A request

iis612

Member
Hey all,

I have a request, but first a little back story. I was injured on the job. I fell and hurt my right wrist. This has me out of work, and facing the possibility of surgery. With that, I can not do much with my MRR except read and plan.
I know that there are many people who are in a much worse spot than I, and I pray for them all.
If you could keep me in your thoughts and prayers, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all,
Matt
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
Matt,

I know what you're going through. I fell a few months ago and I'm still limited in what I can do with my wrist and shoulder. So far no talk of surgery, but I've had three cortisone shots.... Uh, the one in the wrist was a total delight.:cry: :cry:

I wish you the best, and whatever they say they need to do, get it done since these things take a long time to heal otherwise.
 

iis612

Member
An update.
The surgery talk has quieted for the time being. I got a cortisone injection in my wrist today. That is just about the most painful thing I have ever endured. The doctor mixed lidocaine into the cortisone, which was kinda helpful after the injection, but has rendered my right hand nearly useless as it is 50% numb.
I had to have an EMG test done. For those not familiar, they hook electrodes at various points on the hand then pass a rather healthy dose of elecrical current through the arm and measure the difference between the shock given and what was received at the electrodes. Then they stick a needle into the muscle in the arm (at various points) and pass electricity through the muscle.
That was fun:curse:. I highly recomend it to anyone that is masochistic.
I also had an MRI. They are going to have to do that again, because I am claustrophobic and could not hold still. The term "Open MRI" is a load of crap. It is not open. The next one I have, I will have to be medicated.
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
An update.
The surgery talk has quieted for the time being. I got a cortisone injection in my wrist today. That is just about the most painful thing I have ever endured. The doctor mixed lidocaine into the cortisone, which was kinda helpful after the injection, but has rendered my right hand nearly useless as it is 50% numb.
I had to have an EMG test done. For those not familiar, they hook electrodes at various points on the hand then pass a rather healthy dose of elecrical current through the arm and measure the difference between the shock given and what was received at the electrodes. Then they stick a needle into the muscle in the arm (at various points) and pass electricity through the muscle.
That was fun:curse:. I highly recomend it to anyone that is masochistic.
I also had an MRI. They are going to have to do that again, because I am claustrophobic and could not hold still. The term "Open MRI" is a load of crap. It is not open. The next one I have, I will have to be medicated.
Yeah, isn't that shot in the wrist fun? My doctor said that it is the most painful shot of all, and like yours, he mixed in pain killer so I didn't think it was so bad.... well, until that night..... I couldn't touch my wrist, even though my hand was numb. It took about 24 hours before things started to go back to normal. But so far, with the cortisone injections, I'm doing better as well. Glad you are too...
 

rogerw

Active Member
If only we were 20 again. Things just healed up so much faster back then. Good luck to both of you.
 

iis612

Member
An update...
Surgery is no longer "possible" it is definate.
I will have to have surgery to alleviate carpal tunnel in both wrists. While they have me sliced open I have what is called a "TFCC Tear" in both wrists as well.
The carpal tunnel surgery is no big deal, but to repair the tear they ahve to shorten the ulna in both arms.
For those not familiar with anatomy, the ulna is one of 2 bones in the fore-arm. It is on the pinky side.
They shorten it between .01 to .1", but the healing, re-hab, and occupational therapy takes a while.
I don't know when it is gonna happen, since the doctor, the insurance adjuster, and the lawyers have to hash it out.
I will add updates as appropriate.
Matt
 

iis612

Member
Also, I wanted to add...
Don, it sucks that you are injured. I would not wish it on anyone, ever. However, there is a silver lining in this, for me at least. I don't feel like I am going through this all alone. Thank you for that.
 

scubadude

Member
Also, I wanted to add...
Don, it sucks that you are injured. I would not wish it on anyone, ever. However, there is a silver lining in this, for me at least. I don't feel like I am going through this all alone. Thank you for that.
Matt, you're not alone. When I was 21 (geez, has it really been 27 years ago?) :eek: , I had an air compressor coupling explode directly into my right palm, wreaking havoc with the tendons in my ring and middle fingers. They eventually did 3 surgeries to repair tendons, nerves and Lord knows what else in there. Back then, before computer keyboards, carpal tunnel was less prevalent than it is now. The corrections were similar to carpal tunnel surgery is today. I FEEL your pain, Bro. My biggest piece of advice comes when it is time to rehab - do your exercises and therapy religiously! Scar tissue is the biggest problem, not so much the actual surgery, at least it was for me.....keep us posted, prayers to you :thumb:
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
You don't want to have the surgery done to both wrists at the same time! If you think about it, you know you will need one hand free at all times! I had carpel tunnel surgery two years ago, and it took about 6-8 weeks for me to go back to work because my hand was numb afterwards, and a mechanic can do serious injury trying to work with a numb hand. In fact I went to a buddies shop to help him rebuild a couple of transmissions about 2 weeks before I went back to work to see if I could work. We had a spacer for a t-5 transmission (5 speed out of a Mustang) that needed to have about .002" removed. We could not get the correxct sized spacer, so I set up a piece of 400 grit wet or dry emery on a glas plate and used wd40 for a lubricant to lap a couple thousandts off the spacer. Pretty soon I was seeing red streaks on the emery, I looked and I had inadvertantly sanded through the skin on my thumb. I then scrubbed out the wound with some detergent that is normally excellent "cut finder." I never felt a thing, so I stayed off work for 2 more weeks.

Aside from the numbness in your hand for a few weeks after the surgery, carpel tunnel surgery is not too bad. You don't need to be completely healed from the first surgery before you have the other hand done, but at least wait long enough for you to have the first hand out of the bandages and somewhat useful before you let them cut on the other hand.
 

iis612

Member
Thanks Richard and Russ.

I might have to have another surgery to repair something called a TFCC tear in my left wrist as well as the carpel tunnel.
I wish they would get the red tape cut and do the surgeries.
I am kinda tired of feeling useless.:curse:
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
If the claim is for an injury covered under worker's compensation; and they insist on "dragging their feet" about approval for the surgery, you may need to get legal counsel if you don't have a union to fight them for you. If you go through a lawyer, you probably won't have to have the lawyer do much more than write a letter to all parties. It is a shame, but it seems in our society that while everybody complains about people suing for every little thing, big companies and insurance companies often won't do what is right for their employees unless there is the threat of a lawsuit. What it comes down to is that it costs less to "string you along," and delay paying for a needed surgery than it does to dhave the surgery scheduled. It is amazing how fast some of these companies respond to the threat of lawsuits! By the way, if you are concerned with a lawyer taking too big a cut of any settlement, in most states and the federal government worker's comp suits are regulated in terms of how much the lawyer can charge.
 
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