here we go...
It was time. There was no turning back, surgery number 2 had to be done. The pesky nerve that liked to snap over my elbow needed to be tamed, and the only way that was going to happen? Shaving down the elbow bone. That doesn't sound too bad, right?
Thursday, October 3. Just a mere two days after my first anniversary with my boyfriend. Instead of staying up late planning for a fun weekend away, we were running around Target gathering supplies with my mom and prepping for the hospital. But, in an odd way, it was nice. It was something to look forward to, rather than feel impending doom. I wanted to think of this surgery as the saving grace, not an elbow surgery with an 80% success rate and 56% return to play success rate. Positivity was the motto. And the positivity I got from my surgeon, Dr. Riedel kept me going. He walked into the prep room filled with confidence in his surgery plan: 1. clean up scar tissue around UCL in elbow 2. shave down the elbow bone 3. clean up scar tissue and gunk around ulnar nerve 4. stitch-up. His main goals? Stop the nerve from moving and reduce tingles ( numbing of the last three fingers/ loss of sensation). Bonus for him? Get me back on the field. But, this became a necessity for me, getting back to the gym, back to me, was my main goal.
But alas, we can't decide our own fate. There was an unexpected twist. Unlike my other surgery, it was very important I kept my arm mobile during the recovery process. After surgery, they wrapped it up in a white bandage with butterfly sutures along my scar. Despite the lidocaine they had applied, I could feel the scrape of the bandage outlining my newest beauty mark. Pain, discomfort, "nerve burns", and now a constant topical burn. It became a new sensation I had no control over, at least until I could change my bandages one week later. And boy, was I surprised. The constant burn that I was silently suffering about was a horrid rash.
A quick picture to the parentals and a few phone calls later, I was off to urgent care! Now, I must admit, I am allergic to cats... however, my overall love of animals wins over better judgment. My mom's main concern was that my surgery site had become infected due to prolonged exposure to cat hair around my dorm :) ( I used to get terrible rashes and hives on my throat giving kisses and hugs to kittens as a kid) Once I got through registration and finally showed the rash to the dr, it was time to take the happy pills and let them clean the area. And....
Turned out that it wasn't because of Iris! After many tests, they found out it was an allergic reaction to the surgical glue dermabond. Just my luck. I was on my home shortly after ( 5 hours later) with a few medications to fight off any infection and discomfort. As for my actual elbow healing from surgery, it was going as expected. Slow and steady. After an ulnar release surgery, patients can expect two things, nerve slowly waking up (super painful process, spikes in nerve threshold) and being incapable of straightening their elbow for at least a week. So, right away I was in occupational therapy doing stretches, resistance work, and well-earned massages on my arm. The one concern my doctors had after this surgery was me sleeping on my arm in a twisted and dangerous (for my nerve & stitches) position. They were also worried that I would fall off my super tall dorm bed (yes, I fell out of my dorm bed a lot.. actually off beds in general since I was a kid... I'm a weirdo) . The only way to prevent both of those things? Sleepovers! My mom entrusted me with my boyfriend to keep me safe at night while I was on my medication when she had to return to the bay for work. And thank god she did. Sleep after this surgery became non-existent. Trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in with an arm that couldn't quite bend or straighten was my nightly struggle. Not to mention the spikes and twitches from my nerve also trying to settle in a new home. Oddly, the only position that worked was me against the wall with 2 pillows to keep my right arm parallel to the wall and Cal on the other side keeping me from turning on my sides. It was an ordeal, but it was necessary. Finally, after many hours stretching my nerve back out and everything in between my elbow and wrist, I could move my arm gracefully. As for my scar? I was falling in love!
As a treat for recovering from the chaos Cal and I went on a little trip.... a delayed anniversary trip! Thanks to my high school alma mater for the free tickets from Fashion Show... DisneyBOUND!
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