2 hands post-op advice, am 7 months pregnant
Hi all,
Hoping someone can help me.
I had surgery on both hands 4 days ago and I am 7 months pregnant with my first child. I know I am probably being impatient as it is only 4 days post-op but want to check that my symptoms post-op are normal and confirm what to expect. No one has spoken to me about this and I am a bit worried about my ability to hold and look after my baby. I am 39 years old and have been trying for some time so am admittedly anxious.
Basically my numbness and tingling remain though are slightly better, the pain at night has disappeared. I can't use my hands to pick up more than a spoon of food and I still can't go to the loo on my own as cannot grip my clothes.
Is this normal? Any indication of when I can do more and when/if the tingling/numbness will go away)?
I thought it might be useful to include my test results as I imagine my recovery will be based on the severity of my symptoms pre-op. No one told me what the below meant other than on a scale of 1-10, 10 being permanent damage, I was 8:
SAP
Right meridian (F2 wrist), amp - 2.8, conduction velocity (cv) - 29
Right meridian (F3 wrist), amp - absent, cv - blank
Right ulnar (F5 wrist), amp - 8.3, cv - 60
Left meridian (F2 wrist), amp - 3.2, cv - 26
Left meridian (F3 wrist), amp - absent, cv - blank
Left ulnar (F5 wrist) amp - 8, cv - 60
Left Ulnar (F5 elbow) amp - 5.3, cv- blank
MCV
Median (SE on APB)
DML, right 5.0ms, left 6.2ms
MAP (wrist) right 4.2mV, left 2.7mV
Ulnar (SE on ADM)
DML right, 2.0ms
MAP (wrist) 7.7 mV
Any help, greatly appreciated.
Thankyou for the nerve conduction results. On the Canterbury scale that looks like grade 3 (out of 6) CTS bilaterally, marginally worse in the left hand but still both grade 3. It would be unusual for us to operate on a grade 3 CTS during pregnancy without trying something less aggressive first but generally when we carry out surgery on CTS of this grade the relief of symptoms of tingling and pain is almost immediate - ie the night after surgery. 4 days however is quite early and I would not get too worried until 2 weeks post-op unless symptoms were obviously much worse immediately after surgery, in which case one has to consider the possibility that something catastrophic like a median nerve injury has occurred. it sounds as though your symptoms have improved somewhat though so that is probably not the case here. JB