Posts Tagged ‘ouch’

Ouch 8

Posted: 06/08/2012 in ouch
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it’s been a while since I’ve whinged and whined about my low pain threshold so thought I would give you all a brief update on my recovery.

The stitches have been out for just over a week now and despite a huge chunk of dead skin peeling away a couple of days later the wound itself although still tender and a little inflamed appears to be healed over with just a little flakiness remaining although I am massaging Bio Oil into it several times a day which will no doubt improve the dryness. The exciting news from this weekend is that I was experiencing some general swelling of my hand necessitating having to take my wedding ring off but then I bashed my thumb and realised that I could feel pain just in front of the original would site. There is still no sensation at the tip of my thumb but I’m getting some really peculiar sensations down the length of my thumb like pins and needles. In addition to this although difficult to explain if I run my fingers over my thumb it feels strangely detached almost as if it’s not my own like that sensation you get if you sit on your hand for a long time and then touch it.

Reading back over that last bit I’m not sure what I’ve written makes sense even to me and I know what I’m trying to say but still I’m excited because things are changing and that’s got to be good. I’m now almost entirely analgesic free which whilst not always especially comfortable my bowels are grateful for the lack of codeine which was wreaking havoc on my somewhat sensitive constitution.

Not a lot of other news to report so I’ll leave you there.

Have a great week.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

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now what do I do?

Posted: 27/07/2012 in Mr Bunny Chow, ouch
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oh bloody hell now what do I do, I’ve been nominated for a blog award and whilst I’m very grateful to MarantoPhotography for nominating me to receive the One Lovely Blog award I’ve always felt these sorts of awards to be one step short of being chain letters.

Here’s some recognition now you have to think of fifteen other people to nominate for this same reward.

Well I’ve spent my life being pretty anti-establishment so I’m going to thank Maranto Photography as I know her intentions were pure and instead of nominating anyone else I’ll just mention a couple of blogs that I regularly visit and enjoy in the hope that some of you too will find pleasure in them.

I stress that there is no pressure or obligation on their part to respond, I just enjoy their Blogs.

In no particular order.

Bassas Blog the diary and adventures of a Caucasian Shepherd Dog

Yoonanimous the often hilarious misadventures of Yoona a mother of two young boys.

2Summers the adventures of Heather an American (don’t hold that against her) expat making a new life in Jo’Burg, her tale is often heartbreaking but always told with good humour and warmth.

Crappy Pictures  The woman is a genius, she draws my life and makes me giggle.

Japan Camera Hunter I check in on Bellamy and his eclectic mix of camera porn on a daily basis, just to remind myself of all that I can’t afford. His regular in your bag feature is a particular favourite.

now I’m supposed to list seven things about myself, see I told you this whole thing was a bit chain letter like didn’t I, still at least it’s not lying to me about poor billy who’s been dying of leukemia since 1984 while his Nambabwean uncle is trying to get out of the military and would like to deposit millions into my bank account if I could just send them the details.

  1. I can’t grow a beard, I just get patchy stubble which is ginger, blonde and greying, I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t have to shave but I do so it irks me.
  2. My eyes creep me out and I gag if I try to put contact lenses or drops in, this is ok because I don’t mind glasses.
  3. I’ve just noticed that I’m wearing a lilac shirt and am not actually all that embarrassed, I guess you reach a certain age and just don’t care anymore.
  4. I won the National Schools Wildlife Quiz when growing up in Zimbabwe (a bit like mastermind for kids)
  5. I have a weakness for all things mechanical but especially watches.
  6. I spent six months of my life living like a hippy on a Kibbutz in Israel.
  7. I own a gas braai (barbecue) and prefer it. I should probably qualify this before my family disown me, charcoal in Britain is invariably soaked in paraffin and makes your food taste crap, proper hardwood is unavailable.

That’ll have to satisfy your cravings for knowledge about me.

 

Having my stitches removed this afternoon, it can’t happen any sooner, as they’re starting to itch and pull now.

have a great weekend and

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

 

a personal photography project

Posted: 24/07/2012 in photography
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outside of my project 52 and collaboration projects with Nick and Shannon I’ve been quietly working on a little personal project which although it may seem a little sad and depressing, has actually helped me avoid feeling that way as I wade my way through the misery of a dank and wet British summer, relied on the NHS to hack me open and fix my hand and generally try not to feel too sorry for myself I thought that I’d try to capture some gritty dark and depressing style photo’s.

I’ve shared a few of these style pictures with you throughout the year and whilst I’m not entirely sure what draws me to them as they are undoubtedly pretty dank they are the style of photo I most enjoy capturing and getting just as dark, grainy and depressing as I can in post editing. I think what I’m trying to say is that dark and depressing photo’s make me happy.

I hope that by sharing these I make one or two of you smile too even if it’s just with my stupid captions.

