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Old 06-27-2018, 05:03 PM
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Chicago Sandy Chicago Sandy is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: SW Coast of Lake Michigan
Posts: 14,782
Default L hand update :(

Saw my orthopedic hand surgeon today, and the news isn't good. Though I slightly nicked both my R radial head (elbow) and neck (wrist end of the bone), they're healling well and need no treatment other than common sense measures.

But the "waist" of my L scaphoid (bone beneath my thumb) is fractured. And the TFCC disc (wrist cartilage) is torn. I will need surgery: the scaphoid needs to be screwed together to promote "union" (it's a bone that doesn't often heal well by itself, and if it does heal "unaided," it could take 6 months in a cast or hard brace). The TFCC needs to be debrided--the part I tore is central, w/o a blood supply, so it can't be sutured. And the reason it tore? It didn't tear in that first fall, just got inflamed when I strained (but not sprained) the surrounding soft tissue. But after 2 mos., when it felt just about healed, it tore when I propped myself up on my L hand to turn over in bed. The inflammation made it vulnerable.

But what caused it to tear was that when I bore weight on that hand, the pointy end of my ulna pierced it. And why did that happen? Because I have a congenital "positive ulnar variance:" my ulna is 3-4mm too long (who knew?). And if I get the TFCC debrided, that pesky ulna might poke it once again. So I will also be getting an (ugh) ulnar reduction osteotomy: the surgeon will saw the bone in half, shave off a 3-4mm "wafer" and then screw the bone back together, reinforcing it with a plate. (One more thing the TSA's gonna have to wand when I fly).

So July 10 is the big day. I will be in a cast for a week; then a "Muenster brace" (pretty cheesy, no?) 24/7 for at least 6 weeks and then at night for another 6-8. I might be able to play Fox Valley Labor Day weekend, but probably my Sep. 14 Molly's Cafe and definitely Oct. 7 Grove Folk Festival gigs. (Might still hurt, but not as much as it did last week at Taste of Tippecanoe).

So meanwhile I will be practicing harmonica and learning R hand scales on keyboards. Maybe even retuning my dulcimers to Ionian mode and relearning how to play with a noter (which doesn't require L wrist rotation). Funny thing--that's how I first learned to play way back in 1980!
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Gramann Rapahannock, 7 Taylors, 4 Martins, 2 Gibsons, 2 V-A, Larrivee Parlour, Gretsch Way Out West, Fender P-J Bass & Mustang, Danelectro U2, Peavey fretless bass, 8 dulcimers, 2 autoharps, 2 banjos, 2 mandolins, 3 ukes

I cried because I had no shoes.....but then I realized I won’t get blisters.
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