My Motorcycle Injuries

It is said that time marches on. It feels as though it actually runs along as I grow older. A week seems like a day, and I feel as though things are constantly rushing forward. I continue to experience changes within my body, but at this stage those changes are all pretty much negative. I feel more pain because of the old injuries from the motortcycle accident, more aging because of calenders, and seemingly less time to keep up with a great deal of things in life. My leg and my hips are hurting more as time progresses, and my hand gets worse despite the fact that an orthopedic hand specialist and a neurologist have both told me that there's nothing seriously wrong and that nothing can actually be fixed. I function pretty well physically with everything that I do, but I feel "uncomfortable" all of the time. I have discovered recently that the two orthopedic surgeons that I had considered for any future surgery are now both irrelevent to my cause. One of them left his forme...

I received another bill from the orthopedic hand surgeon that I recently visited. I went to him for help with my hand, but in the end he told me that there isn't anything that can be done to improve things for me. I thought that I was done with this, but now it continues with the billing process associated with the time that I spent with this surgeon. First visit: fifteen minutes, second visit: five minutes. I have health insurance, but the things that weren't covered by my insurance policy were billed to me. This physician's billing process is so convoluted that I was charged a copay for each visit, but the copays were applied to other charges. Consequently, I have just received a second bill for one charge that they have me paying in small increments as their computer program continues to spew out a balance. I've called a couple of times and it seems that this last bill will be, well, the last bill.  It doesn't help that this is the time of year when I have to go ...

I finally went to the follow-up visit with the orthopedic hand specialist yesterday. It's been a while, but I've had to wait because of the appointment that he ordered for me with a neurologist, along with having to endure some time with a case of COVID-19 (I was 100% asymptomatic, so a free supply of antibodies for me). The neurologist made it seem as though the nerve damage in my hand was not treatable, and I drove to the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday convinced that I was going to be told that there wasn't much that could be done for me. I was actually told that there wasn't a single thing that could be done for me. The surgeon said that the nerve damage was not treatable and the issue with my trigger finger should wait until it gets worse. He told me that I should set up an appointment with him if the trigger finger should ever actually lock in an open or shut position. Um, sure, I'll call right away. So I've basically been told that altho...

In my last post I was griping a little about a few of the setbacks that I've been dealing with lately. I guess I should have kept my mouth (or keyboard?) shut. Since then I tested positive for COVID-19. Yay for me. I've been in isolation at home all week and the flip side of it is that I've been able to get a lot of stuff done because I'm not watching my niece while I'm in quarantine. The good news is that I'm completely asymptomatic. I took the J&J vaccine months ago, so yeah, maybe it paid off. I wouldn't have known that I had this virus at all except for the fact that my little niece's dad and sister got sick, so I took a home test to be cautious. I then went to a clinic to confirm the result. The diabetes given to me by one of my accident injuries hasn't caused any problems with COVID-19, and I anticipate that in a few days I'll test clear and be able to join the outside world again.  As a result of my diagnosis I had to cancel my follow-...

Although I’m feeling relatively OK, the past few weeks have been a little less than ideal concerning the things related to my accident injuries. I’ve been sleepless and tired the past weeks, and some days I hit periods of time when it feels as though I’ve got nothing left to give. It’s not that I'm running out of gas, but rather that I feel as though the equipment has nothing left to give…as if the different parts are just too worn down. Then, a couple of weeks ago I had an appointment with a neurologist, having been referred to her by an orthopedic hand specialist a few weeks before. The neurologist said that she didn’t see anything significantly wrong with most of the nerves in my hand. Considering the degree of discomfort and pain that I experience daily with my hand, it was a little odd to hear that there’s not a lot wrong with it neurologically. The problem is that the orthopedic surgeon will be basing his ability to help me, in part, on her report. I have an appointment wit...

I went to see an orthopedic hand specialist today. I had to answer a host of invasive questions along with having my hand x-rayed. I liked the guy, but I'm really not too confident about where I'm going with this. My hand has developed a trigger finger from the tendon damage that occurred in the accident, and I also experience a great deal of painful discomfort from nerve damage. He gave me a shot in hopes of avoiding surgery for the trigger finger, and he gave me a referral for a neurologist in order to have the nerve damage tested. Today is Columbus Day and no one answered the phone as I attempted to make an appointment, so I assume that the neurologist stayed home to play with her dogs Nina, Pinta, and little Santa Maria. Anyway, the orthopedic surgeon told me that the test results from the neurologist will allow him to determine if he can help me with the nerve damage or not. So...a fifty dollar deductible payment later, and what I have is several questionnaires filled out,...

I wrote in my last blog entry (see here) that I was thinking of going to an orthopedic hand specialist some time in the future with an eye toward having some type of procedure done at the beginning of next summer. I wrote that I wasn't really certain as to whether or not I would actually pull the trigger on that game plan. Well, I've pretty much emptied the cartridge. I actually made an appointment with a local and reputable surgeon for this coming Monday. I filled out all of the online paperwork today and paid the deductible required for the visit. In a sense I can't believe that I've done this, but in another sense I find myself hoping that this guy can actually work his medical voodoo and make things better for me with a hand/wrist that has been a source of irritation for almost eight years now. It's just that I really hate going to doctors, and filling out all of the info on his questionnaire today was irritating enough without even stepping into his office.  I...

If you spend some time reading through this blog, you’ll find that I am very much against medical things. You know...like surgeons, hospitals, drugs, cotton swabs, whatever. I can’t stand any of it. Sitting in a waiting room is a drag, but making it into the examination room is even worse. Pain relief pills? Save them for an arts and crafts project. My absolute dislike of anything having to do with the medical profession is what makes the topic of this blog entry so odd. The thing is that I've been thinking of seeing a hand specialist a couple of months into the coming new year because my hand has been such a mess between the nerve damage and tendon problems. I had planned (tentatively and hesitantly) to go at the start of the year because any potential surgery would have to take place within an eight week window of time in the summer. I take care of my niece throughout the year but I get a break from my childcare duties in the summer. I figured that occupational therapy would foll...

My hand and wrist have been hurting more than usual lately. I keep thinking to myself that I should set an appointment with an orthopedic hand specialist to see if someone could help to rework some of the things originally done after the accident. I’ve got a bone/nerve/tendon thing going on that ranges from uncomfortable to painful on any given day. Lately, it’s just more noticeable to me and leaning toward the side of painful. I mentioned the pain in my hand a week ago to a relative who is well aware of the injuries caused by the accident. He asked me “why?” when I mentioned to him that my hand was really hurting. My answer? A subtle yet somewhat sarcastic, “ you see, I was in this accident six years ago and I got really banged up”. I cannot forget that these things are a part of me now. I cannot forget that my life is different in many ways, that my body is never going to be the same, and that I am called upon to remain stronger than the sum total of everything that has happened to m...