20. Now It's My Left Hand

During the summer of 2021 I noticed that my little finger and half of my ring finger on my left hand were partially numb and tingling. It felt like I had been sleeping on my hand and had cut off the circulation and it had started to come back. It felt a lot like my thumb which I had grown so used to I had forgotten about.

Off to my GP to get on the NHS Orthopaedic Snakes & Ladders board, again. This time they didn’t refer me straight to the Conquest, in November they send me to Mr. K the Upper Limb (why can’t they say ARM) / Spine Advanced Practitioner at the special Muskeloskeletal (MSK) clinic in Hastings. He listened to my symptoms and immediately diagnosed what I had, Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. This is like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome but the nerve is compressed at the elbow instead of at the wrist.

He did mention that this condition is common in people who keep their arm bent for long periods of time to which I replied that I haven’t been able to straighten that arm for over 30 years.

He decided to send me off for some x-rays to see if there was any problem with my prosthetic elbow and also to have some nerve conductivity tests in that arm to see how severely I’m affected.

I had the x-rays in December and they showed that some bony deposits had been laid down around my prosthetic joint which Mr. K thought may be significant so he was going to refer me to the Conquest and hope that the nerve tests came through in time for them to see the results of them as well.

After several phone calls I finally had the nerve tests on the 3rd February and as my appointment for the orthopaedics came through for the 3rd March, I did everything I could to make sure the results got to the hospital in time for my appointment.