Following on from my visit to A&E, I was asked to go to the Orthopaedic Outpatients Dept on Monday 4 Feb. I was assessed by the consultant and surgeon and asked to return the very next day for a minor operation on the hand. I had every confidence in their professionalism and judgement based on what was already known. At this stage it was thought most likely to be an abscess on the bone, which they planned to drain.

The operation took place in the Day Surgery Unit. I was last on the list at approx 16.00, though I had been asked to arrive by 13.00. After preparation, including the gown and an arrow drawn on my hand in felt tip pointing at my index finger, I walked down to the anaesthesia area for what is known as a REGIONAL BLOCK.

I should mention at this point that I am LEFT HANDED – so the thought of my entire left arm being put to sleep made feel rather apprehensive – I’d been using it almost normally up till this moment.

Using ultrasound, the two anaethetists proceeded to locate each nerve starting at my left shoulder, top of arm, elbow, wrist and hand – approx 8 injections. During one of the first few jabs, my hand shot out involuntarily as the nerve reacted to stimulation. I was also plugged in to a heart monitor and all the usual monitoring devices, as well as a cannula in my right arm (which took 3 goes to get in and was by far the most painful part of the procedure).

Very shortly, my left arm became limp – a strange sensation when you realise you can’t move it yourself, and I was wheeled into the operating theatre. A tourniquet was placed at the top of my arm and a screen was erected so I couldn’t see what was happening, but I was able to hear and talk to the surgeon and consultant. A young nurse was at my right hand side for the sole purpose of distracting me and through whom I should convey any concerns during the procedure.

To check my left arm and hand were numb, the surgeon asked me to make a fist which, of course, I couldn’t do, and so the first incision was made – I didn’t feel a thing – phew!

After a few minutes the consultant said it wasn’t and abscess as no fluid had run out. Rather, it was a solid material wrapped tightly around the tendons of my index finger and reaching down to the base of my palm. She removed what she could without damaging the tendons but could not remove it all by any means. Biopsies were taken and sent to the lab for analysis. During the procedure the consultant asked me, among other things, if:

1. I had damaged my hand at any point in the last year – which I hadn’t

2. I had been abroad – which I had, notably to India in January 2012

3. I had come into contact with fish – to which i replied I had a fish pond but only threw food in (at this point totally forgetting about the cleaning and maintenance of the pump and filters!).

After being stitched up and dressings applied, I was wheeled to the recovery ward and given a welcome cup of tea and sandwich, which I had to drink and feed myself with my right hand for the first time – a strange feeling which i was going to have to get used to. My wife returned to collect me at approx 19.00 and drive me home – between us we got me dressed and my left arm was placed in a sling,

otherwise it would have just hung down uselessly and I wouldn’t be aware if I hit it or not. The anaesthetic, I was told, would last for up to 16 hours but in reality it wore off in the middle of the night and I did’t have strong enough pain killers in the house. During the waking hours, I became aware I could move my fingers again, then the wrist and eventually the arm – what a relief! Getting dressed was fun and I had to have the arm of an old sweatshirt cut along the seam to fit my hand through.

I was booked to go back to Outpatients in 10 days to have the stitched removed and also to collect the results of the biopsy. This was just the start …