I’m now in the home stretch of my 5th surgery on my partial hand. The injury 7 months ago either led to or exacerbated a neuroma in my palm that my surgeon described as “ginormous.” I described it as Elton John, because that’s what it looked like in the MRI. Besides pain, the neuroma in the middle of my palm was causing muscle spasms, some so severe that my hand felt like our was going to tear itself apart and if I was holding something, I couldn’t let go.

After much research and discussion with my surgeon, we decided to try the “road to nowhere” surgery that involved installing a long nerve graft onto the affected nerve to prevent future neuroma formation. My surgeon pointed out that many patients they see with neuromas return every few years to have them removed again. My surgeon’s plenty nice, but I hope to never have to see them again and the feeling is mutual! The idea with the “road to nowhere” graft is that the nerve stays contained un the tube-like graft and has a way to grow in an organized manner instead of forming a large, disorganized tumor like I had. The hope is that the nerve stops growing before it reaches the end of the graft and I never have to see my surgeon again.

The original plan was to cut out the neuroma, connect the graft, and then coil it up like a snake and bury it into my palm where my finger used to be. But when my surgeon saw all the scar tissue in my palm, they instead routed the nerve down through my wrist where it would be better protected from further trauma.

Having the surgery go down into my wrist means the road to recovery is going to be much longer than it was after my amputation. But if this means I never have to have another surgery on my hand, then it will be well worth it!