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The good and the bad...luck, that is. UPDATE, scroll down


Pat Riot

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Life is funny. Good things happen and invariably something bad seems to have to come along too. Actually, the “bad” in my case has been coming for quite a while...

I am so stoked about my USS Constitution cruise but at the same time I am a bit sad.

My right wrist is finally telling me, quite painfully, that I need to have that surgery that I have put off for so long.

After my last CAS match it took me week of Ibuprofen and nursing it to get the pain to subside. Over the weekend I was going to go to the range so I was getting my gear together and picked up my S&W 19, checked that it was unloaded, closed the cylinder and cocked the hammer and BAM! A lightning bolt of pain shot up my arm. I darn near dropped my revolver. A mortal sin! :o Well, not really but in my book it should be.:D

I quickly put it back in the safe and grabbed one of my Vaqueros, checked it, then cocked the hammer and, gee, wouldn’t ya know it, the same thing happened. And yes, I did expect a different outcome.

It also hurts to operate my lever guns. :( I can’t even thumb back the hammer on my Henry Single Shot.

“A man has got to know his limitations”

 

Another thing that I have discovered this week is that it appears that the Ibuprofen that has kept me sane since my bike crash nearly 2 years ago (when I should have had my wrist addressed) is messing with my guts. I won’t go into details on the symptoms but I need to stop taking it.

 

I have an appointment with an Orthopedic Doctor next week. He’s got a great reputation. He’s the doctor that surgeons go to when they have hand and wrist problems. 

 

Needless to say, until I get my wrist fixed I will not be doing any Cowboy Action Shooting, or any other shooting. :( Well, right handed any way. :)

 

I can still ride my motorcycle but that is also getting to be too painful. 

 

Take care of your joints folks.

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Wrist surgery is not something that I like, but I have had three of them.  One to repair ruptured  tendons when I lost an argument with a 3000 pound blast proof door and two for carp - in - a - tunnel syndrome.  All of them came out OK.  I was very serious about doing the therapy and suggest that you be also.

Good luck with the surgery and you will be back to normal very soon.

 

Duffield

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Wishing you the best.  Take care of yourself and you'll be back at it before you know it.

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1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

If the doc throws you into that place with the big H, can I have your ticket to Constitution?   :ph34r:

If that happened, Absolutely!

But, I am making sure that it doesn't happen. :D

I wouldn't miss this for anything.

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51 minutes ago, Charlie Plasters, SASS#60943 said:

Watch out for the ibuprofen. I was using it to deal with arthritis and eventually it ate a hole in my guts and the blood loss got me a ride in an ambulance.

Thank you Charlie. That is kind of what I had experienced but no ambulance ride.

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I hope you have a successful surgery and a quick recovery. :(

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Good luck on the surgery.

 

Please reconsider riding your motorcycle with bad wrists.  I would prefer that you not become an organ donor.

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Hi Pat,

 

I'm so sorry to hear this. Before I had wrist surgery, it hurt all of the time. I would start taking Aleve on Thursday before a Saturday match. After surgery, it is much better. It only hurts when I overuse it. I hope you have good luck.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Allie

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4 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Good luck on the surgery.

 

Please reconsider riding your motorcycle with bad wrists.  I would prefer that you not become an organ donor.

How do you think I got the bad wrist? :D

Well, that and other injuries. 

 

I will give up my bike when they pry it form my cold dead...Uh...Never mind...;)

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Pat, I've had CT surgeries on both wrists. The right one in the '80's, the left in the early 2000's. different surgeon's for each. The left went much better than the right one. Both were the result of repetitive motion. The right ended up as a 13% permanent partial disability( wrist won't do a full 90 degree bend). The left was a walk in the park in comparison. Improvements in surgical methods I would suppose. The right one was a good predictor for bad weather for several years, but has eased up on that now. Still have some glitches with both if I  over use them. Follow instructions and do the therapy:rolleyes::blush:

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Sorry to hear this, Pat.  Prayers up for a successful surgery and hope you'll be as good as new sooner rather than later.

