Episode II (does it need a title, too?)

The specialist, a neurologist, took a lot of time at the first consultation., mostly asking questions and doing some minor testing for reflexes. He as really thorough and then scheduled some more thorough tests specifically for my left hand. When I say more thorough, I should also add less pleasant. Who knew that neurologist get their kick sticking electric probes in folk's arms [or wherever] and then asking "did you feel that?"
Okay, okay, that's an exaggeration but you get the idea.
Anyway, these tests were not quite as definitive as the specialist would have liked, since he was unable to determine the source of my thumb problem. He did, however, determine that there was problem with my ulnar nerve. It was explained to me that there is a channel through the elbow that the nerve passes through. Sometimes the channel compresses the nerve, which creates the necessity for an operation called an Ulnar nerve decompression. It sounds serious until it is translated into plain English - "they're gonna operate on your funny bone."
The next step in the process, of course, is finding a surgeon to do the operation. In this day of PPOs that's not always as simple as it should seem.
The pool of surgeons available is quite high. Orthopedists or neurosurgeons can both perfom this type of surgery. Somewhere along the line personalities get involved and then there's that PPO issue. If it has been an emergency, then it wouldn't have mattered.
Finally, I was referred to a neurosurgeon who we actually know and have had some experience with. I'm fairly certain he even has a sense of humor.
We went to his office for a consultation... "when do you want to do this surgery Mr. O'Brien. I operate on Mondays." He scheduled a pre-op consult for the Thursday preceding the surgery, which took place on March 31. He also, ordered an MRI, with instructions that I bring it with me to the pre-op consult.

Now you probably can see where this is leading... Continued next week