My Motorcycle Injuries

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...

I broke my diabetic diet for a short while several weeks ago for my birthday. I had a nice birthday, and the celebration for it lasted a week or so. Yeah, party animals. During that time I ate anything and everything that I wanted to eat, but the strange thing is that I didn't really enjoy much of it. I honestly thought that I would enjoy engorging myself with countless carbohydrates, and I looked forward to doing it, but the truth is that the only thing that I can remember truly enjoying during that time was some milkshakes that I had over several days. The rest of the stuff just made me feel overly full and very much dissatisfied. I've had diabetes pretty much since the motorcycle accident, and eating has become an act of drudgery since. I eat because I have to eat in order to sustain life, but that's about it. That's why I don't really understand the fact that I don't enjoy the unlimited diet when I go off of the whole carb-watch thing. Mysteries serve a purp...

Perhaps the following statement falls under the TMI category...but I always view time in blocks. It's usually divided by either three or four months. I do this with my personal budget, with personal goals, and with the way in which I view a year. I never see it as, let's say 2021, but rather as January through April. Because of this, I have entered into a time slot now that involves the upcoming holiday season along with a winding down of the year itself. These time periods alter the way in which I see things and deal with my day to day patterns. It's probably a little weird, but if you go ahead and search throughout this blog beyond this one entry you'll discover that I'm a cross between freak and dork. But hey, at least I've still got my good looks. I was offered some time off yesterday by my sister-in-law to get some surgical work done on my body. I take care of her daughter throughout the workweek. I declined her offer because the though of surgery just does...

I’d like to draw a bit of an analogy today as I watch the Red Sox beating the Twins by a fairly wide margin just now. The Sox have been in either first or second place all season long. Recently they have slipped into third place and they are playing with a level of inconsistency that has them looking like heroes one game and goats the next. It’s getting too late in the season for this, but it’s baseball and you never know… I’m hoping that this is a pattern that does not develop in my life when dealing with the aftereffects of my accident injuries. The past several months have had me going from feeling athletic and strong one week to then feeling like a beat-up guy who needs to rest for a while the next week. I get so tired of this pattern and at times it causes some frustration when thinking about the future. I don’t want my life to go in this type of direction, but the truth is that my body doesn’t care what I think lately. I’ve always said that you can’t give up hope with the Red S...

I have started to take care of my  2 ½ year old niece again after an eight week Summer break . Her mom's a teacher, and school has started again this week with the need for staff to report in and prepare for the kids to return on Monday. I take care of my niece for the better part of the work day from Monday through Friday. I must admit, as corny as it may sound, that I fall a little more in love with her each day. She has gotten more active with age, but she's a really good kid and doesn't challenge me with her behavior (much). Today I took her sixteen year old sister out for breakfast and a little shopping as an end of the Summer treat. We have always been close and I enjoyed spending a little bit of time with her this morning. I'm sitting here on my couch now while watching a Red Sox game and hoping that they don't embarass themselves the way they did last night in Toronto against the Blue Jays. YYYYeah... The reason that I'm sitting here (aside from the gam...