Prayer request for my hand

[Andy]

I have been having issues with my left hand for a few months now that have recently become serious enough to see a doctor. It was only an annoyance a few months ago but has gotten significantly worse the last few weeks where I now can't extend any of the fingers much and simple tasks like putting on a glove are almost impossible. I still have gripping force so I am able to keep doing my work (woodworking) with some difficulty, but many commonplace tasks are becoming more difficult by the day and this issue is directly related to my profession so my concerns are more than physical.

Last night my fingers on that hand started moving on their own a little bit and it really has me concerned as it is a very unnatural experience to see your body moving when you are not telling it to. Typing this is difficult as I have to "flop" my left fingers into the keys as opposed to placing them deliberately.

Jesus Christ is my lord and died so that my sins may be forgiven and I believe that all healing ultimately comes through him. I want God's plan in life, not my own, so if it is his will that I have issues with my hand or a loss of function I will accept that as part of his purpose for me.

I ask for your prayers not specifically for healing but that God's will be done with my body and that I am doing what he wants for me, in the way he wants me to do it. I ask for your prayers for my understanding of what he wants for me through this. I am waiting for an appointment with a neurologist and ask for your prayers that it if is God's will to heal me through that doctor that it is done quickly and in a way that glorifies God.

Thank you,
Andy

[Boaz]

Lord please give Andy help with his hand . Work through his doctors to treat him . Heal him Lord and be with him . Please be in his life to guide him , protect him and glorify you through his love for you . Lead him in your plan for him . Thank you . In Jesus name I ask . Amen

[square butte]

Prayers sent up for you this morning Andy

[randyrat]

Just talked to God about this for you.

[Hickok]

Lord please give Andy help with his hand . Work through his doctors to treat him . Heal him Lord and be with him . Please be in his life to guide him , protect him and glorify you through his love for you . Lead him in your plan for him . Thank you . In Jesus name I ask . AmenAnd Amen!

[country gent]

Andy you are in my thoughts and prayers. Keep us posted as to updates and condition please. Again you are in my thoughts and prayers

[w5pv]

God please hear these prayers for Andy that your will is done.

[USMC87]

Heavenly Father we come before Your high and holy throne this morning with a request to heal our brothers withered hand. We ask You to give him peace and comfort with dealing with this issue, We ask You to speak through the Doctor to give Andy strength and to see that this too will pass. We ask You to show Andy Your will and purpose in this and especially to give You all honor and glory,In Jesus name, Amen!

[Teddy (punchie)]

Praying for you Andy !!

Andy

Just maybe ??

My Dad tell Of his dad having shoulder arm trouble. They were ready to cut the nerve in his arm it was so bad. For some reason he had dentist appointment. Ended up with about 5 teeth that were infected and making the nerves miss fire, a false signal. He Never had any teeth pain. Dad says he just about lost the use of his arm over a Month of bad teeth.

Andy check the arm for sore spots and find out whats going on there. Check front chest, shoulder, back and neck also.
Has to be damage or pressure to a nerve, maybe something that has a easy answer.

Have strength It will pass. Keep us posted.

[jmort]

Praying for a full recovery. Also praying for peace and strength to get through this valley.

[jcren]

Prayers sent

[Blackwater]

Andy, I'm no doc, but it sounds to me like it might be neuropathy. I'd waited all my life to retire so I could do gunsmithing, but now, with neuropathy in my hands (mild), that's just no longer possible. I can do a little for a short while, but hat's it. I think you need to see a doc, and likely a specialist, too. Not all GP's take these things seriously, so if you don't get satisfaction from your regular doc, make an appt. with a diabetes specialist or a neurologist. They'll be able to either tell you what you do or they'll know someone who will. Diabetes specialists get to know about neurology from that angle, and will likely know someone who can help you, even if you're not diabetic. The neurologists are specialists in the brain, spinal cord and nerves, and any neurological clinic, I'd think, should have someone who can get you diagnosed properly. The right diagnosis is the most critical part, and getting that, when nerve networks are the problem, is unlikely without a specialist. With one, you can probably make things "better," and learn to cope, and learn what to look for in the future, but damage to nerve cells is generally pretty permanent, though it can be helped. One of the great things you have to learn is what NOT to do so you don't make it worse, and there's more to it than I'd ever have guessed. Welcome to gittin' older, Andy! If you don't have a sense of humor and some humility about you, when you start getting older, you'd best develop them, or it's gonna' be a long, hard ride! IMO, these are the kinds of things that really need the teamwork of God, man and some good docs, and of the 3, the good docs can sometimes be the hardest to find, so if you don't get satisfaction at first, try another doc. That has really worked wonders for some people I've known through the years. Persistence and trying new stuff and new docs can be crucial in these matters.

