Congenital Hand Defect - Yep, hand

I took Anna Grace (and Zachary) to the orthopedic hand doctor today for Anna Grace's scheduled appointment. Her right thumb has been getting "stuck" (for lack of a better word) in a 90 degree angle and when it does she is unable to move it until I "pop" it back into place. I mentioned it several weeks ago to her pediatrician at her 2 year well baby visit and after a hand x-ray her pediatrician referred us to a hand specialist. So, today was that appointment.

As far as doctor appointments go, this was the easiest one we've ever had. The kids didn't even get out of the stroller and we were only there for about a total of 20 minutes. The doctor was very quiet and kind. He walked in and I told him what had been going on. He examined her hand (while she was sitting in the stroller) and diagnosed her right there. He dodn't even need an x-ray!

He diagnosed her with "congenital trigger thumnb" which is a congenital defect. Of course the only fix for this is surgery. After discussing Anna Grace and the upcoming year with him, it was determined the best thing to do right now is to wait and watch. He showed me how to "pop" it back into place the RIGHT way (which was not the way I had been doing it, oops)! He also said that if her thumb gets stuck and I'm unable to manipulate it back into place to just call him and bring her in and he would do his best to manipulate it back into place. There is a possibility that it could get "stuck" and that we wouldn't be able to fix it without surgery, but he said that was unlikely. Hopefully that will not be the case.

It is the thumb on her right hand and she is right handed. She doesn't have full use of motion with that thumb so it is likely that we will have to do something about it before she begins writing at about the age of 4 or 5. Not sure how I feel about any type of surgery which requires general anesthesia (which this does) outside of MUSC so when the time comes I might be finding a hand doctor in Charleston, but for the time being we're just going to wait.

So, all in all it was a pretty good appointment although as a Mom my heart just sunk when I found out that she needed yet ANOTHER surgery and that she has ANOTHER congenital defect. I'm just sad for my daughter. I'm sure the stress of the upcoming cath is probably factoring into my emotions of this diagnosis right now because truly it is not life threatening or urgent in any way. Just sad. Sigh....

As any Mom can attest, there is very little time to be sad and I am now switching gears and trying to come up with a logistical plan to get to Charleston... like making a hotel room reservation and getting the mountain of laundry done so my family has clean clothes to pack, getting the oil in my car changed and the tires rotated - oh and I am squeezing in a hair appointment tomorrow to get my roots colored so I don't go to Charleston looking like a skunk. Yep, there is still much to be done before Friday! I think I will be ordering take out for dinner tonight because I am simply not in the mood to cook! This is a rarity for me, but I think the occassion calls for it!