Had Minor Hand Surgery Friday

[TSJMajesty]

20 years ago, I was using a nail gun to install these thick metal straps to 10 x10 wood posts. It's a special gun designed for this job, with a tip that must be inserted into the hole in the strap before you pull the trigger. I got going too fast (common theme of my injuries, lol) and missed the hole, the nail ricocheted, and cut my (fretting hand) palm.

Little did I know until getting an unrelated X-ray several years later, the reason my palm took longer to heal than I assumed, was because a part of that nail head stayed with me! I need an MRI of my hand due to a cyst on my wrist, so that nail fragment had to be removed.

No biggie, but that fragment looks nothing like a piece of a nail (I kept it as a memento.) Like maybe my body was slowly dissolving it...? It hung on for dear life though, taking the surgeon several grabs to get it to let go of the surrounding tissue.

Even though it never bothered me, I wonder if my guitar playing will now improve? I got right back to playing that evening.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Damn dude! You got lucky! Good to hear you are back on the mend \m/

 

[TSJMajesty]

Damn dude! You got lucky! Good to hear you are back on the mend \m/

I did. I wish I'd taken closer note of my work habits, to realize that when I get in a hurry, bad things can happen.... As I broke my leg extremely badly 3 years later, for being in a hurry.

 

[DrewJD82]

Damn!!!! Glad it was that minor you were playing that night!!! That’s scary sh*t!

 

[TSJMajesty]

Damn!!!! Glad it was that minor you were playing that night!!! That’s scary sh*t!

Besides this cyst (which I explained to the surgeon how important it is that I retain 100% hand function- he kinda laughed, saying that's why he's a hand specialist), I also have to go for some type of nerve test. My hands fall asleep intermittently, sometimes while I'm playing!! That one makes me a little nervous.

Had an initial visit with a nerve Doc, who thinks I may have carpal tunnel.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I did. I wish I'd taken closer note of my work habits, to realize that when I get in a hurry, bad things can happen.... As I broke my leg extremely badly 3 years later, for being in a hurry.

I feel you. I am rammy as fuck generally speaking and have to make conscious decisions to purposely calm the f down when doing something precarious.

 

[la szum]

Geesh! I hope you don't miss your little friend. That's a long time to carry a piece of work around with you, Tom.

 

[-BOOGIEMAN-]

Hope you feel better soon…

 

[TSJMajesty]

Geesh! I hope you don't miss your little friend. That's a long time to carry a piece of work around with you, Tom.

Well I won't be able to do my parlor trick of hanging a magnet off my hand any more. It used to freak people out! Shoot, I should've made a video of that before it got removed...

When I went for my initial MRI, once I informed the tech the 'object' was indeed ferrous, and he told me I wouldn't be able to get the MRI done, I asked him if we could just somehow strap my hand to something to hold it still, he said the magnet in the machine was so strong it would yank that thing right out of my hand.

I was like, "OK, let's do that!" (I was serious, because I was already starting to tire of the various doc appointments, wait for authorizations, etc. I just wanted things to move faster, since I started this whole process with this cyst back in March!)

Next up- follow up with the surgeon, schedule MRI, meet with surgeon to go over those results, then hopefully schedule surgery to get it removed!
FOUR MORE FREAKING appointments to deal with this shit! And that's not even counting the nerve issues.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

 

[paisleywookiee]

I too go too fast and sometimes miss the hole.

 

[PBGas]

That must have been mighty painful!!! glad you got it out finally!

 

[Warmart]

Very glad to hear, seems like you really unnailed it, bruh! Or the Dr. did

 

[la szum]

Well I won't be able to do my parlor trick of hanging a magnet off my hand any more. It used to freak people out! Shoot, I should've made a video of that before it got removed...

When I went for my initial MRI, once I informed the tech the 'object' was indeed ferrous, and he told me I wouldn't be able to get the MRI done, I asked him if we could just somehow strap my hand to something to hold it still, he said the magnet in the machine was so strong it would yank that thing right out of my hand.

I was like, "OK, let's do that!" (I was serious, because I was already starting to tire of the various doc appointments, wait for authorizations, etc. I just wanted things to move faster, since I started this whole process with this cyst back in March!)

Next up- follow up with the surgeon, schedule MRI, meet with surgeon to go over those results, then hopefully schedule surgery to get it removed!
FOUR MORE FREAKING appointments to deal with this s**t! And that's not even counting the nerve issues.

Holy shit!

 

[mavrick102000]

Besides this cyst (which I explained to the surgeon how important it is that I retain 100% hand function- he kinda laughed, saying that's why he's a hand specialist), I also have to go for some type of nerve test. My hands fall asleep intermittently, sometimes while I'm playing!! That one makes me a little nervous.

Had an initial visit with a nerve Doc, who thinks I may have carpal tunnel.

Glad to hear the nail removal is in process.

Carpal tunnel or combined with ulnar radiopathy ("Funny bone" nerve). Although, ulnar radiopathy will eventually cause pain in that area as well as the numbness in the ring and pinky fingers.

I'm dealing with arthritis starting in the CMC (thumb joint) on my fretting hand. A compression glove (fingertips are not covered) is helping while I play, and now that it's broken in, doesn't impede stretching my fingers for more complex chords.