noticed some strange lumps in the palm of my hand. Since I do a lot of bike riding, and they weren’t at all painful or bothersome, I assumed they were just callouses as a result of the pressure I exert on the handlebars when I ride.

But then about 6 months ago I realized I couldn’t extend the pinky finger on my left hand completely, I had a small lump (like an enlarged lymphnode) on the side of the finger, and the finger was looking slightly distorted and swollen.

Then about two weeks ago, I realized I couldn’t fully extend the ring finger on my left hand as well.

At this point, I was getting a little concerned, so I went to the world wide web for answers, but couldn’t find anything related to my condition. Then on last Friday’s bike ride, I noticed a cycling buddy’s pinky finger, coincidentally also on his left hand, was bent 90°, and he was unable to straighten it out.

So I asked him about it, and that led me to Dupuytren’s Contraction.

Great! Just what I need, another basically incurable disease.

There is treatment, but the current prescribed treatment involves cutting open the hand and doing something to relieve the contraction. But guess what? That surgery is very painful, and there is no guarantee the Dupuytren’s Contraction won’t return, even if the surgery is successful. [Sure sounds a lot like non hodgkins lymphoma.]

But alas, there is hope! A new procedure, consisting of a local injection of injectable collogenase into the hand, has proven to be very effective, and is much less debilitating, so even if the Dupuytren’s contraction returns you can receive another treatment.

So next Wednesday, I have an appointment with my oncologist, and hopefully I can get her to give me a referral to a hand specialist.

Fortunately this condition is not painful in the least, and it hasn’t effected my ability to ride my bike, so it’s unlikely I will seek treatment just yet, but I do want to leave all my options open.