Repair work on the ol' Voodoo Man....

[duhvoodooman]

Almost posted this in the Mods, Projects, Repairs, Fixing forum! ;)

Well, I've put this off as long as I can. I've been suffering from a chronic case of "trigger finger" (http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/hw022.htm), a.k.a. flexor tendinitis, in the index finger of my left hand for about a year and a half now. For those who are unfamiliar with this condition, it's a repetitive motion injury caused by the tendon of the finger being irritated by sliding through the tendon sheath at the base of the finger. This causes the tendon to become inflamed & swollen down there, and it "sticks" when the finger is bent, then pops through the opening of the sheath, like a trigger or switch being flipped. Then it sticks in the flexed position, and pops loose again when the finger is straightened. Gradually, the swelling/inflammation gets worse and worse, and progressively more stiff and painful. The repetitive motion causing the problem is--you guessed it--my guitar playing. At this point, I can't straighten the finger completely, and it takes about a half hour of stretching/limbering up the finger before I can play at all. And it hurts.

Up until now, I've been seeing an orthopedist and getting it treated with cortisone shots. Have had 3 or 4 of them thusfar. The problem is that they become less effective each time, and the problem recurs more quickly--and more severely--each time. So after a few shots, they recommend surgical repair to fix it for good. Which is scheduled for next Friday, Oct. 3. It's a very simple & quick procedure--an incision about 3/4" long on the palm of the hand just below the base of the finger, and then they just cut a vertical slice in the tendon sheath to open it up and stop the rubbing/irritation against the moving tendon. Very high success rate and you heal up in a couple/three weeks. But it's still some guy cutting into my fretting hand, which is cause for some degree of nervousness/concern. So say a little prayer for ol' DVM's frettin' hand, if you're a praying man/woman, or just keep your fingers crossed for me, if you're not. Thanks!! :AOK:

P.S. I can still solder fine with it! ;)

[ted s]

Heal up well VooDooBob, watch they don't sew a 6th digit.
Actually, that might not be bad ?

[Tone2TheBone]

Good luck with your surgery Bob! I'm rootin' for ya!

[tunghaichuan]

Bob,

I hope everything goes well, and wish you a speedy and complete recovery. I know I won't be the only one pulling for you here.

You'll be back to making your kick-a$$ effects in no time.

steve

[luvmyshiner]

All our prayers and thoughts from the Shiner household for a speedy recovery DVM. Hey, while they're in there maybe they could like, put a piece of metal or something to give you a bionic fretting finger.:AOK:

[SuperSwede]

Good luck with the surgery!

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ear0043l.jpg

[sunvalleylaw]

Best wishes for a successful result and speedy recovery. Remember, ice is your friend. Oh, and see if they can do the guitarist fretting hand finger extender mod while they are in there. :)

[evenkeel]

Get well soon. Be sending the good vibes your way!!

[piebaldpython]

Best wishes to ya DVM. Shame you need the surgery, but at least they can do something for it.
Since you'll have to keep your index finger relatively straight......might I be bold enough to suggest that you tinker around with some lap style playing???? :D

[M29]

Prayers and mojo coming your way DVM:rockon:

M29

[Robert]

I'll keep my prayers crossed for you! Hope it all goes well! We need you back in top finger form for demoing all the cool pedals you build.

[thearabianmage]

Dude, good luck and I hope all goes well! :beer:

[Ro3b]

Good luck, Vood! I've had to deal with an on again/off again case of trigger finger myself, though fortunately it's only in my right-hand pinky. It's got to be rough when it affects a finger you actually use. All the best with everything and hope you're up and playing soon.

[marnold]

Yeesh. Hand injuries/surgeries make me flinch after mine. My ring finger on my right hand basically does something like that. I can't straighten it entirely. Sometimes when I grip something, it will pop. It's not so much painful as it is startling. The doctor said the only permanent fix was to have the surgery you describe. After having more than my share of stitches in my hand, I've thus far not done anything about it (although my stitches were in the finger"tips" which I'd imagine would hurt a lot more than the palm). Plus you really don't use your ring finger for much by itself.

A couple of years ago I was developing a sharp pain and numbness in that hand which I thought meant that I was headed for that surgery. Turned out I had a pinched nerve in my neck that was causing it. A couple of back adjustments and technique adjustments later and everything is fine.

Heal quickly!

[mrmudcat]

Yes get well.

