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Posts: 841
Location: CA | I'm at the age where, when I fall, I don't bounce anymore. I splat. A recent (unintended) swan dive off the tailgate of a pickup resulted in broken wrist. Fortunately, I'm righthanded and it was my left. Unfortunately - and those of you who have had this experience will appreciate this much more than those who haven't - I have learned all the things that are difficult or impossible to do with just one hand. Examples: buttons, drying yourself after a shower, tying shoes . . . even eating with a knife and fork. Humbling, to say the least.
But the thing I miss second most surprised me: playing the guitar. Actually more just the feel of my left hand around the neck and doing chords. None of that for the past 3+ weeks and I have 3 more to go before I'm "allowed" to begin moving things around again. All the other stuff I've learned to accommodate, but geetar playing is what I really miss.
At this point, I can use the finger portion of my left hand for buttons, shoe-tying and other stuff, but still no 'heavy lifting', pulling or wrist movement allowed. And the brace does not allow me to get my hand around a guitar neck yet. But the doc says I can start removing it in two weeks for light exercise and mobility. I can't wait. The O's are calling my name! LOL
BTW, the thing I missed the most was hot showers without having to cover the cast/splint. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | Several years ago, I also broke my left wrist, actually both ends of the two bones in my forearm. After 5 weeks they had to rebreak them and insert a plate, which I still have. My physical therapist was great, but ruthless. On my last visit I asked when I could play guitar again. She said I should have asked her that weeks ago because attempting to play would have been great for recovering my range of motion. I still don't have it all back, but I can make do. |
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Location: When?? | @Mark - >>>they had to rebreak them<<<
Oh, Lordie. Just had to put that part in there didn't you.
Been there, too. Right hand. Reaching fast for a knife in the back pocket with the blade pointing... up. Stupid, yes. Entered in the webbing between fingers 1 & 2 and bottomed out at the base of the wrist.. six inches worth, severing many working parts full length inside my hand. Zero pinch ability on a guitar pick for months; hence, those months brought a whole new, non-orthodox approach to guitar. I learned how to do things that I had previously never considered even trying. That was many years ago, and though the use recovery was 98%, my ability to pinch a pick and flex wrist together in concert is now quite limited. I've never (rarely) tried to go back to my old style of pick playing since. I don't want to. I like it much better the way it turned out. You just never know when the bad may turn good. Not that I'm any "good" at guitar, mind you, but it's better than it was pre-knife. It's my own now.
Hang tough, Oddball. It'll come around. In the meantime, best wishes on a swift recovery!
PS: Was the truck moving??
Edited by Love O Fair 2018-11-01 10:46 PM
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Oddball... Sorry to read about your injury. I hope that you recover soon, and fully.
When I seriously started to try to play guitar I started to be careful with my hands.
My co-workers would tease me because I always wore Work Gloves when working.
"Guitar Hero does not want to damage his fingers and end his career as a Guitar Idol."
They were correct. I don't have that job anymore, but I still play guitar.
So I think that I had my priorities in the right place.
And I still wear gloves whenever I am working or riding my bicycle.
So I cringed while reading of your injury. 
Heal Well.
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Posts: 270
| Look what Django Reinhardt did with two fingers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ308aOOX04 |
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Posts: 841
Location: CA | Wow, what great responses. I've learned that no matter what happens to you in life, there are always kindred spirits. My daughter's best friend, for example, told me about a dirt bike accident she had when a teenager and she broke BOTH wrists. Yikes. And Mark - again, rebreaking? Both my wrists hurt just thinking about that. LOF, the truck was not moving and your story reminded me a bit of Tommy Iommi (of Black Sabbath) who somehow managed to slice the ends of his fingers off and learned to play with thimbles over them, and the guitar tuned down an octave so he wouldn't have to press so hard - which gave Sabbath their ominous sound. (I know you were talking about your pick-holding hand, but that somehow reminded me of Iommi.) And BCam, I am aware of what Django learned to do with just two fingers - and which I could never hope to do with all 10. And OMA, I do wear gloves when working - which I learned to do on a road crew years ago simply because i was tired of getting cuts and mashed fingers. But yes, it also helps 'preserve' the manos for guitar playing. And THAT reminds me of a fellow I met years ago, a neighbor of my sister-in-law, who was sitting in a lawn chair on the porch while his wife flailed in the garden in the hot sun. I think the conversation started out with me saying, wow, my wife would never let me get away with that. Turns out he was a professional musician, a bass player, and he had a gold record in the house from the movie 'That Thing You Do'. If you remember the part where the main character goes into the jazz club (where he meets the Morgan Freeman character) and there's a four-piece playing a tune . . . I guess some or all of those guys were actors and HE was the one actually playing the bass. So part of his contract was that he couldn't do anything that might risk his hands getting hurt. At least that was his story.
