<p>HGFM, do you know if your mom’s hand surgery is for scraping? My daughter (college sophomore) has RA and had joints on her hand scraped shortly after her initial diagnosis. Although she came out of surgery with her hand wrapped so thoroughly that it looked like she had grown a football at the end of her arm, she was down to a band-aid within a few days. She did have several weeks of post-op physical therapy, but overall she would do it again in a heartbeat…actually, she has (surgery done on her knee). Obviously, a younger person is likely to snap back faster than an adult, but if your mom isn’t having joint replacement work done, it’s not quite as scary. Perhaps your mom would let you sit in on her next appointment with the rheumatologist, so that you can hear about the surgery and ask questions?</p>