The condition: Franz Ryerson has been performing on the cello all her life and has worked with generations of young musicians. Her active schedule included teaching five public school orchestras and tuning dozens of violins and cellos each day. However, the last five years were filled with pain due to arthritis in both her thumbs, and it was interfering with Franz’s ability to play the music she loved. She tried cortisone shots, but they didn’t alleviate the terrible pain. A fellow cellist who had very successful surgery with Dr. Lunt, recommended that Franz see the doctor to see what he could do to help.

The treatment: Dr. Lunt took a staged approach to Franz’s case.  An attempt was made to alleviate the pain and disability without surgery, but the arthritis continued.  Finally, surgery was suggested for the left hand and Dr. Lunt had his office create a brace for the right thumb so that Franz could get full use of both hands.  After the initial round of surgery, Franz had just over three months of physical therapy to ensure full movement and thumb strength. Franz’s next step is to schedule surgery for the right hand.

The result: Ask Franz about her thumb and she will say, “It’s been wonderful! I don’t have any pain at all!” Not only is Franz thrilled with her results, she has become a huge fan of Dr. Lunt. “I can’t say enough about the Hand Center at Danbury Orthopedics and Dr. Lunt. I’ve seen him with patients and his bedside manner is something you rarely see these days. I felt great with him.”  Franz also appreciated having a certified hand therapist in the same building so that she could piggyback appointments and have the two medical professionals work closely together. Now Franz is making plans to have Dr. Lunt operate on her right thumb. In fact, she’s spoken about Dr. Lunt so much, her sister — a violinist who lives right near some of the finest hospitals on the west coast — is thinking about making it a family affair and flying in to have her own hand surgery at the same time as Franz’s.