Wrist surgery

[autowrench]

As a result of a couple of ..uhh..incidents from last years riding, I went down to Denver for ligament surgery yesterday on my left wrist. To all of our surprise, they found more damage than expected and a total loss of cartilage in one area. The surgeon is recommending fusion of the bones in my wrist. Instead of a partial loss of flex in the wrist, this will be nearly total. I WILL NOT give up snowmobiling! I just wanted to get some feedback from the forum to see if any one on here knows somebody who has gone through the surgery or has had it themselves and could give me insight to make this decision. Evidently to wrist joint replacement is not considered strong enough for active people or those who need strength in their hands(me). Thanks for any help, and I apologize if this should have gone to the fouled plug forum.
Tom

 

[Rixster]

I have the EXACT same thing except mine is my right wrist. This is the injury that ended my motocross career. I have been living with it since 1999. All 3 surgerns I have seen say the same thing. "I cant fix it but I can fuse it". I did have one say he could fix it. Went in for the surgery, when i woke up he was there saying that when he got inside it was worse then they thought. What I have found that works really good, I go into the surgeon every 18 months to 2 years and get a steriod shot in my wrist. This gets rid of almost all the pain. Yeah every once in a while it will bug me for 3-4 days at a time, I just wear a brace during that time abnd try not to use it. I know that I can live with quite a bit of discomfort or pain before I go get my wrist fused and lose ALL mobility.
Go get an injection and see what you get out of it. At this point you have nothing to lose!

 

[Skogen]

I have been through this. To the point where they tried to graft a piece of living bone cut from the bone in my forearm to the bone in my hand. Now they tell me they would fuse the bones together or cut it out completely. I know the graft attempt was a complete waste of time, as it did not work at all.

I have not had either surgery done, and at this point in time I do not plan to. My brother in law did the surgery where they removed the broken bone. As a result he does have wrist mobility but he lost all the strength in his hand. He said his wrist hurts more then it ever did also.

Hope that helps.

 

[autowrench]

I talked to my wife at lunch. Turns out the surgeon told her more than me. He only wants to fuse the 5 small bones in my wrist and still plans to reattach the ligament. I can't help but think that putting it off all summer thinking it would heal was a mistake. As a mechanic I can't avoid putting a lot of stress on it. I'm left handed,too. I found that a brace is not too handy at work for me. I know it's a crap shoot either way. I'm definitely asking about all the options before I do anything. Thanks for the input, guys!
Tom

 

[John]

Man, if you can avoid fusing do it. I had a bone graft three years ago (got a chunk from my hip in there) and am real happy with the results. I'm 100% with it, took two years to get there but it was worth it when the alternative was fusing it. Good luck!

Dr. Kloss in Boise did mine. Goofy old man but he knows his stuff. Had two other docs say fusing was the only option.