Thanks again for the input. And the wrist is well on the mend. At my appointment yesterday, you could see on the x-ray that the crack was disappearing as it healed. Doc says I may have slightly reduced range of motion (so major league pitching is out - damn!), but I'm hoping for the best. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I was watching NFL football last night and saw a running back break his arm badly when he put it out in front of him to "break" his fall. I broke mine when I fell backward playing soccer. Remember "Chinese finger cuffs?" A much more expensive version is what they used to hold my hand upright when they pushed down on my arm to set the bone back in place. The doctor didn't believe me when I said the painkiller wasn't working. He said I'd be screaming in pain. I told him I could scream if he wanted. Then my wife, a nurse, noticed that the IV had missed my vein in the other arm. By then it was too late.
I opted for a cast rather than rods and screws and that was the choice that caused them to have to rebreak it. Over 5 weeks in a cast, the end of the bone had turned and was starting to mend crooked. I chose general anesthesia after that. The odds of dying from general anesthesia were about the same as the odds of getting AIDS from a bone graft. I told the doctor I'd choose to die in my sleep. The pain of physical therapy is a "good" pain. PT can be tough, but it's essential to getting the range of motion back. |
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Posts: 841
Location: CA | Mark, I was almost screaming just reading that. Mine's nothing by comparison. Only real discomfort at this point is the weird aching from the atrophy of the rest of the arm. Hopefully will gain that back with PT. |
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Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | The car accident in June when I was rear ended while stopped in construction traffic has had far reaching consequences. I developed intermittent numbness in my hands and a tremor in my right hand, which sucked big time since I'm a right handed motorcycle pinstriper. A spinal fusion surgery a few months ago in my neck resolved those issues. The neurosurgeon I'm seeing has me scheduled for rod implant surgery in my lumbar spine on Dec. 17th for three back fractures and disc compression causing constant pain. As part of that I had to go to a clinic for a bone density scan where I learned men get osteoporosis like older women. Well, about 30% of us do. I'm right at the edge of the scale of lacking sufficient bone density. For that I've been giving myself an injection every day of a hormone that stimulates a gland that radically increases bone density. Pretty soon my bones will hold the screws just fine I guess. If there's anything that could be called good that is going to come from this, it's the fact that the idiot who hit me (resulting in 4 totaled vehicles) insurance company is going to owe me the full limits of liability he has, $300K for my wife and I. With the radical decline of my previous lifestyle I'm tempted to take them to trial. The only drawback being that insurance company lawyers can draw the process out over two or more years. With all the idle time on my hands I've had I've written quite a few songs, a few of which I'm going to play for Billy Joe Shavers backstage at a convert this weekend hopefully. Backstage is a sure thing, whether he'll listen to my songs is anybody's guess! |
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Location: Utah | Holy cow, guys! Be safe out there!
Almost a year ago I had lumbar back surgery, which has been virtually a 100% success. After 10 yrs of daily pain I finally reached the point of being willing to take the risk of delicate spinal surgery, and am glad I did. I didn't play guitar for 2 or 3 months afterwards due to the discomfort of recovery, but really I can't complain compared to what some of you have/are going through. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I should have known Dave could top my story. Dave, what do you hope to accomplish taking him to trial? Doe he have assets above the insurance policy? You get the insurance proceeds if you get a verdict of $300K or more and a possible appeal, then you have to try to collect anything above the insurance. Plus, you'd have to prove that all your injuries were caused by him and not by your pre-existing injuries. That might be a problem. |
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Location: Fort Worth, TX | Mark in Boise - 2018-11-05 8:42 PM
I should have known Dave could top my story. Dave, what do you hope to accomplish taking him to trial? Doe he have assets above the insurance policy? You get the insurance proceeds if you get a verdict of $300K or more and a possible appeal, then you have to try to collect anything above the insurance. Plus, you'd have to prove that all your injuries were caused by him and not by your pre-existing injuries. That might be a problem.
