- October 24, 2017
Hi, I’m Jody Stumpe. What brought me to the Florida Orthopaedic Institute was a persistent and continuing and increasing numbness and my fingers, my hands, and all the way up my arms. I don’t have any idea what started it, but it started about two years ago and I wasn’t getting any relief. No matter what kind of pillow I bought or what kind of ibuprofen I took. I couldn’t use a computer. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t talk on the telephone. I couldn’t work out without numbness and having to shake out my hands constantly. It was quite annoying, but the worst thing was not being able to sleep. I was waking up anywhere from seven to 10 times a night, shaking out my hands. Whoa. Boy. It was a long process finding Florida Orthopaedic Institute.
First I started two years ago with my primary physician. I told him of my symptoms and what I thought it was because I looked on the internet. They thought maybe it was a pinched nerve in my neck or maybe it was something going on with my core strength or my posture or they just weren’t quite sure and I kept saying, it’s carpal tunnel. The internet says so. They said, well, we’ll have to make sure because it could be this, this, this or this, and so they did all these other tests and sure enough it’s what I thought it was, but we had to go through the process of elimination. He then sent me to a neurologist and we did an MRI and we did some all kinds of neurological testing. Then he sent me to a physical therapist and we went through that whole situation and still had no relief. Well then sent me to a rheumatologist and then I went through cortisone shots in my wrists and I went through different types of prescriptions and I finally said, doctor, this is not getting any better.
That’s when he sent me to Florida Orthopaedic Institute. Hallelujah. Called on the phone number that I was given by the rheumatologists and I was immediately connected to Dr. Pappou’s office because he does the arm. And I got right in and there wasn’t a lot of waiting or anything like that. And he said, there’s no question. You have a carpal tunnel. The appointments were very fast. I got in very quickly. Surgery was scheduled quickly. I had my surgery Thursday at one o’clock. By 10 o’clock on Sunday I was working out on the bike. Literally, within three weeks of the surgery, I was able to do a pushup, do all kinds of other things, use the rowing machine, use the straps, use free weights. So it was pretty miraculous life-changing. As I told Dr. Pappou, who made me feel like a peer, not like a patient, which to me was when you have somebody who’s as accomplished and as intelligent and as educated as he is, um, I would imagine it’s real easy to not have that relationship. But it was really remarkable how he was able to listen to what my root word, my requests, my desires were, and have a discussion with me about them. So I just can’t say enough about him. And the follow-up, what I would say to anybody who has some sort of condition that’s altering the quality of their life. Don’t wait, go seek some answers because it was life-changing for me. I wish I had done it sooner.
