The hand specialist I went to (Dr. Masem in Oakland, if you’re looking for a hand specialist in the East Bay) was amazing. His office was very very busy, and there was a fairly long wait for my first appointment, but those who were getting follow-ups seemed to move through more quickly. Maybe there was some sort of emergency back there or something. At any rate, the good news is that I definitely don’t have arthritis, or it would have shown on the x-rays. Further good news is that a cortisone shot will probably take the pain away, even though the cyst is still there. OUCH! I’ve had cramps that were almost as bad as that shot, but it was nowhere near as bad as getting that ankle tattoo. It evens out. I have to wear a brace for three weeks, then go back for a checkup in six weeks. If the cyst is still acting up, then comes the mixed news — surgery. Yuck! I’ve already had surgery on my hand in 1996! The good side of that is that “they’ve come a long way, baby” in ganglion cyst surgeries in that time. Instead of a new, fabulous, honking-big scar to go with my current one, they go in from UNDER the wrist using small, ~1cm, incisions. Then, they arthroscopically clean up both the cyst and the weakened ligament coating that causes the cysts in the first place. THEN, they also clean up the scar tissue from my last surgery. There will be physical therapy after that if I need to go the surgical route, which I hopefully will be able to avoid.
And that’s the update. For now.