I am out of commission this week because I had a bone spur removed from my funny bone. My right elbow has been aching for quite some time and I had a cortisone shot that did not help. A few weeks ago I went to see Dr. Donald Sheridan. He specializes in the portion of the arm from the hand to the elbow. If you have a shoulder problem, he is not your guy.
Dr. Sheridan is the "hand doctor" for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State University athletic program. The x-ray showed a very small bone spur on my elbow and Dr. Sheridan said that may or may not be the cause of the pain. To placate me Dr. Sheridan agreed to remove the spur. Surprisingly, this bone spur could not be removed arthroscopically so I had a general anesthetic and Dr. Sheridan cut me open, shaved off the bone spur and closed with six stitches. I was in and out of the operating room in 45 minutes. I have little or no pain from the operation and a pretty full range of motion except that the elbow is wrapped with gauze, cotton and an ace bandage.
The most difficult part of the recovery is showering and trying to keep the bandages dry. I first tried a new saran wrap product recommended by the physician's assistant. That did not work at all! I am now wrapping the bandages with a towel and then a plastic garbage bag and tying off both ends of the garbage bag with rubber bands. It seems to be keeping the bandages dry, but I am losing feeling in my fingers because the rubber bands are cutting off the circulation to my hand! I do have the old faithful duct tape that I may try so that my hand does not turn blue.
Hopefully, I will be back on the course in the next week or two. Dr. Sheridan "guaranteed" that the operation would shave 3 to 5 strokes from my golf score if I worked hard on my putting and short game while recovering.
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