[warren0728]

sending healing mojo your way vood! :pancake:

ww

[sumitomo]

Were there with ya voodoo.You will be a pedal making riff monster in no time.Sumi:D

[Childbride]

DVM... the Shiners are thinking 'boutcha. we wish you a speedy recovery!!! :)

[Guitar Gal]

Wishing you a speedy recovery DVM :rockon:

GG

[just strum]

GET WELL - WE'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU.

some OT, I went to lunch today with a young woman that looked very similar to our friend here, except two things 1) the necklace, 2)ok, you figure it out.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/beer_girls.jpg

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yowzee Vood!

Goodluck. Mojo coming from Planet tOt!

[duhvoodooman]

....I went to lunch today with a young woman that looked very similar to our friend here, except two things 1) the necklace, 2)ok, you figure it out.
Wait a minute, Strummy--isn't that THREE things? :confused:

To all--thanks for your support & well wishes. This is pretty small potatoes in the scheme of things--especially compared to what SOME of our Fretters have been through--but I truly appreciate it! :AOK: :dude: :beer:

[just strum]

Wait a minute, Strummy--isn't that THREE things? :confused:

:thwap: Darn new math, never did get the hang of it.


To all--thanks for your support & well wishes. This is pretty small potatoes in the scheme of things--especially compared to what SOME of our Fretters have been through--but I truly appreciate it! :AOK: :dude: :beer:

Dude, it's the fretting hand, let's not minimize the severity of this.

[Katastrophe]

Heal quickly, Vood!

While you're at it, ask the Doc if he can go ahead and install a retractable soldering iron tip in there somewhere!

[wingsdad]

Sorry to hear about your distressed digit, man. :(

Here's wishing the best for you with the surgery, that it goes well.

My left (fretting) hand was surgically repaired (reconstructed?) after it got stomped on by a NYC club owner's 'delivery man' when my band had voiced an objection to being short-paid after a gig. (our bass player got 'the boot', too). Let's just say it might have been a scene from a lost episode of The Sopranos.

I was 27 and, IMHO, 'at the top of my game', just starting to make a decent living. The club work was like extra bread. I figured it was all over now, and my chase for the brass ring was dust.

Besides setting my pinky, ring and forefinger tips at the first knuckle so the tips would work, my ring finger had gotten the worst of it. The middle knuckle was basically pulverized, so it got cut open and they removed a bunch of chips. It works, but it kinda locks up whenever it wants to.

Another part of the reconstruction was the surgery you describe, as they went into my palm to open the tendon sheath and fish out the tendon that had been severed in that smashed knuckle and retracted like a broken rubber band. They pulled it back up, stitched it all back together in the knuckle and the palm. I lost about 1/4", maybe a bit more, of the tendon as a result.

So my ring finger cannot, ever since, go all the way back open. Kinda claw-like. That was the end of barred A's for me, and it also inhibits my span. I went from 7 frets to 5.

Here, for your viewing displeasure, are some pics of what it looks like now:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/wingsdad/Left%20Hand/IMG_0098.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/wingsdad/Left%20Hand/IMG_0099.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/wingsdad/Left%20Hand/IMG_0100.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/wingsdad/Left%20Hand/IMG_0097.jpg

None of this 'new' functionality would work, though, if I hadn't forced myself to go through the physical therapy after surgery, involving pushing that finger back to stretch the repaired tendon and try to keep adhesions from forming in the repaired sheath. I had to resist the pain, to get the finger to go back a bit more & more, a little at a time, a day at a time. Until it reached it's max extension

The point of my tale of woe, Bob, is that PT is hard, but you can do it and you will play guitar again, maybe even better than ever.

I did the work, and within a year, I was back playing professionally. Yeah...I had to adapt, develop some new ways to do some things, and resolve to myself there were some techniques I'd never do again. This is when I learned to play bass, because I didn't have to form chords, and I could get away with some things, and the heavier action of the bass was actually more therapeutic, helping build my hand and finger strength back. And while playing lead would never again be the same, my right hand got better from being my strong suit, I became a different style player using double- and triple-stops instead of relying on my pick alone and a much better rhythm player.

I went on to have the best years of my 'career', as a more determined and versatile player. I learned to play a little dobro as that requires no fretting. (I've been working on that, and lap steel more the past year or so, as I realize that the time will come when this hand just won't fret guitars anymore as the arthritis sets in.) I've shared some of that work from that 'post-surgery' era offline with Strummy, CB and Shiner. I'll let them tell you if I could play anymore.

You'll be OK, probably better than ever because what you've got now can't get any better, only worse, if you don't get it fixed. Good luck, amigo.;)

[Bloozcat]

You'll get through it just fine, Bob. Thinking about it is worse than the actual procedure and recovery will be.