Journey through the light

Hold my hand as the light at the end of the tunnel shines bright.

this is summer 2012

Global warming my arse, it was pouring with rain and freezing cold when I captured this shot last week.

just another teen romantic

What did your teen bedroom look like?

Get out-of-the-way old man

Can’t you see I’m far more important than you and am rushing to very important places.

she knows how to use them!!!

This just reminded me of the ZZ Top classic Legs.

Love Fades

I love the way this chalk etching is slowly fading away within its brick frame.

do you have the key?

I’ve got a real thing for old locks, I think it’s the mechanical beauty and precision in their manufacture that draws me to them time and again.

past glory slowly fading

I love this old Merc and can’t help but wonder about who purchased it new as an aspirational tour de force with its rock solid build quality and how even after all these years it’s still going, is it still owned by the same person or has it been passed from owner to owner and loved a little bit less with each successive tenure.

whats the bet the wheels will be gone come morning?

I’m positive this car doesn’t belong to a drug dealer

the lonely vigil

Is he longing for escape, is he waiting for his owner to come home or is he simply surveying his kingdom?

Once again I hope you’ve enjoyed this little insight into the type of pictures I find myself seeking out when not shooting with a particular idea or theme in mind.

What type of art inspires you and makes you happy?

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Project 52 Week 22

Posted: 07/06/2012 in ouch, photography
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I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.

Week 22 proved to be incredibly challenging for me as the theme was self-portrait and try as I might I didn’t like any of the clichéd shots I kept taking of myself either arms extended or gurning into a mirror and with time limited and self-conscious double chin hatred precluding all of the shot’s I kept trialling from being shared I decided to think a little more about who I am as an artist.

I’m a father, I’m a dog walker, I’m a husband, I have a job managing a small office, nothing there spoke to me either, not because I’m not proud of all of the above but because I wanted to capture something deeply personal and there are plenty of other talented people out there who do all of these things successfully.

Then I began thinking about what has helped shape my style and personality most since I began this project and kept coming back to my thumb injury for which I am still awaiting an operation date from the NHS.

Self Portrait

I’ve winged and whined in these pages before about my sore thumb and how I have battled to ignore its constant aching over the last 6 months and I’ve gotten better at keeping quiet about it and not boring my friends and family but the long drive to the Vale of Glamorgan and back over the long weekend brought the stark reality back home to me. It is still bloody sore and I can’t shrug off something like a long drive as easily as I once could.

So there you have it my excuse reason for not showing you a picture of my ugly mug but instead a shot of my poor sore left hand.

In my last post I promised you some exciting news and I may have gotten over excited as the news is hugely exciting to me but perhaps a little droll for all of you. None the less I no longer need to borrow The Falklandislander’s Canon EOS10D (although I still have it in my possession) as I managed to find a battered example for myself for the bargain price of £50 from the lovely people of www.cameraworld.co.uk they were open and honest about the condition of the camera but I couldn’t be happier, it’s alloy magnesium body bares it’s scrapes and scratches with pride and so far appear to be purely cosmetic. I mean come on this camera was over £1000 when new and it’s now mine.

Sure I’d love the have the cash to throw at a slightly more modern system but I love the feel and weight of this camera and it’s relatively low value gives me the confidence to take it everywhere with me.

You’ll be seeing plenty of pictures from it in the coming, months week and years I can assure you.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

P.S. this weeks pic was actually taken with my HTC One X phone but pictures from the Canon are coming soon.

Ouch 3!!!

Posted: 01/02/2012 in iPhone, Kindle, ouch
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Superficial palmar nerves.

Image via Wikipedia

for those of you that have been following my saga I wanted to give you an update on the state of my thumb, if this is a new story line to you then you can catch up here before continuing.

After much badgering of my GP and the appointments clerks at my local hospital I finally managed to see a specialist hand surgeon for an opinion as to what could be done about my hand.

He sucked his teeth in obvious irritation and said that I should have been refered within a week of the injury and that he would be writing a strongly worded letter to my GP advising him of his displeasure. He then said that there were two lines of thought on late presenting nerve damage, the first being to go ahead and operate as soon as possible anyway and the other to allow any scar tissue to form and inflammation to dissipate before attempting surgery.

The kindly surgeon then refered me for X-Rays whilst he went off and spoke with some colleagues for further opinion. Mr Surgeon came back to me a short while later to say that he wanted me to see a different surgeon at the plastics hand clinic at another hospital on the other side of town the following morning.

Being in agony after kindly first Mr Surgeons manipulations, pokes and proddings as well as the thought of rush hour traffic I decided that public transport was the order of the day to get across London for my early appointment, this was needless to say as unpleasant as can be expected of any brush with London’s transport system and I spent the majority of the journey with my nose wedged firmly in the armpit of a fellow commuter whilst trying my best to read my kindle.

