Dupuytren's Contracture

As you can see by my hand photos I’ve been away from

painting and making art for a little bit of time. Some

of you who follow my blog know that I have Dupuytren's

Contracture . I’m in an experimental program at UCLA

to find a resolution for the problem. So – one of my

finger joints was injected with something that is suppose

to dissolve the something in my finger joint that is

causing the contracture. Here you can see the result

of the injection –swelling of the hand and fingers. My

fingers are curled under or inward on my hand

because of the contractures. There was not a whole

lot of pain with the injection or when they stretch

and pop the contracture the next day. I’ve read other

accounts on the internet speaking about the pain but

in my case and in the case of others in the study with

me at UCLA there doesn’t seem to be to be as much

as I expected. It has been a few days now and I’m

thrilled with the result. The one joint that was

injected has opened up quite a bit – not a full

extension – but I can use that hand a lot better than

I could before. The experimental program runs

through November and I have four more injections

and physical therapy over that time so hopefully I

will get a lot of the hand repaired. The other hand

and thumbs gets left to future hopes.