As a musician/entertainer the worst thing that can happen to you is damage to your hands. Sure, I still have a voice, but I depened heavily upon my hands to keep that keyboard humming and the dancefloors packed. It's part of the job.

About a year ago I developed what a couple doctors said was likely eczema under the fingernails of three fingers. It was fairly small areas that occasionally became sore and reddened, and at times small patches of skin would peel off. Seven doctors later, thousands of dollars in medications and doctors visits, and the disease continued to progress to where the sore area on the tip of my long finger advanced to the size of a pencil eraser--still not too big, but sore as hell, especially while playing.

Finally, after nearly two years, one of the dermatoligists said "I'm sending you to a specialist who treats this successfully using a treatment called PUVA. It's an ultra-violet light treatment that does a pretty good job of curing this"

The specialist said "I'm confident we can get this under control, but it will take about 20 treatments before you will be cured. And, it will likely take about 12 treatments before you see any improvement."

The first five treatments did absolutely nothing. Essentially, I took three pills that made me 10 times more sensitive to UV light than normal and my hands were exposed to UV light inside a wide box containing about a dozen UV tubes. Each treatment lasted about 2 minutes, and at the end of the third treatment they said they would be gradually increasing the intensity.

During treatment #6 my hands felt hot when exposed to the light source--very hot. At the end of just 2 minutes they were severely burned--appearing almost as if I were severely sunburned. This was 8 days ago, the pain is excruciating, the skin is beet red, and I believe there may be some tendon damage on the palms of my hands.

The doctors office called to find out why I had not returned for treatments. I explained what happend and they said "Oh, sometimes this can happen, and the problem you are being treated for can sometimes become worse before getting better." THANKS A LOT!

Now, I can no longer wear bandages on the affected fingers because when they're removed the skin often comes off with the adhesive. Consequently, I have to perform with a white, cotten glove on my right hand and take lots of pain pills a couple hours prior to a performance. It ain't easy typing this either. My wife says when I wear my fancy black outfit with that white glove I look like Michael Jackson performing--just a lot older and can't moonwalk.

The main reason I posted this was not for sympthy--I don't need it! I just wanted to warn anyone who may have a similar problem to beware of PUVA treatments and know what some of the ramifications are. Tomorrow I have to pick up a prescription for a nasty anti-inflamitory drug to quell the damage and pain to the tendons. I'll still be lurking here, but typing is difficult at best so you probably will not see many posts by me for a while.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary,

I'm sorry to hear about your fingers. Hopefully in time, the medicine prescribed will work and you'll be healed.

I'll get a 2nd opinion for you (wife is a nurse and works for 4 doctors) to determine if there's anything else you can do.

You're an inspiration to me. Thanks for your tutoring (for all of us) and contributions to the PSR forum.

Hang in there. I'll be thinking of you.

And don't type for a while

zuki

Gary, I know you will lick this problem, but it may be a battle.
In the meantime, maybe you could install a voice recognition system on your PC to keep from having to type everything.
The new programs are very good, or so I'm told by a couple of blind friends.
DonM

Very sorry to hear about this gary, I hope this really clears up soon for you.

Here's a link to some information on a couple of alternative treatments that may be worth mentioning to your doctor. Hope it helps.
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/98/104880.htmrenig

I am so sorry to hear about this Gary. It's the first I've heard of this type of condition. I just hope the treatment you are having does beat this in the long term.

wow mate that sounds really like the worst nightmare. I hope you recover soon. Shouldnt they have warned you about the possible counter effects of the treatment BEFORE recommending the treatment to you ?

I'm really sorry to hear that Gary,I'm sure you'll beat it though.


Are you it's not psoriasis?


Medication will definately help.

Good luck.

Gary ... As we discussed when we spoke last week, thank God you've got your voice ... with the right backing tracks or midi files you will do fine until the hand heals ... just don't go adding "Thriller" to the song list ... ...
Praying for your quick recovery ....
t.

Damn, Gary, I was hoping for better news.

