Wapsi Square Forum

Well, the operation on the right wrist is done. I know you guys warned me, but I was still surprised when the doctor told me he was giving me a 2-month medical leave of absence from work. He had not spoken about that at all, during the initial consultation. When he told me, I almost told him to forget it and to wait until much later, as I knew I would then have to deal with insurance issues for subsistance while not working (with my group insurance at work, I will get 70% of my salary paid to me, but there is a slight delay in the beginning, and my sick leave bank is already depleted, due to my having been sick, in February). But then, I figured that since I was planning to file my income tax declaration this week, I would have a refund in two weeks or so and that would help with the smaller amount of money coming in from the insurance, whereas I wouldn't have any kind of safety cushion later on. So in the end, I went with it. Unfortunately, that may affect my plans for a bicycle trip I was planning for early June (either in whether I have recovered enough, or in how I was planning to use the income tax refund for upgrades on the bicycle and for running expenses during the trip).

I was operated on around 10:30 am. He wouldn't let me look for two reasons: I would probably end up moving my arm by doing so, and I would also be breathing in that direction, risking sending bacteria into the incision. The anesthesia wore off near supper time. I currently have a bandage on the wrist, which I will be able to take off tomorrow. I can move my fingers around, but some motions do hurt slightly more than others. He says the incision will be sensitive for a while. I have an appointment in two weeks for him to evaluate the recovery. We'll see how it goes.

A funny anecdote: they put a garrote on my arm, for the operation, similar in style to the kind of band they use for checking blood tension. As they turned the machine on and it inflated the band, the machine started making a noise the nurse was not accustomed to hearing, so she asked why that was so. The doctor's reply was that I have "a good arm" (implying either big, or strong, or both...) I was amused. (About as amused as I was during the initial consultation, when the doctor asked me to press my thumb and middle finger together, and he tried to pull on the middle finger and it would not budge - I'm sure he didn't put all his strength into it, but still - and his comment was something about no loss of strength... I could have told him that...)

Keep mindful of how much you can push yourself, follow doctor's orders, and you'll be slapping the stupid upside the head in no time!

lake_wrangler wrote:Well, the operation on the right wrist is done.

So it's been about a week. Still early, but no setbacks I hope?

Dragonaur wrote:

lake_wrangler wrote:Well, the operation on the right wrist is done.

So it's been about a week. Still early, but no setbacks I hope?

Actually, I felt I could have gone back to driving a bus three days later, even though some positions of the wrist did hurt slightly, but nothing to make me lose grip on the steering wheel. But since I will be getting the left wrist done as well, I figured I'll bide my time, and then ask to cut the rest of the medical leave of absence short soon after.

I am getting strength back in the wrist by the day. I can now lift my bike (about 27lbs or so, which I grab down the seat tube, close to the pedals), with nary any pain (last week, closing my hand enough to grip the tube, at the angle I normally do it, was rather painful.) So all in all, I guess I'm recovering quite nicely. I certainly look forward to riding my bicycle again, that's for sure...

Glad to hear it went well and is healing nicely.

Did they give you any exercises to do? (use a squeezy ball, open close hand etc?)

I know your surgery was not as serious as my Mum's, but I suspect it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to do some rehab/exercises.
(to get back to full strength/movement - sometimes the human body repairs/heals to a certain level and goes 'meh ... close enough' )

Not quite sure who you should ask about it / where to look for info.

Sorry to be the pessimist/worrywort.

Grantwhy wrote:Glad to hear it went well and is healing nicely.

Did they give you any exercises to do? (use a squeezy ball, open close hand etc?)

Oddly enough, apart from telling me to make sure to stretch the fingers once in a while, during the first few days, he didn't give me any other exercise to do.

Grantwhy wrote:I know your surgery was not as serious as my Mum's, but I suspect it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to do some rehab/exercises.
(to get back to full strength/movement - sometimes the human body repairs/heals to a certain level and goes 'meh ... close enough' )

Not quite sure who you should ask about it / where to look for info.

Well, I do intend on starting weightlifting again, as soon as I can (progressively, of course), as well as bicycling (I am still planning on going on a bicycle trip for my vacation, this summer), so I'm not too worried about the whole 'meh ... close enough' deal ... But you're right: it would be something to worry about, if it wasn't for that.

Grantwhy wrote:Sorry to be the pessimist/worrywort.

There's a difference between being a pessimist and being a realist. You mentioned some interesting points. That's not being pessimistic in the least, as far as I'm concerned.

Glad to hear your surgery went well. May you acquire a swift and complete recovery dear. Just follow the doctor's orders with the first one so you learn what your bodies healing process is like. You can tailor the second one accordingly.

For other folks, the percentage of injury and areas of injury cause different needs for surgery/rehab. While my injuries are considerable, they responded to acupuncture, so I opted out of surgery(much to the dismay of the surgeon).

As part of my non-traditional therapy, I was taught the use of baoding spheres(those cute porcelain covered metal spheres that make music when you move them). Not unlike in the movie Labyrinth, you manipulate them in your hands. I cannot explain to you how it feels unless you have used them, but it works the other muscles/tendons/ligaments surrounding it, and it feels like it is relaxing the tensed one, though it is probably exercising the others to strengthen them to match the overworked one. It's also good for meditation too.
Being busy, I forgot about them(yeah I know, bad Dinky!), and slackened in my usage, which contributed to me hurting myself again. I currently have been mostly offline(online to turn on my music mostly) and doing some manipulations(My son gave me his baoding spheres to use, and I've been manipulating them, which helps ease the strain I've put on them, as does staying offline) has helped.

