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When I thought there was no hope, docs had an idea Julie Richardson, 43, Croydon
Lifting the kettle, I felt a familiar shooting pain in my left wrist. I put it swiftly back down
and clutched my arm protectively.
‘What happened?’ asked my fiance John, then 38. ‘Nothing,’ I fibbed. ‘It’s your wrist again, isn’t it?’ he asked.
That was in
2010 when the pains started.
You see, I’d been diagnosed with arthritis in 2006. It’d left me in a wheelchair.
I was used to aches and pains, agony in my
arms wasn’t uncommon. Yet this pain in my wrist persisted.
Every day I’d wake up and it was pounding. ‘See the doctor,’ John begged. ‘It’s just my arthritis acting up,’ I said.
Until one morning in June 2014, I woke up with almost no movement in it at all. It was swollen, too stiff to move. John and my daughter Katie, then 19, had to help me out. Enough was enough and I decided to go to the doctor.
I went to see a consultant at Croydon Hospital for an X-ray. When the scan came back, I could tell the doctors were worried. ‘You see this,’ she said as she pointed to my X-ray. ‘This shows us your lunate bone is infected.’
The lunate bone is the central bone in the wrist that’s important for proper movement and support of the joint.
But mine looked like the bone had died.
Doctors ran more tests. Yet, it was a year later before I was diagnosed.
‘You have Kienbock’s disease,’ my consultant said.
It’s a rare condition of the wrist. There is no definitive cause.
When the lunate bone loses its blood supply, it causes the bone to crumble away.
The pain
I had been experiencing, the stiffness, were all linked. Terrifying. ‘So how do we make it better?’ I asked, worried. Sadly, it didn’t seem like they could do anything for me.
So I was referred to St George’s Hospital in Tooting to see a specialist. Traditionally, the only surgical option available had been to fuse the wrist.
It would remove my pain but also restrict movement.
So there was only one thing they could suggest…
‘A full wrist replacement,’ my surgeon explained.
I didn’t even think that would be possible.
But it turned out it’s actually pretty straightforward.
Like a knee or hip, I’d get a new joint in the hope it would give me back full use.
And in June, I finally went under the knife.
I prayed it would work. From the moment I woke up, I could tell things were going to be better. I didn’t have the same niggling pain.
But best of all, was the reassurance from my doctor.
‘The surgery was a success,’ she said.
Now all we can do is wait and see what happens.
I’m still recovering but my movement is already starting to come back.
I have to do regular exercises under the guidance of the hand therapy team at St George’s.
That’s my quickest way to regain strength, full motion and function.
But we’re already thrilled with the outcome.
Here’s hoping that the next time I need a spare part will be after I’m 50.
I woke up with almost no movement in my wrist