Prayers up for you here, and God bless.

[Preacher Jim]

Lord guide Andy to the healing he needs, he is asking for your healing on this and we stand in agreement with him for your healing mercy. Father you are the source of all healing so we thank you for what you are going to do.
Amen

[shoot-n-lead]

Prayer sent for GOD'S will in this situation.

[buckwheatpaul]

Andy, No one could have said it better than you did.....all healing does come through God!

Father, I am asking that You heal Andy's left hand. He has given You all the praise and I ask that You work through the doctors to heal him. Through You all is possible. Amen

[Boaz]

Be by Andy as he waits for medical relief through his doctors . Help him Lord . Prepare him , stay near . Prepare him . Thank you . In Jesus name I ask . Amen

[Andy]

Thank you for all the prayers, I am sorry to take so long writing back but I have been reading your posts almost daily in the meantime. Typing is pretty annoying with this hand issue so I don't spend as much time doing it as I would like to. I really appreciate when anyone genuinely prays for me and wanted to thank each of you for taking the time to do so.

An update: I want to say that I am blessed at least that this hasn't gotten any worse since my first posting, and I have had some minor improvement in the meantime. I still can't extend the fingers much but typing is about 50% easier today than a week ago so I praise god for that. I don't have any more strength to extend, but do have more dexterity with things like typing so that has been a morale boost.

One very positive development: I was able to get an appointment with a neurologist somewhat close to home. I am in a rural area and the only neurologist within a 2 hour drive was not taking new patients. I have health care through the VA and it intially looked like I would be driving 2.5 hrs for the next closest neurologist but they were able to convince the guy who is nearby to take me in. I had called his office personally before the VA called them and had no luck getting an appointment so I am really impressed that they worked hard for my convenience there.

I wanted to share my experience with the VA so far: they have gotten a lot of bad press in the last few years but in the last year I have been really impressed with the service I have gotten. I never wait more than about 30 seconds on hold when I call and the person I talk to always seems to genuinely care about what is going on and is really helpful/competent. They call back when they say they will and act very professional. They are always truly polite and generally act more like employees of a good private company than what you would expect from a quasi-government organization. I wanted to say this because the VA has gotten a bad rep in the last few years but I am personally very pleased with the help they have given me in the last year so they should get credit for that. If it wasn't for the VA I would not be able to see a doctor about this at all so I feel very blessed to be getting a good quality of treatment for very reasonable copays.

Thank you again for your prayers, I feel that all the positive developments thus far are the result of them and praise God for that.

Andy

[Boaz]

Andy I'm glad your good to go with the doctor . I'm praying and truly believe you will get relief with treatment . I'm praying for a quick resolution to the problem . Thank you for getting back to us and please update the progress of treatment .

[Blackwater]

Thanks for the update, Andy, and prayers are still ongoing for you and your hand. It's amazing how not having full use of our hands can really make a powerful difference in our lives, isn't it? As to the VA, they were amazing in Augusta when Dad needed a nursing home. I think it was the very best thing he ever got from the Marine Corps service. You could have eaten off the floors there, and the therapists and nurses and docs really treated those old soldiers like they'd treat their own family, and genuinely seemed to appreciate it. So there ARE real "sweet spots" in the VA, and it always seems to be due to the individual people in positions of leadership in it. Keep the faith, and a lot of good men are praying for you.

[flyingmonkey35]

Good luck andy. Thoughts and prayers abound.



Sent from my draconis using Tapatalk

[rl69]

Glad things or going your way Andy keep us posted

[Andy]

I was reminded today to be very thankful it is not my right hand this is occurring on. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I couldn't even draw my pistol reliably if it was affecting my right hand. As is, it really doesn't affect my shooting ability at all so that is a real blessing.

