I have numbness in my ring and pinky fingers of my left hand. It started right after surgery and is unchanged almost 7 weeks later. The fingers feel very stressed. They feel both numb and tingly and extremely cold; I wear a glove on that hand indoors. They are also weak and I learned that I can't use them to balance an object in my hand or I will drop it. They feel very tight when I try to make a fist. When those two fingers rub together the sensation is very weird and they don't feel like part of my body. The pinky is much worse than the ring finger. It feels like there are five of them inside the skin of one; I keep comparing its appearance with that of my right one and am surprised that it is no larger. If I do anything that involves my left hand, e.g. yesterday I raked leaves, my forearm feels weak and the fingers hurt more than usual.
A physiatrist I consulted believes that the nerves of the brachial plexus (a network of nerves originating in the spine near the neck and shoulder and running into the arm) were stretched during surgery and this caused the palsy. He showed me drawings of that area in Gray's Anatomy and said damage there translates into numbness in the same two fingers with which we are both experiencing problems. Nerves regenerate very slowly so I not expecting relief any time soon. If you want to see a specialist it might be good to consider a neurologist. I asked if I should have PT on my upper back but it was not recommended. I was taught some simple hand exercises but they have not helped at all. In case you want to try them, here they are: 1) spread fingers, then squeeze hand into a fist; 2) tap and touch each finger to the thumb several times; 3) squeeze a soft ball; 4) rest your hand in a loose fist on a table and then slowly raise the fist from the wrist. I have not tried this, but I think it would be comforting to soak the hand in a bowl of warm water and Epsom salts.
I have the OK to start cardiac rehab but am not sure I want to do this with a poorly functioning hand.
Please post here what happens with your hand and if you seek any treatment. My surgery was a month after yours and I am glad to hear that your hand is getting better. Pat
p.s. I also had fluid buildup and a very bad chest cold after release from the hospital.