I sure wasn't trying to top anybody's story!
I'm sure you being an attorney could give me the answers to your hypotheticals here. What I had explained to me was something personal injury attorneys call a "cracked egg" principle. From what I gathered from the explanation, the insurance company who is liable has to accept you in whatever condition you were in at the time of the accident. I'm entirely not sure but I think they were saying my previous back fractures from the gym accident really don't come into consideration. However, I can't envision a scenario where an insurance company wouldn't try to make that a big part of the amount they offer to settle.
In my case, I have a pre car accident mri and post accident mri. Prior to the car wreck my neurosurgeon wasn't proposing the rod surgery in my lumbar spine. He said the compression fractures from the gym incident would heal on their own. The mri after the car wreck showed something called "facet fractures" in my lumbar spine and issues with discs that the previous mri didn't contain. Therefore, the necessity for rods in my back. I might not even fall into the concept of the cracked egg since the car wreck could have caused issues serious enough on its own that I'm now facing a 9 hour long surgery. After all, the wreck was fortunately witnessed by a state trooper who estimated the guy was traveling at least 55mph and never touched his brakes before hitting me.
The only reason I ever considered going to trial over it is because of the radical change in both my wife's and my physical condition as a result of the wreck. My wife is only 58 years old and, whereas before, she was a constant whirlwind of activity, she now resembles something more like a 90 year old woman. She never had physical complaints of any kind and was regarded by my extended family as something of a superwoman who did everything such as all the meal prep for get togethers, sewing costumes for Halloween for all the nieces and nephews and grandkids, and she regularly traveled the state to conduct advanced training seminars for elementary school teachers. All of that is out the window currently. Before the wreck, I used to be in my shop every day all day long hand painting interior decor signs we sold at craft fairs almost every week. Since the wreck way back in June, I haven't been able to do a full work day yet because my back spasms and locks up from pain. Also, I developed a tremor in my right hand I lettered with that fortunately was cured with the cervical spinal fusion.
Hopefully this long winded reply shows why I would consider taking my chances at trial. I was under the impression any award I might receive would be fully on the insurance company and have nothing to do with any assets of the driver at fault. I have no desire to inflict hardship into anybody's life despite what he's inflicted into mine. The length of time a trial would entail all but rules out any chance I would go this route, unless their settlement offer is ridiculously low. We've been racking up huge copays for 4 doctors on a Care Credit card my attorney said we have to just keep paying. I can't afford to continue like this so a settlement is the likely outcome. Please point out any flaws in my reasoning you perceive. Basically, I've learned there is no monetary compensation adequate enough to cover the loss of physical capabilities you had before a wreck. I have a profoundly enlightened view of people who've gotten huge amounts of money from similar things. I used to think they won a lottery... not anymore. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | We actually called it the "eggshell" plaintiff. I'm retired. That's all I'll say. |
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Posts: 887
Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Mark if you are truly retired then you finally have more time to dedicate to the pleasure of guitar?? |
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Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | I have not been to the office in 3 months, but I've been travelling a lot and doing other projects that I was putting off until I had time. Unfortunately, I spend too much time online and haven't spent enough time playing guitar. I've only had a couple of hours when I got bored and if I get back to playing guitar regularly, I won't have any down time. There's also the hour every day that I used to spend driving back and forth to work.
I like not having deadlines or a regular schedule, but I think I need to develop some routines for guitar playing and exercising or I'll end up on the couch all day.
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Location: When?? | @Mark - >>> but I've been travelling a lot<<<
Funny, you are traveling AWAY from it, and I desire to travel TO it. I lived a chunk of my young years in your zone.. over in Ketchum.. and I always get a craving for it at this time of year. Perfect season there now for couch + fireplace + bourbon + guitar.. with terrific powder on its way. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your retirement freedom! |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | A fews years back, I slipped on some ice early one morning near the office and badly sprained my right wrist. I nearly feinted from the pain. No break, just a bad sprain. Unfortunately, I had a show that night (and each of the following 10 days plus two on the weekends) where I entered on a Segway and had to make a series of right turns. With the sprain, I could not execute the turn, so I arrived early and restaged my entrance with the cast (I choreographed the show so this wasn’t a real problem other than the last minute changes). I changed the entrance so that I made left turns instead of right turns, which I could do. Scary moments for sure. |
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It's all in the wrist
