Posts Tagged ‘thumb’

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

 

 

Ouch 7 the recovery process

Posted: 23/07/2012 in ouch, photography
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Apologies for the delay to this post but I’ve been doing my best to avoid the computer for the last week or so.

My surgery went ahead as scheduled or rather rescheduled on the 12th and the initial prognosis is good, upon opening up the side of my thumb it has been established that there is no tendon damage and that whilst there was a lot of scaring around the median nerve it too was in tact so they were able to do something called neurolysis which essentially consisted of un-sheathing the nerve and cutting away the excess scar tissue, this process is unlikely to return the sense of feeling to the tip of my thumb but should theoretically at least do something to stop the nerve from sending phantom signals back up into my hand and arm saying it’s in pain.

Hold on I’m not sure that makes much sense so I’m going to try to explain a bit better the reasons I was pushing for this surgery in the first place, not having any feeling in the tip of my thumb has not been the end of my world, it’s made my typing a little clumsy and I’ve burned it while cooking a couple of times but what has been unbearable is that the median nerve that serves the thumb has known there was something wrong with it and sent random shooting pains back up through my thenar (the pulpy bit of your hand beneath your thumb) and into my forearm. These pains have been fairly random but were largely brought on by things like having to drive long distance especially in difficult conditions like heavy rain or stop start traffic where I might subconsciously be gripping the steering wheel harder than normal. My boys also have an uncanny ability to single out this weakness and bite, kick or grab out at it resulting in often days of being unable to sleep properly.

Right back to where we are now they’ve done the surgery, I’ve been through a week of being stoned out of my box on happy pills that barely dented the pain nor helped my sleep and  I’ve been back to have my dressing changed and spoken with a specialist hand nurse who’s given me some simple exercises and things are definitely improving, I’ve run out of the hospital prescribed happy pills and am now just subsiding on over the counter analgesics, these do seem to be working though and whilst I’m still getting cramping through my thenar it’s believed by the specialists that this will improve with time and I may even regain some feeling in the tip.

My stitches come out on Friday and they’ll take a decision then as to whether or not I will benefit from physiotherapy, they will also decide then whether I will need to return to see my consultant surgeon in either two months or three as this is the soonest that things are likely to have settled down enough to judge if there has been any permanent improvement and whether or not further surgery might be necessary.

I’m allowed to drive again once the stitches are out which will be of huge relief to the wonderfully patient and kind Mrs Bunny Chow who has borne the brunt of childcare duties and been running around trying to do the school runs etc.

I’ll leave this there as I’ve pretty much exhausted my patience for one-handed typing.

thanks again for all the kind messages and support.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

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Ouch 2!!!

Posted: 09/01/2012 in ouch
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4

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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4

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