Intraneural Perineuroma excision resulting in radial nerve palsy

Hi everyone, F24 here just seeking advice about potential tendon transfer or other alternatives. I am living in Australia, no other health conditions, otherwise healthy.

Open to hearing about personal experiences from non-healthcare people as well.

Starting about 2 years ago, I was having slow, progressive palsy in my right hand, specifically from the radial nerve. I had limited finger and thumb extension, but my wrist extension was still ok (although weaker than my left hand). I had many scans, which showed that I had a thickened nerve in my upper tricep. They thought it could be a number of different things but unsure as to what.

In October last year (about 6 months ago) I had a surgery which was initially supposed to be exploratory to figure out what was causing the thickening of my nerve, and discovered an intraneural perineuroma in my upper tricep. This surgery then turned into a nerve graft (which they did warn me about prior to going under). They removed the section of my radial nerve where the tumor was, and replaced that section with the sural nerve from my right calf.

Immediately after the surgery, I had full wrist drop and no finger or thumb extension. They have given me a dynamic radial nerve splint to use during the day (which is a lifesaver). Now, 6 months post op and I have seen VERY slight wrist extension coming back and no finger or thumb extension yet. Hand therapy team seems to think that this is normal progression at this stage.

The surgeon mentioned that we could look at doing a tendon transfer down the track if my recovery wasn't progressing as well as it should. The hand therapy team seem to think I should wait at least 12 months before agreeing to the tendon transfer, as it is quite invasive and intense healing process. Is there any cons to waiting longer to do the tendon transfer? I know that nerve grafts don't have as good results as tendon transfers, so I'm not sure how much function to expect to get back.

I was having slow progressive palsy for about 18 months prior to the surgery which the surgeon said that the likelihood for getting function back reduces drastically after 9-12 months. But since I am young and otherwise healthy they seem to think I still have a good chance at getting decent function back.

My question is: is a tendon transfer worth considering? what are the post-op conditions like? is it a painful post op experience? should I be waiting longer to consider a tendon transfer? what are the risks of getting this surgery? what movement will I lose from the donor muscles? is there any other information I should be aware of?

Let me know if you need any further information. Appreciate any advice people have!