Helping Hands

My name is Dietrich, but my friends call me Dieter. For the last 8 years I have been battling several different diseases that started to affect me shortly after my 21st birthday. Currently, I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Lupus, Pustular Psoriasis and a diffuse mixed connective tissue disease. My body has been absolutely ravaged by this potent arthritic combination, but my hands have had the absolute worst of it: severe, chronic pain 24 hours a day. The fingers are the most painful part of my body and feel as if someone is relentlessly pounding away at them with a hammer. I have what you would call a severe 'boutonniere deformity' that affects both hands, with the left hand being by far the worst. The orthopedic surgeons who I've seen have all said this is one of the worst cases they've ever seen. As you can see, the only finger(s) on my left hand that are really usable are my index finger and thumb. So far, the thumbs have not been affected, however my index finger is now slowly starting to deform. I've had a stroke of good luck in that my right hand isn't as bad as my left, but that is because the deformities began to affect the right hand much later than the left.




You may be asking yourselves, "How did it manage to get this bad?"

The answer: An auto-immune disease combined with inaction by my old Rheumatologist and Orthopedic doctors. Had they actually taken proactive measures, they could have greatly reduced these deformities from getting to this state of severity, but instead they did very little in the way of preventative procedures which just let my diseases progress to the point where surgery was the only option. Unfortunately, all of the surgeons I met with previously wanted to do the simplest procedure possible which is a joint fusion. Theoretically, joint fusion should reduce the level of pain I'm in, however, after research and consultation I discovered there's a high probability that there is permanent damage to my hands so there will still be some pain even after this kind of procedure. Another downside of joint fusion is that it will greatly reduce my ability to use my fingers. This is problematic to say the least because I have been going to school in preparation for a career in the IT field, which will require the utmost dexterity for repairing computers, installing hardware, etc. Having fingers that I can't bend simply won't cut it. I won't be able to do a vast majority of the work that's required of me. Not to mention, all of the times I've had to give up activities I enjoy and necessary chores because of the deformities. If I went through with joint fusion of my fingers I would never be able to take part in motorcycle riding, working on cars and many other things that I enjoy.



The GOOD news is that I have found an amazing surgeon who DOESN'T want to fuse my joints. He actually wants to fix them so that I'll be able to use my fingers again; to go back to work; to enjoy life like I used to. He plans on using devices called Digit Widgets, which will put my fingers into tension and should slowly straighten them. With time and a lot of physical therapy, I should have a majority of the use of my fingers back. The bad news is that my insurance is forcing me to pay 40% of the Surgeon's Fees, Facility Fees and Anesthesiologist's fees which—all told—should add up to about $5,000. However, because of my condition, I am unable to work enough to help cover the total cost, so I'm asking anyone who is willing to help to join in, donate what you can, and help me get my life back. One hand at a time.

Thank you for reading! Any help is appreciated.