We're hanging in there with you, bud.


Russ

Gary, wishing you all the best. I hope your recovery is speedy. Also thanks for the warning on PUVA.

For a keyboardist, a nightmare for sure. Hope things improve quickly and you beat this thing. oh, and shame on the doctors for not warning you and offering other options.

chas

Common Gumba get well soon we need ya baby.......I feel a nice long Cruise south for you cummin on

Get well soon, buddy.

Ian

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Cha d’dhùin doras nach d’fhosgail doras.

Wishes for a Speedy recovery!!

Hi Gary,

you might want to try putting some Aloe Vera cream on the sunburn. It soothes the skin and helps heal the burn faster.

I wish you a fast recovery.

Eric

Gary I have a similar condition on one hand, I have tried many treatments, ointments and lotions....
I finally found a doctor that told me just plain petroleum jelly and I use a nitrile medical type glove over it so it stays moist all the time. Of course to hide the "rubber gloves" I wear gardening gloves, winter gloves, dollar store gloves.
I have done this for a couple of years and am at the point where I can go for hours without the gloves when in public but I even sleep with the vasoline and gloves on.
If I forget or get lazy my skin starts to get crusty then cracks and is very painful. Of course I try not to let that happen now.
I keep dollar store petroleum jelly and nitrile gloves I buy at harbor freight all over the house and in the car and at the gym.

I'm not trying to give you medical advice or compare my condition to yours, just to let you know I appreciate your story because I've been there.

Sorry to hear the news that you posted. May the good Lord help you and keep the faith.
One last resort - place your fingers in some holy water and pray.

And we'll pray for you too!

Graham

Thanks for your wonderful thoughts and prayers everyone. I saw another doctor today, he put me on a 9-day regiment of steroids in hopes there would be no permanent damage to the tendons and nerve endings. He said it was likely the settings of the PUVA machine were wrong and that likely caused the burns. I have a big double tomorrow, and it looks like I'll be doing lots of singing, and not much with my right hand. I'm sure I can pull it off and no one will be the wiser. I'll keep you posted, but as I said earlier, typing hurts like hell, especially on my right hand. Therefore, most of this was typed with my left and I appologize for the typos.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

You may have grounds for a lawsuit if you are so inclined Gary.
DonM

This is horrible. I really hope you get better. I've never heard of anything like this before. This is like Beethoven losing his hearing.

I pray that you recover speedily, and that in the meantime, you can perform under adversity.

Best regards,

Larry Levin

I wish you the very best Gary. You have all my sympathy. This is such a tough thing to deal with. I am confident you will find a cure for this.

Best wishes gary for a sppedy recovery!

Gary, also wish you get better as fast as possible!

L.S.

Wow. I'm not prone to suing but it sure sounds like malpractice to me. Good luck and I hope you find something that helps.

Wow sorry to hear about this rather unique issue Gary!! The idiot "specialist" who said he was confident to have this problem fixed in 20 sessions seems to be the one in question who should be held accountable over this matter.

Perhaps now is the time to practice playing the one-finger chords with your right hand, and see if you can use the left a bit more than you used to...?

It feels a little awkward at first, but it's amazing how quick it comes....

And, of course my hopes go out to you for a full recovery, but if things don't improve, take a listen to (and read about the full back story of) Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand. It is inspiring, and hopefully helps you realize there's more to making music than our physical bodies....

All the best......

Gary,

Your story sounds terrible. Is it possible that they had the wrong settings on the machine? Whatever the case, if there is permanent damage, please consider suing. It won't get you your fingers back, but it might help put the bread on the table.

Chony

We're all pulling for you, my friend .... at least now, I'm not the only one here with typos ! Heal up soon.
UD

While I do not even think about suing someone for making a mistake, in this particular instance, if the damage is permanent I may make an exception. Had a rough night last night with hand pain and needed to take some medications in order to sleep. Normally, the only medication I take is a small glass of Kickapoo Joy Juice--just for medicinal purposes. Now, because of the medications, I cannot imbibe.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy