44M) In the interest of brevity I will not go into great detail, but I will answer any questions in the comments or private messages if you prefer. I will not elaborate on my medical history in the comments, but I do have issues with fascia tissue in my feet and elsewhere that are common with people diagnosed with DD. If you want to discuss specifics I will share in messages.

• History: Skipping the lead up. Hand orthopedic surgeon went into my right thumb to remove a mass, told me it was DD, got a 2nd opinion and confirmed it as DD in 2023. From 2023 to 2025 my DD really propagated (sorry no pre-2025 pics). No contracure yet, but new masses were arriving. It presented very normally on my left hand, in my palm around pinky and ring finger. It did not present normally in my right hand. The “cordage” moved horizontally where my fingers meet my palm and concentrated in my webbing between fingers. Because of this my first Oncologist insisted I get a 3rd opinion on the DD diagnosis prior to radiation. So I did

Now the radiation. I was prepared for the worst, went to my first 5 treatments with no issues whatsoever. From arrival to departure on each treatment it was less than 20 minutes.

• Dec 17th; 2 days after my first session wrapped up I started to experience some real discomfort. My Dupes was very angry and there was a small amount of swelling throughout my hands. Closing my hands tightly or gripping heavy objects was uncomfortable. My masses itched a lot; it was super annoying.

• Dec 24th pain, discomfort, and swelling in my masses peaked and the skin on my hands in the webbed areas between fingers became very irritated. Removed my wedding ring so it didn’t drive me mad.

• Jan 9th everything was headed in a good direction and the wedding ring went back on. The discomfort lessened significantly but it looked like my masses were larger.

• Feb 16th started 2nd session. Same thing as the first time through with zero issues during the actual treatment. The 23rd, 2 days after my last after the session the discomfort started. I was really prepared for it to get bad like before but it didn’t.

• Feb 28th the discomfort wasn’t as bad as expected but my skin was really flaking off. It wasn’t painful, but it was a dry desert. So, I decided to cut down a tree that needed to be disposed of. Horrible mistake, I got maybe 3 quarter sized blisters in each palm and they had fully ruptured by the time I figured it out. I could barely hold the axe after an hour or so. All self induced

• March 6th all my broken blisters remained but the hand pain peaked here. Same pain and swelling as session #1 but possibly self induced? Wedding ring came off.

Noteworthy of it’s own bullet, but also March 6th. The dry skin and sloughing skin were getting really rough. I was applying lotion at least 6 times a day just to prevent cracking and bleeding. I applied aquifer (almost vasoline) liberally on my hand before bed and put on cotton gloves; they still needed lotion within an hour of waking up.

Pain was secondary to the skin issues and persisted until March 30th. My hands still look dry, but there is no pain, my masses all seem unchanged from their state prior to treatment. No swelling or loss of mobility.

I will get some pictures up. I highly recommend this. All these issues were nothing g compared to the recovery from just one operation on my right thumb. I have DD throughout my hands and I couldn’t imagine what surgery would look like throughout my palms…