Dupuytren's Contracture

About 4 or 5 years ago, I developed a condition whereby my small finger on my right hand would not straighten out completely. I visited my doctor and he diagnosed it as a condition called Dupuytren's Contracture (pronounced "doo-PAY-trens"), also called Dupuytren's Disease. He referred me to a plastic surgeon in our area. The photo to the right is of my right hand, palm up, showing the small finger.

The surgeon said it could be fixed with surgery, but the surgery was not without risk – in fact, he said there was a 15% possibility of permanent nerve damage. I did not like the odds, and since the condition was not painful, I chose to not have surgery and live with it. For the most part, it did not impact my day to day life in any way.

However, earlier this year, it began to bother me somewhat. Not so much pain, although it did hurt a bit if pressure was put on it in the area of my palm just behind the finger, but not on the finger itself. No, it was more a nuisance. Because of the continued curvature of the finger, it tended to get caught on things like when I put my hand into my pocket, or when washing my face it snagged on my nose (I know, sounds gross, but on several occasions I ended up with a bleeding nose because of it.)

So I started doing some research on the net. I found that there was a relatively new procedure called Needle Aponevrotomy, or NA for short, that was much less invasive than major surgery. Developed in Paris, very few doctors in North America were practicing it. I found a Dr. David Kline in Oregon that had a clinic to do the procedure and was seriously considering going down there to have it done.

Then, after doing some more research, I found a Dr. Paul Binhammer right here in Toronto that also was doing NA at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, about a 20 drive from my home. I immediately contacted my doctor to have him arrange an appointment for me. That was back around February.

I finally got to see Dr. Binhammer yesterday, and it looks very promising. He said that he could do the NA procedure in his office and it would take about 20 minutes. Then, I would need to go down to the splint department, where they would make a custom splint for my hand. This splint is to be worn each night when I sleep for the next 3 months. It is not needed during the day, and supposedly I will have full mobility in the hand immediately after the procedure. The cost of the entire procedure is covered by OHIP (the Ontario Medicare program); the only thing that is not covered is the cost of the materials required to make the splint.

He pointed out that the NA procedure does not remove the diseased tissue, but cuts the fibers allowing the finger to straighten. There is possibility the condition will return a few years down the road, in which case, he could perform an operation to remove the diseased tissue. He said he could do this operation now instead of NA, but left it up to me to make the decision. I said I thought the NA procedure would be the best choice first, and if needed, I could come back for the operation.

He said I can expect a call from his secretary to set up an appointment for the NA procedure, which I am hoping will be soon, and I will not have to wait another 8 or 9 months.

Lost in Transition

Perhaps the name of this blog should have been "Lost in Transition"!

All my life, I worked for a large multi-national computer company. In the beginning, it was fine.. in fact, I actually liked my work. I was one of those guys that could not wait until the weekend was over so I could get back to work.

The company was famous for putting its employees first. And for a time, they acted like they really meant it. There were all kinds of programs for the benefit of the employees. When the employees voiced a concern, the company listened, usually, and often acted.

But over the years, things gradually changed - especially, in the late 80s and early 90s. This was a time of turmoil not only in the computer industry, but also for many companies and businesses. Many shut their doors. Many employees were cut. There was fierce competition, and margins were getting smaller and smaller.

Our company had an unwritten policy of never firing anyone. Well, you had to be pretty bad to actually get fired. More often than not, a poorly performing employee was simply moved to another area and given another chance at a different job, but still within the same company. It was almost like working for the government, where no one ever got fired. All that changed in the late 80s and early 90s - when the focus changed from keeping an employee happy, to keeping the company alive. Indeed, there were many soothsayers that predicted the company would not last - but somehow it did.

This was an almost live or die situation for the company, and while many others were folding, we were struggling to stay alive. Layoffs, for the first time in the company's history, had started - but they were never called layoffs. Many were forced retirements, or early retirements. Whole departments were made redundant - the employees of which were sometimes given a few weeks or months to find work elsewhere within the company, or face termination. This is where good contacts and networking skills became extremely useful!

In the beginning, those that took the early retirement packages made off like bandits. Often, they would get a severance package of 18 to 24 months salary. The problem was, that this initial package was voluntary, and those that volunteered were the most skilled in the company, so when they left, not only could they easily get work elsewhere, but they left a serious hole in the company's workforce. To make matters worse, many often came back to the company as contractors at double their original salary! (We needed the contractors to help fill the void after all the skilled labour left!). Needless to say, this angered a lot of the remaining workforce, and soon a new policy was put in force the prohibited anyone who took early retirement, from working as a contractor.

Often, we did not have a choice. We would come into work one day, and be told our unit was being sold off, or merged with another. The word 'transition' became the word of the day. Our company was famous for creating new words and acronyms (we even made acronyms out of acronyms!), but the one I really hated the most was transition - used as a verb! As in, "you are being transitioned to this department". There is no such verb! Arrrgh! It made me angry to hear supposedly educated upper management using that expression. But they were like lemmings.. once it started, everyone was using it.

Needless to say, I was 'transitioned' many times, against my will, during those turbulent times. But times were tough everywhere, and I guess I was thankful to still have a job. I had many friends in the company that were forced into early retirement, and were still out of work several years later.

Lost in Lost in Translation

Watched Lost in Translation again last week. L watched it with me, but she just does not get it. She prefers a movie with some sort of action plot that reaches a climax and has a good or happy ending. Lost is not like that.. it is a story of a moment in time, and of some people in that time and place. It does not have a beginning or ending. It is a story of life, or a part of life.

Really not sure why I like it so much. I like Bill Murray, and find his performance in this movie very good. He does not even need dialog - the expressions on his face do the speaking. Another reason might be that I have been in Tokyo, and al lot of what I saw in the movie, brought back memories of my trip there.

Anyway, I picked up a copy cheap on eBay. I don't normally buy DVDs or VHS movies, because I rarely watch the same movie more than once. But I wanted to see the out-takes, the interviews, all the little extras they bundle into a DVD offering. Plus of course, I want to watch it again.. and again.