This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

The loss of use to my right hand

Posted By suzuki1122

"The loss of use to my right hand"

About: King George Hospital / Trauma and orthopaedics Lister Hospital / Trauma and orthopaedics Princess Alexandra Hospital / Trauma and orthopaedics Queen's Hospital (Romford)

(as the patient),

I had a prolapsed disc in my back.

It trapped the nerve to my right arm and was trapped for 2 months.
An operation stopped the pain but left me with nerve damage resulting in my right hand curling up and loosing its strength.

I feel that had the operation been done when I was first booked in (2 weeks after the injury, which was cancelled) and the nerve was not trapped for 2 months, there would have been less damage to the nerve and I may have been able to return to my job as a self employed carpenter.

I can't get a straight answer about this from my surgeon. I have had further surgery on my right elbow due to possible nerve entrapment but this seems only to have made my condition worse leaving me with even worse pins and needles in my hand and sensitivity in my elbow, I am rapidly loosing faith in the surgeons. I re-start my hand therapy soon after many phone calls to get the surgeon to send the relevant information to the therapist so treatment could continue. I feel I have been forgotten and left to deal with this disability on my own by the surgeons, constant phone calls by my self, and my wife has got me to the stage I am at now.

This has been going on since the start of 2017 and has had a significant affect on my mental health. I am unable to do the things I have done all my life and I have lost my confidence, I am struggling to find a job I could do or want to do.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Peter Gibson, Associate director of communications, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 5 years ago
Peter Gibson
Associate director of communications,
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Submitted on 13/08/2018 at 10:29
Published on Care Opinion at 12:42

Thank you for your comments, although it is not clear to which hospital you are referring as I can several hospitals listed, only one of which - the Lister in Stevenage - is ours. If your experience relates to the Lister, then please contact us with all the details at generalenquiries.enh-tr@nhs.net so we can do our best to help you. If your concerns relate to any of the other three hospitals listed, then you will need to contact them directly.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Peter Gibson, Associate director of communications, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 5 years ago
Peter Gibson
Associate director of communications,
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Submitted on 13/08/2018 at 18:45
Published on Care Opinion on 14/08/2018 at 09:43

We understand that you have found our response unhelpful, which is a shame as our intention was the exact opposite - and we’re sorry about that. Once again, if your care involved one of our surgeons at the Lister hospital then please feel free to make contact via our generalenquiries email service. If it relates to a different hospital, then still get in touch and we will see if we can put you in touch with the right people who can help you.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by suzuki1122 (the patient)

Thank you for your response

It was a case of miss reading on my part

I would appreciate an arnswer to a question which is hard to get an arnswer to, which is

Would a nerve entrapment be less damaged if it was trapped for two weeks, than a nerve trapped for two months. I was unable to lay flat and slept in a reclining chair for the 8 weeks. I remember very little about that time as I was on 8 diazepam 5mg per day and 2 amitriptyline per day during this period. Only getting up to go to the toilet and for my wife to shower me

I feel, as I have said in my previous story, that the damage would of been less severe had the operation been done sooner

The operation was cancelled twice to which I have not really had an explanation for, having been told I was an emergency.

I would really appreciate any comments or information

Many thanks

Response from Peter Gibson, Associate director of communications, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 5 years ago
Peter Gibson
Associate director of communications,
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Submitted on 15/08/2018 at 16:54
Published on Care Opinion on 16/08/2018 at 10:40

I am not qualified clinically to answer that question, and a consultant would only answer that question if they have access to a full set of a patient's notes as rarely are such questions as simple as they may appear to be at first glance. Perhaps if you took up our offer to email us with these details (we need information that it would not be appropriate to ask you to place in the public domain), then we can get this investigated for you. It would also be helpful if you could confirm whether or not your care was at one of our hospitals, as that too will help us direct you to the right form of help.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by suzuki1122 (the patient)

Many thanks I will contact you through your email address shortly

I do appreciate that my medical records will need to be available to you to assist you in investigations, however is it fair to say that the surgeon who carried out my operation had all my details yet when asked this question by my wife his response was to shrug his shoulders, say” who knows “ and turn away from us. The lack of eye contact and this attitude has fuelled my desire for an arnswer

Many thanks for listening

Response from East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 5 years ago
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Submitted on 16/08/2018 at 13:54
Published on Care Opinion at 13:58

Many thanks - we'll keep an eye out for your email.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k