I want to say that I felt pretty worried about this a week ago and although not much has changed, I don't feel worried anymore and I want to give praise to God for that and thank you for your prayers in that regard.

[rondog]

Sounds like tendonitis, maybe some rest and time off would help it?

[Preacher Jim]

Lord you are at work in Andy, now guide this doc to the right path of healing for Andy.
Amen

[Pine Baron]

Lord you are at work in Andy, now guide this doc to the right path of healing for Andy.
Amen
Amen.

[Andy]

Wanted to update that it has gotten a tiny bit better this last week. I have maybe 10% of the missing range of motion back and typing is about 30% easier or more.

I have my first appointment with the neurologist next tuesday morning, so please pray that solid communication happens during that meeting and that I come out of it on the path God wants me to be on.

[buckwheatpaul]

Father, Andy is still having a problem with his left hand. Please guide the doctor that is treating him and return the use of his hand back to him. Father, we send a lot of prayers up for comfort, support, and healing and I know You hear them all. Please walk with Andy and help him past this serious illness. Amen.

[Blackwater]

Good to hear, Andy. It's good that your life's not apparently on the line in this, but those nagging inabilities that we once had can be truly a heavy burden. Many times, we have to continue praying for a healing to be effected. We'll continue praying for you as long as you have this problem. Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress.

[Half Dog]

Thank you Andy for letting us pray for you and for the updates.

[Andy]

I want to thank everyone very much for their prayers and especially to praise God for healing. It has been two months since my last update and in the meantime I have recovered at least 75-85% of my range of motion in the hand. If I wanted to describe the transformation briefly I would say that it has gone from a "significant problem" to a "minor/occasional annoyance". I have faith that God will heal me back to 100% but in the meantime I am very grateful that this is no longer affecting my life very much.

To be honest I have felt almost "back to normal" for the last few weeks, and only now thought to update the thread, so I apologize for the delay in that. I have a bad problem with praying hard when things are bad and then forgetting to praise and continue to pray once things get better, and I am trying to work on that.

I believe that God answers prayers and that collective prayer is incredibly powerful, and want to thank each of you for praying with me over this.

[skeettx]

Amen
and may God continue to bless you with healing and a
supportive medical staff
Mike

[Boaz]

I'm really glad your doing better and hope you get back to 100% ! Thank you for the report Andy .

[buckwheatpaul]

Andy, thank you for the updates and praise God for your improvement in your left hand.

Father, Thank You for Your healing given to Andy. Thank You for getting him to the right medical help to diagnose and treat his illness. Thank You for guiding the doctors through his treatment. Finally thank You for what You did for Andy. I give You all the praise. AMEN

[Preacher Jim]

Andy remember to praise the Lord for His mercy and grace.
Thank you Lord for being so faithful to answer prayers. You are our strenth and help everyday, you never leave us or forsake us but love and protect us.
Amen

[Pine Baron]

Amen and Amen.
Thank you Andy for the update. Prayers continue for 100% recovery.

[Blackwater]

Thanks for keeping us advised, Andy, and keep the faith. And remember, as Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'till it's over." Lot of wisdom in that. I have some degree of neuropathy in my hands as a result, apparently, of that kidney failure incident a few years back now. I'd planned for decades to take up gunsmithing when I retired, but that made this impossible. I can still do SOME stuff, if I don't mind taking longer than it ought to take, but no way to do it more than occasionally now. The strength that used to be in them just isn't there, too.

But ask me if I'm happy just to BE here now! I'll take what God has given me. Apparently, He has other plans for me than the ones I'd hoped for myself. And ask me if I'm now humble enough to go with what God wants rather than what I'd created for my own goals. I think you already know the answer, don't you?

And the funny thing is, even when I did a really good job on a gun, I'd always wind up critiquing it as though there was nothing I could do that was quite good enough NOT to criticize. When I do what I believe God wants me to do, I have nothing but satisfaction when it's done. Quite a contrast, eh? I still have enough left in me to do a little work on my personal guns, or maybe for close friends, but I'd go broke trying to live on what I could make and achieve gunsmithing now.

Truly, God knows more about what truly makes us happy than we do our own selves. Ain't it funny how that works?