Ganglion cyst.

[angledge]

About three weeks ago, I was walking Shadeaux on her retractable leash. I usually hold the leash in my left hand, because I am left-handed. Shadeaux saw a squirrel or another dog or a shady-looking plastic bag or some other deadly threat & charged, pulling hard against the leash.

And a little knot at the base of my index finger said, Ouch.

When I got home, I dug around in the flesh of my hand and found a pea-sized, hard lump that felt like bone, right at the bottom of my index finger, on the side near the middle finger:



It didn't hurt to poke & prod at it, but it did hurt when I held things that pressed against it, like the dog leash. Or a knife while cutting up food for dinner. Or a steering wheel. Or a ski pole. Or the xBox controller. So, you know, it was definitely annoying.

Also, it's a freakin' lump of bone that mysteriously appeared in my finger. Not. Cool.

So I went to my primary care physician, who sent me for an X-ray. The X-ray came back with no anomalies, so my PCP referred me to a hand specialist, who I saw today. He took about 3.4 seconds to diagnose a ganglion cyst on the tendon sheath. To me, these cysts sound kind of like a hernia - a small lesion forms on the sheath that surrounds the tendon, and the tendon-lubricating fluid (synovial fluid for the terminology-minded) bulges outward at the lesion, creating the cyst. There are two treatments - 1) surgery to repair the damage to the tendon sheath, & 2) a cortisone injection reduce the inflammation of the sheath so it can have a chance to heal itself.

Sign me up for Option Two, please! Pretty soon I was laying down on a table with my hand laying flat, knuckles down. The doctor tells me to hold still then STICKS THE NEEDLE STRAIGHT THROUGH THE CYST. I have not the words. Thank God it was over quickly & the cortisone was followed up with a local anesthetic that numbed the whole finger. The doctor said this treatment is 50-70% effective, & I could feel the cyst decreasing in size before I even left his office. However, if it re-forms, I will have to go back & at that point, we will be looking at surgery to repair the sheath.

Comments

[etcet.livejournal.com]

that.... sounds like it would have resulted in some top-shelf profanity.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

And they don't local the finger first, why?

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

My prediction for this procedure? PAIN!

That sounds weird and a bit uncomfortable, but hopefully it's all fixed and it gets back to normal again. Also, you have the weirdest biological issues sometimes. ;-)

[etcet.livejournal.com]

She gets them from hanging out with those jerks in Pod Six.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

I think I managed to only say, "I DON'T LIKE THIS VERY MUCH!" in a very strained tone of voice. Master of self-control, that's me.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Dunno!

PS: the hand specialist doctor was a Cornellian.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Ganglion cysts are apparently quite common, but they usually go away on their own. Sometimes they form on the top of the wrist, & those used to be called "Bible cysts" - because people would get rid of them by smashing them with a big heavy book (often a Bible). This is not an approved treatment, but it would sometimes cause the cyst to rupture.

True!

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Alma.... did you get the email yet?

They're killing off the Hotel School!

Merging it into a new College of Business along with the MBA program and Dyson (which I thought was a cute vacuum cleaner).

What next- classes in Motel 6 Hall?

[angledge.livejournal.com]

I did see that! I guess I'm not terribly surprised? Having an entire school of Hotel Management seems really specialized. The email made it sound like "hospitality" would still be a focus of the new College of Business.