More than Thumbs

We met with the hand specialist today, and I learned a few things. And not all of them had to do with tendons and pulleys.

First, I realized that I have an awesome husband, and more importantly, my boys have an awesome father. I mean, I knew I had an awesome husband, but I've been so impressed with him the last couple of weeks. He really is wonderful, but generally, he is a man. I have to schedule appointments, and fill out forms, and pay bills, and pay attention to details. But with Monkey's hand, he as taken the lead. We hadn't been in the door for two seconds last week, after our trip to the pediatrician, and he was calling the hand specialist and setting up Monkey's appointment. When we arrived at the hospital, I took Monkey to the drinking fountain, and expected to find B sitting in the reception area. Instead, I found him checking us in -- he had handed over his ID and insurance cards, and was about to fill out paperwork. When it came time to take Monkey to get X-Rays, B volunteered to assist, even before the nurse said that I couldn't help because I was pregnant. He even paid the co-pay before we left. He really made me smile today. It was a little hard for me, because I am a bit of a control freak, but I know that I can count on him.

Second, I learned that being a little neurotic can pay off. The doctor asked if Monkey hurt his thumb or if we just noticed it. "We just noticed it last week," I told him. And the doctor kinda nodded. "Do you have any idea how long it's been that way?" He asked. I told him, "I can't be sure, but I think it's been that way since at least November." He looked at me a little quizzically -- probably because I had just gotten done telling him that I had only noticed it last week. "Well, I have this picture..." I told him. He said that was unusual evidence, but actually very helpful in discussing treatment options. He said that sometimes trigger thumb can resolve itself, given a couple of months, but if it had been that way for several months, it wouldn't resolve on its own. Surgery really was the best option, and it's not necessary to "wait and see."

Since we are fairly confident of my photographic evidence, and now that Monkey notices that there is something wrong with his thumb, we're going with the surgery. It's scheduled for two weeks from now.

Thumbs Up!

Do you ever have those moments when you feel you are the worst mother in the world? You know, like when you are trying to help your three year old squish the play-doh out of the play-doh extractor thinging. As you are using all your strength to push on the lever, you are thinking, "How do they expect kids to use this stupid toy?" Then your son screams and you realize that you've been using all your strength to squish his finger? Yeah, that's the kind of mom I am.

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Monday morning I was sitting in my easy chair, with both my boys on my lap. We were watching "Super Why", and Alpha Pig was giving a "Big Thumbs Up". I asked my boys if they could give a big thumbs up, and Moose immediately gave me two big thumbs up.

I asked Monkey if he could give me a thumbs up, and he excitedly pointed his index finger. I helped him form his right hand into a thumbs up, and then he tried his left hand. We formed a thumbs up with his left hand, and I noticed that his thumb was bent, not straight and extended. Then I noticed that he couldn't straighten it. I couldn't straighten it, it was locked into posistion.

"There is something wrong with Monkey's thumb." I say to my husband. "It won't straighten. Did he hurt it?" I asked, as my mind raced through all the bumps and bruises and falls and scrapes and squashing. I couldn't think of anything!

"How long has it been this way?" I wonder out loud.

"How could I not notice that his thumb won't straighten?" I say to myself, accusingly.

A quick Google search, and I had diagnosed my son with Pediatric Trigger Thumb.

I began to feel more guilty as I read more webpages. "Mean onset is 24 months." I read. "Two years old?" I thought, "Has it been this way for a YEAR?"

My husband tried to reassure me, but my mom guilt just continued to grow. "It has four stages!" I told him. "When it progress to the "locked" or final stage, it requires SURGERY!" I told him.

And he tried to reassure me, "It doesn't seem to bother him -- why would you notice it?"

We made an appointment with the pediatrician for later that afternoon. Knowing that the first thing she would ask was, "How long has it been this way?" (and trying to ease my guilt) I set out to search through 50 gigabytes of pictures, looking for evidence of a straight thumb. I started to regret all those times I said, "Put your hands down, I can't see your face!"

Unfortunately, I never found solid photographic evidence of a straight thumb, but I did find this picture from Easter 2010 (a YEAR ago!). Notice his left thumb, how it's bent? And how his right thumb is all extended?

And this one, from November -- see how he is holding the cup with the tip of his left thumb? Pretty sure I won't be winning the mother of the year award any time soon.

We visited with the pediatrician about Monkey's thumb. (Moose was sure we were there because he had a scratch on his elbow -- "This is my elbow, NOT my thumb!" he told the doctor.) Right away she confirmed my suspicions, she said, "I think this is trigger thumb, I'm going to refer you to a hand specialist -- while he could live his whole life with a bent thumb, it will probably need surgery to correct it." We talked about different specialists, and she referred us to one that she had worked with before.

"I see about one of these a year," she said. "and the parents always say, 'I have no idea how long it's been this way.'" At least she eased some of my mom guilt.

Since then, I'm paying more attention to Monkey's little hands. He still uses his left hand, but he often keeps his thumb tucked, protected in a closed fist. Last night, for the first time ever, he told me that it hurt.

While I don't feel guilty anymore that I hadn't noticed it before, my heart is still breaking at the thought that he has been in pain all this time. And that he is in pain now, and that he probably has to go through surgery.

We have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Monday, and I'm anxious to see what he says.