As one who almost lost the function of his fretting hand in a saw accident, I can tell you that with a good surgeon and a good attitude on the part of the patient, you'll be good to go in no time. The human body is quite resilient, and this will be but a small bump in the road.

In a few weeks you'll be saving to yourself, " I should have done this sooner."

But, having said all of that, I'll keep you in my prayers still. :AOK:

ETA: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...

Don't ask the Doc if you'll be able to play the piano after the operation....they've all heard that joke before...:D

[Childbride]

I've shared some of that work from that 'post-surgery' era offline with Strummy, CB and Shiner. I'll let them tell you if I could play anymore.



yup, he can play! :D :pancake: :AOK:

[ShortBuSX]

I was thinking about all the pedal work and soldering youve been doing lately and was wondering when you found the time to practice/play? And this explains it.
My buddy who bought that Banshee Plus(?) has had 2 different hand surgeries in the last year, I dont know if its any consolation to you, but hes doing really well and didnt have much down time either, after either of his surgeries, to either hand.
Just make sure you dont catch your bandages on fire with that soldering iron.:poke:

[tjcurtin1]

Hey Vood - best of luck Friday - as others have noted, you'll be fine with the application of positive attitude. Good to hear the recovery stories; I heard something similar about Leo Kottke damaging his left hand by playing, such that he had to completely relearn his left-hand technique after the rehab. But like the reworked Fretters here, he's still playin'!

[oldguy]

Little prayer said, Vood, and best of luck, we're all pullin' for ya. :)

[piebaldpython]

Hey Vood - best of luck Friday - as others have noted, you'll be fine with the application of positive attitude. Good to hear the recovery stories; I heard something similar about Leo Kottke damaging his left hand by playing, such that he had to completely relearn his left-hand technique after the rehab. But like the reworked Fretters here, he's still playin'!


Kottke had messed up his PICKING hand, not his FRETTING hand. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things. I was pretty sure about that but I pulled this off the Kottke Internet Bio:

"In the early 1980s, after the release of Time Step on Chrysalis, Kottke suffered a severe right hand and wrist injury that forced him to alter his unique finger-picking style. He began a three-and-a-half-year vacation from recording and cut his ties with Chrysalis. In that time period, he began playing the six-string guitar, learned how to read music, and took classical guitar lessons, creating a new way to play with less hand tension."

[tjcurtin1]

Ah, yes, that's what I remembered reading, although I thought it was specifically realating to the way he had been using the hand - thanks for the correction/clarification PBP!

[LagrangeCalvert]

I had a bad break of my pinky on my fretting hand....I had to change the way I played....I went from a more is better.....fast! fast! fast! approach to a soulful more thought out soloist. It was so bad that I had my hand immobilized (just for my pinky being broke) for three months.....PT SUCKED, but like wings said... push yourself.


BTW Wingy........IMHO I would have came back and broke that guys kneecaps when I got better if he did that to me......or burned his face really bad.....

sorry but violence on a person that expresses him/herself with their HANDS is as bad as any hate crime........


GOOD LUCK VOOD!

[SuperSwede]

A guy named Django had a little problem with his fretting hand, but it didnt stop him from playing absolutely fantastic stuff on his guitar!

http://assets.mog.com/pictures/wikipedia/9039/Django9.jpg

[Kazz]

Hope all goes well for you Bob.....we have to have you back in top shape around here quickly tho.

Seriously godspeed on your recovery.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Wingsdad, your story sent chills down my spine. Just horrible.

[Robert]

Wingsdad, that is unreal. They stomped your hand to mush because you wanted to get paid for the gig?

[piebaldpython]

Robert.
In certain parts of the USA, you have to play by THE RULES (:D ), which can change depending on what side of the bed the one in POWER wakes up on.
So, if you don't buy your produce from the RIGHT guy, or buy your liquor from the RIGHT guy, etc, etc, etc.......you might get stomped until you WIZEN up and make sure you do ALL of your business with the RIGHT guy. Anybody else is considered the WRONG guy and you will be beaten to a pulp if you continue to do business with the WRONG guy.
In WINGS case, the owner of the establishemnt didn't wanna pay the band and sent out his ENFORCER to send the message.
While in theory, it's nice to tell WINGS (earlier in the thread) to go back and avenge what happened; unless you have lots of muscle behind you (meaning a boatload of Neanderthals, :D ), that folly will get you killed.
Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and thank God that you're still alive to play another day.