Returning to Normal Life After Orthopedic Surgery [Christine Wojciehoski]

My name is Christine Wojciehoski, and I am from Brookings. I've lived here about a year and a half, and I love the town. I came from Colorado. I'm a retired kindergarten teacher.

How long did you have hand pain?

I was waking up in the morning with my finger's stuck like this, and I already had an appointment with my doctor in primary care. So I came in, and I told her, I said, "When I wake up in the morning, my finger's stuck like this," and I said it got to the point where at first I could move it out myself, but then I had to actually take my other finger and do that. So she told me that it was a trigger finger, and then over the next couple of months, it did start getting really painful. I couldn't use scissors, I couldn't cut with a knife, lifting up heavy things, just general in the finger itself and then even in the whole hand when I did certain things and stuff. So that was at the point there where I was like, "I need to talk to my doctor about this and kind of get the ball rolling." Went in, had the surgery done, and two weeks later, they took the stitches out, and we're good to go.

Why did you choose orthopedic hand surgery in Brookings?

Well, one, for transportation and closeness. I'm not a person...I don't like going down to Sioux Falls, or I've never been up to Watertown, but the drive both ways, I'm not a person that likes to drive and do that. The main reason is because I had two previous visits here at the hospital and was just really impressed with the staff and how things were run, and for me, the personal care and concern from people in a big hospital, that doesn't happen. I mean, they're professional and the job gets done, but, and it's not their fault, they don't have time to spend with the patient and go through things and to do all that kind of stuff. And here, because it's small and because of, obviously, the choice of hiring, the people here are amazing, and I always feel great when I come to get anything done. Even if it's a big deal thing or a scary thing, it's like I feel very relaxed the minute I walk into the building here.

Why did you choose local anesthesia?

I was worried about anesthesia because I've had surgery before, and I don't do anesthesia very well at all. I have a very difficult time coming out of it and to the point to where they kind of worry when I'm coming out of it and stuff, but when I heard that I could do just the local, I was like, "I'm ready right now. Let's go." For me, it was great to have that option, plus I didn't have to have somebody drive me home and stay with me and all that kind of stuff. With just doing the local, it made it really simple and easy.

How was your recovery?

Not so bad. The stitches felt really tight, so most of the pain was, like, if I accidentally touch something or hit it, every so often my hand would ache for just a little bit and stuff, but it moved pretty quickly, and, like I said, within two weeks, my appointment was exactly two weeks later, they took the stitches out, and that was a huge relief, and I actually can do everything normal. The only thing I can't quite do yet is I'm supposed to be able to get my finger to touch my pad of my hand here, and I can't do that by itself quite yet, but it functions. I've been...scissors, knives, starting the car, little things that you would never think of, that's what that finger affected.

How has surgery impacted your life?

It's brought it back to normal. You don't realize till after the fact of the changes that you make because of your injury or your pain or whatever. So if I had really kind of looked back on it, I probably would have kind of hopped on it a little bit earlier, but I really wanted to make sure that this is what the problem was and it wasn't gonna get better by itself kind of thing. So everything is back to normal. I can do all the things before that were painful for me and that were difficult and got in my way and it was like, "Oh, I can't really do that right now." Like, cooking a meal, it was like you gotta...I had to think about what kind of stuff I could eat because I couldn't cut with a knife.

How were you treated by the staff?

They're very laid-back. They're very open. They wanna make sure that you understand everything. They're very professional, but they're always smiling, and they're always, "What can I get you? Do you understand this? Do you have any questions?" And they're there for you, versus a big hospital that's kind of like in and out, and I get it. They're busy there. They are probably seeing 20, 30 patients in one day, and it's just impossible. But the lifestyle here flows into the professional job here, and it is like, "Oh, this is my neighbor," kind of thing, "And here's what we're gonna do to make things better for you," kind of stuff, so it was wonderful. And that's exactly why I had no qualms about doing the finger surgery here, because I knew from the last two times I was here how you're treated at this hospital.

What would you say to someone that is hesitant about trigger finger surgery?

How do you want your quality of life to be? Do you want to be suffering and getting worse through time? And the longer you put it off, the more your surgery most likely is going to be. It's just really shocking to realize how much you changed your lifestyle because of whatever, an arm issue, a leg issue, a joint issue, whatever, because you gradually with the pain start changing it little by little, so you don't realize till after it's fixed, "Oh, I can do the things that I used to do before all of that and without pain." So, yeah, do it, don't wait. It's so miraculous, how your life changes.

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