Take care everyone, and feel better!

There needs to be a national "prevent RSI" month...

Well, yesterday I shoveled 4 inches of loose snow from my walkway and the walkway of four neighbors (no driveways, we park on the street, and the walkways are about 14' long or so, plus small balconies). It did not hurt in the least. But it WAS loose snow...

I gave a shot at making a guest comic for Friendship is Dragons, but it didn't pan out. I thought maybe you guys would like to see it. I tried to post it to my Deviant art account, but it wouldn't post.

lake_wrangler I hope your hand is doing okay and you didn't strain it shoveling. You gotta take care of yourself or the doctor will yell at you.

Wdot wrote:lake_wrangler I hope your hand is doing okay and you didn't strain it shoveling. You gotta take care of yourself or the doctor will yell at you.

Although I admit to finding amusing the thought of making doctors angry, I knew going into it that shoveling would not hurt. That's the thing, about me: while I don't actually quite know my limits (excpet for weightlifting, since I keep a record of my sessions), I still have a tendency to know ahead of time that I will be able to do whatever it is that I need to do/am about to do. So technically, apart from weightlifting, I have never met my limit in any activity or work effort that I ever encountered. Shoveling yesterday (I did mention it was only 4" of loose snow, and only 5 walkways of about 14' or so) was therefore not a concern, for me.

Your concern, of course, is still appreciated.

It just occurred to me that the previous comment contained an unintentional lie. I did reach my limit on two occasions, during last summer's bicycle trip from Montréal to North Carolina: there was one hill that was very steep, and I was crawling up, in the lowest gear, and even then, had to zig-zag up to make it (fortunately, there was no traffic whatsoever.) However, my front panniers were arranged such that my toes would occasionally hit them, slowing me down even more, to the point where I had to stop and duck into someone's driveway to take a breather (there is a lower speed limit after which you cannot maintain the bike in an upright position while pedaling...) After a couple of minutes, I rode off and finished climbing the hill.

The second occasion was similar: a steep hill, on a dirt road. At one point, I must have slipped (lack of traction on gravel), and forward motion stopped completely. Try as I might, being on a gravel road, I could not get enough traction to get started again, so I had to walk the bike up the rest of the way.

Wdot wrote:I gave a shot at making a guest comic for Friendship is Dragons, but it didn't pan out.

I thought that it was cute (though having no idea who those characters are, I may very well be missing a lot that adds to the humour).

lake_wrangler wrote:That's the thing, about me: while I don't actually quite know my limits. . ., I still have a tendency to know ahead of time that I will be able to do whatever it is that I need to do/am about to do.

Of course, that technique only works until the time it decides not to work.

lake_wrangler wrote:It just occurred to me that the previous comment contained an unintentional lie. I did reach my limit on two occasions, during last summer's bicycle trip from Montréal to North Carolina. . .a steep hill, on a dirt road. At one point, I must have slipped (lack of traction on gravel), and forward motion stopped completely. Try as I might, being on a gravel road, I could not get enough traction to get started again, so I had to walk the bike up the rest of the way.

You ought to give bicycling over sand dunes a try. It is fun and brings constant joy!

(The above comment may possibly have contained a less than entirely unintentional lie.)

Catawampus wrote:

lake_wrangler wrote:That's the thing, about me: while I don't actually quite know my limits. . ., I still have a tendency to know ahead of time that I will be able to do whatever it is that I need to do/am about to do.

Of course, that technique only works until the time it decides not to work.

My feelings on that is that I have enough experience with manual work to be able to judge how something would compare to stuff I've done in the past, and therefore have a decent idea of whether I would be able to accomplish a particular physical task or not. I do not typically throw myself blindly into anything.

I find that most people don't try stuff for fear of not being able to, when they certainly seem fit enough to try.

Admittedly, I may have a tendency to make it look easy, but still... For instance, I can fairly easily pick up a stack of 12 stackable chairs, without the use of a dolly, and carry them anywhere around, as long as it's on the same floor. If I have to go up or down stairs, I only carry 6 (with the backs resting on my shoulder, and the seats resting on my chest, legs extending forward)... But other people who should be able to carry 6 on the same floor (from looking at them) will, for the most part, only try for 3, sometimes 4... And 2, maybe 3 (though rarely), when dealing with stairs.

Catawampus wrote:You ought to give bicycling over sand dunes a try. It is fun and brings constant joy!

(The above comment may possibly have contained a less than entirely unintentional lie.)

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.

Wdot wrote:I gave a shot at making a guest comic for Friendship is Dragons, but it didn't pan out. I thought maybe you guys would like to see it.

I normally wouldn't laugh at crying Fluttershy, but... Also, fine use of the Cyberdyne Systems logo.

Ah -- the happy snakes of today's Euryale, Medusa, And Stheno image reminds me of a prior work:



What else is a Anaconda going to eat in the Winter, eh?

Cute. Nicely done.

Atomic wrote:Ah -- the happy snakes of today's Euryale, Medusa, And Stheno image reminds me of a prior work:



What else is a Anaconda going to eat in the Winter, eh?

Guess Olaf wasn't the only one that likes warm hugs?

*runs and hides*

Und right after he gots hisself a new hat....

Atomic wrote:Ah -- the happy snakes of today's Euryale, Medusa, And Stheno image reminds me of a prior work:



What else is a Anaconda going to eat in the Winter, eh?

Gotta watch out for those Alberta snow snakes curled up in the branches above, just waiting for an unwary snowman to walk by.

Atomic wrote:

SNAKES GOT ARMS!! I Dunno LOL ¯\(°_o)/¯