Today, I went over to the Upper East Side for a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic doctor. Honestly, I was hoping to never, ever see him again after my last two visits in October, when I had a cortisone shot on my left wrist and my right wrist, because seeing him again would mean that the pain and inflammation in my mommy thumb/wrist returned. Early last month, I realized that the pain had returned in my left wrist. It would come back quite suddenly and painfully after the most random movements, whether that was slipping my hand through a sleeve or just holding something in a certain angle. That horrible, sharp “snapping” pain would re-emerge, and I’d just think, really? AGAIN? I figured that this time around, I probably shouldn’t wait five months before just sucking it up and getting the shot.

So after a quick chat and examination, the doctor gave me my second steroid shot in my left wrist. He told me that in 80 percent of cases where someone comes in for a steroid shot for mommy thumb/de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, they are cured fully and never have to come back again. I suppose that means I’m in the unlucky 20 percent that had the pain return… at least for now, it’s just in my left side. The shot helped for the last 4+ months, so a decent amount of time. Now, for those who come in for a second shot, it’s really 50/50 whether the pain will fully go away (please…), or return. He said if the pain does return, while a third cortisone shot would always be an option, surgery to release the tendon would be the more permanent option. A third cortisone shot would usually not be a permanent fix.

I do not want surgery under any circumstances. Please, inflammation, do not ever return. Please…..