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Pat,

 

  Get 'er done. Do the rehab properly, and here's hoping you're back to the range in no time.

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Saw the doc yesterday. I need to have a nerve connectivity test next week but he is sure I have carpal tunnel syndrome. 

That is “fixable”.

 

The thing that bothers me is the other problem. I have really bad arthritis in the first big joint of my thumb and where that same thumb bone meets the wrist. (decided to skip the fancy medical jargon)

I also have a cyst emanating from that wrist area. The fix for that area is:

1. Install a plate that fuses the scaphoid area of my wrist and thumb. This would reduce my range of motion by 40%. It would probably cut way back on my pain. 

2. Wear a wrist brace a lot “and stop doing things that annoy the joint”. (In others words, no handgun shooting and no motorcycles.)

3. Do nothing and deal with the pain. Wear a wrist brace to bed.

 

When my my doctor asked about my hobbies I told him I loved shooting and motorcycling two things impressed me. First, he didn’t scowl at the word “motorcycling”. Second, it turns out he used to shoot IPSC and Silhouette matches. 

His attitude about the “3 options” idea changed and he said I should do the nerve test and see what that reveals and that if my carpal tunnel problem is severe, doing the surgery for that may relieve a lot of my pain but I will still have the issue with the arthritis and the very damaged thumb / wrist joint. 

He said I would “probably still be able to shoot handguns but keep the Dirty Harry action out of it”. In other words, my right handed heavy .45 Colt and .357 Magnum shooting needs to be curtailed. Also my love of light guns with standard to heavy loads will have to change. 

 

I will do the nerve test and go from there. I am not giving up my handguns or motorcycles so that ain’t happening.

 

I’ll be hitting the range tomorrow to start seriously learning how to shoot left handed. I practice shooting defensive pistols left handed, but minimally. 

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8 minutes ago, Calico Mary said:

Shooting left handed ain't that hard, Pat, I do it all the time.....:D

:lol:

When I shoot, or do anything left handed my coordination goes right out the window. :D

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Howdy,

Good luck on the surgery----s.

Just remember your therapy is a HUGE part of the final outcome.

The surgery is like getting ammo custom loaded, 

the therapy is like aiming and firing the bullet.

Don't hurry the recovery.

Best

CR

 

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46 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

PR-I had to give up Duelist, and go SS because of hand issues.

2-handed ain't all that bad.......

OLG

 

 

Yep, I’m going down that trail myself!

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2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

:lol:

When I shoot, or do anything left handed my coordination goes right out the window. :D

 

Do ya wanna shoot or do ya wanna be coordinated??   Geez, make up yer mind....:rolleyes:

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Dear Pat,

 

I had surgery for Keinbock's Disease (disintegration of the lunate bone). The doctor (an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in hands) removed four wrist bones. ALSO, I had terrible arthritis in the same hand thumb's basal joint.  She removed the basal joint and did a tendon graft to replace it.  The wrist and top of that hand bothers me sometimes. The thumb never hurts.

 

The reason I'm telling you this is that there may be another option rather than a plate for that thumb. Mine now has a better range of motion than the other thumb.

 

Alas, my hand surgeon has moved to Florida.

 

Please ask your doctor about the tendon graft.

 

Sincerely,

 

Allie

 

PS Snakebite had a surgery on his thumb too. I heard it is not going so well. Yet, he has been doing very well shooting lately.I haven't had time to get the details. It would be interesting to know if he got a plate or tendon graft.

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11 minutes ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Please ask your doctor about the tendon graft.

Thank you Allie. I will.

 

One thing is for sure, I am not gonna let this keep me down...of course, I should have addressed this a few years ago. I just kept putting it off.

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Pat come to the dark side the recoil may be more to your liking. and don't worry God watches over fools and drunks. :P

 

 

 

 

Seriously we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

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