Carpal Tunnel
 

Well, the system crashed so I will recap.

I had surgery on my left hand on Friday. I cannot type with my left hand for 30 days. I am off this week and have 7 days to get used to typing one-handed.

Good luck and heal quickly!!! :thumpsup:

Hand picture (Warning - gross)
 

Surgery + 2 days. The scar is 1/2 the length of the surgery I had on my right hand 15 years ago.

What's the purple line, Rich?

Magic marker. I guess he traced how far he might have to go. The scar on my right hand ends about there.

They also wrote "yes" and "no" on my forearms.

As silly as it sounds, I actually find it encouraging that they correctly identified the arm they were supposed to work on ... AND the one they weren't.

When my mother had her cataracts done (one surgery at a time) they do something similar ... a sticker is placed over the eye the doc is supposed to work on. I am guessing that since cataract surgery is essentially an "assembly line" operation, it saves a lot of trouble and liability lawsuits.

It also a great way to test your surgeon for dyslexia. If he writes 'sey' and 'on', you might want to ask him some questions. :unsure:

1. It looks incredibly uncomfortable...is it? (type Y or N with right hand to reply)

2. Is the downtime bugging you? Y / N

Hope it all works out well for you Rich.

It's achy sometimes, but not too bad. Of the 30 pain pills prescribed, I only used 1 before bed the first night. The Motrin appears to be sufficient. Mostly it's been inconvenient in little areas, like when I try to pull on sweat pants one handed.

Typing one handed is frutrating, but I have been practicing here. I'm about 3 times slower with the 'fast hunt and peck' method.

I picked up over 20 books from the Amazon.com bargain bin (most for $1), but I can't seem to relax enough to read. I have not been sleeping too well, probably because even with the splint I might be moving my hand at night.

I'm bored, but I'm also glad I have the time to adjust. Typing for the Cellar is very frustrating, and that is taking into consideration that I am not under any work pressure and I enjoy expressing myself. How I will adjust to trying to meet expectations at work for the remaining 20 days has me concerned. I may be spending some late days trying to catch up.

I am glad I had it done. I no longer feel the numbing and cramping in my hand.

Thanks for asking.