On a minor aside this was the first time I’ve taken rush hour public transport in some time and I was amused to count four other kindle readers within a radius of a couple of metres, they’re obviously taking off.

Anyway I’m waffling, I made it to my appointment on time even though I’d given myself plenty of extra time to arrive early, I checked in and was seen relatively quickly, by NHS standards anyway by a specialist nurse, who repeated much of the previous days excruciating poking and prodding as well as tests to establish relative muscle wasting and retained strength as well as examining my X-Rays from the previous day.

He then disappeared for the best part of an hour with brief revisits to inflict more pain and ask more questions before reappearing with another slightly less kindly but equally professional looking Mr Surgeon who explained to me that he believed that I had indeed partially severed a branch of my Median Nerve which he also gave a very long and complicated name and also suffered a minor fracture of my thumb at the joint where I had managed to stab myself.

He also promised to dictate a strongly worded letter to my GP about the importance of quick referrals in cases of suspected nerve injuries. He then went on to say that in consultation with his registrar Kindly Mr Surgeon number one, he believed that the fracture had now healed itself and that there was now too much scarring and inflammation of the muscles surrounding the nerve for surgery to be immediately successful and that he would be referring me for physiotherapy before re-assessing me in a couple of weeks.

He also recommended that I regularly massaged the wound site and my hand with moisturiser, and try to use the thumb as much as my pain threshold will allow.

So that’s where we are, I am waiting for them to get in touch with physio appointments and follow-up appointments whilst continuing to consume vast quantities of analgesics.

Many thanks for all the kindly messages of support I’ve recieved and also extra special thanks go out to Mrs Bunny Chow for putting up with my extra grumpy self.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

Ouch 2!!!

Posted: 09/01/2012 in ouch
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Howdy Readers,

I thought I’d give you a brief update having been back to see my GP (general practitioner) this morning.

I completed my course of antibiotics over the weekend, as suspected I wasn’t very good at taking them on time until I set myself phone reminders that bugged me until I did but still I completed the course so there is no further fear of infection. The wound itself is now completely healed over leaving just some tender keloid (scar) tissue so nothing else is likely to get in there.

I still have no pain receptors in the tip of my thumb or distal phalanx as the doctor likes to call it and am still extremely sore and stiff in the pad at the base of my thumb or thenar and first two fingers.

The GP has now referred me to see the consultant hand surgeon at my local hospital to see what else if anything can be done. The GP has also advised that I now stop wearing the brace during the day and that I massage my thenar regularly to encourage healing.

Now it’s just waiting to see how quickly I can get an appointment to see said surgeon and continuing to take pain medication to manage in the interim.

hope you’re all well

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Ouch!!!

Posted: 03/01/2012 in baby preparations, ouch
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Howdy readers,

Just thought I’d throw this story out there and ask if any of you had experienced similar injuries or had any thoughts or advice.

On the Friday before Christmas we had some friends over for gift giving and a few drinks and whilst I was distracted by drinks fetching and an over excited toddler who wanted their new toys out of the near impenetrable packaging now I managed stab myself in the left thumb right on the middle knuckle joint. I wasn’t overly concerned at the time, sure it was sore and bled but a plaster soon fixed things up and stopped the bleeding and the knife I’d used was relatively clean and very sharp so initially just put it down to experience and was thankful I didn’t stab anyone else or gouge a bigger hole out of myself.

Over Christmas though my thumb, thumb pad and first two fingers of my hand became more and more stiff and painful with a constant pulse throbbing in the tip of the afflicted thumb. I still wasn’t overly concerned though as could still move everything and my tetanus is up to date following a previous incident with an angry cat. But come the middle of the week it became inevitable that a trip to the doctors was now unavoidable.

He looked at the would and agreed with my own conclusion that the cut although deep was too small to have been stitched, that tetanus wasn’t a concern and that as I could bend the stabbed joint all be it painfully that there was unlikely to be ligament damage. What he did do that I’d not considered was some sensitivity tests in the end of the thumb and at that point I realised that although I could just about feel pressure I’d lost the pain receptors forward of the injury.

The quack has prescribed the usual broad spectrum antibiotics and recommended that I wear a brace to immobilise the thumb as much as possible and go back and see him in a couple of weeks.

I’m hopeless when it comes to taking drugs as I often forget especially when they’re four times a day jobs like the ones he’s given me but I am trying and the open wound has now pretty much healed over with just a little swelling and a bit of peeling skin left but my hand is still aching pretty much constantly and there is not difference in the amount of feeling I have in the tip of my thumb.

So anyway after all that rambling what I’d like to know is if anyone out there has experienced a similar injury and what sort of timeframes you experienced before you healed.

I’ll keep you all posted on how I get on.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow