No answers yet for the arm. Doc said it’s likely a torn tendon or muscle. I’m rooting for the torn muscle. I’ve read that’s how muscle is normally formed. Okay, maybe not by popping large masses of them in half, but still it seems like more of a "rehab" scenario than a "scalpel" situation (sadly, I don’t think that lasers are in the picture here.)
Turns out the orthopod I was supposed to see today doesn’t take my health insurance. Gotta wait until Tuesday to see the new one. (Maybe I should stop writing "musician" in under "Occupation".) I expect he’ll send me for an MRI, but I could get lucky and get a prognosis on the spot ("…oh, this is no problem…I’ll just push my fingers in right over here and…there! All done. Just be sure to eat lots of iced cream for the next three months. No charge. Just say ‘hi’ to Paul and JoCo for me.")
In the meantime I have some great new drugs to try out (sadly, they will do little more than thin the blood.) Thanks to all (online and off) who’ve offered advice and levity so far; it’ll come in handy when I’m no longer just chasing my tail in circles.
9 Comments
Well, sounds like you know best. I’ll let Dr. Wells know that you’ve changed your mind and return him to his retirement community in the rented black van with tinted windows. He’ll be disappointed, of course.
Now if you change your mind, I think I’d choose Dewalt over Craftsman… but either way, make sure you read up before you go much future. Remember: it’s great to learn ‘cuz knowledge is power!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-surgery
Don’t you just *love* the American health insurance system….
@Lena: Hey look on the bright side, it were socialized we’d be further screwed. We’d all get even LESS choice. Assuming the govt. can handle something like health care well is like those people who think the government did 9/11: They assume the government is competent.
@Storm: Might I suggest putting “Rich, Important V.I.P” as your occupation. Either that or “Guy who owns this very insurance firm” should do nicely. Do get well soon though, hopefully everything will turn out OK and you’ll have a funny story to tell at parties (or on stage).
Yikes, Storm! Sorry to hear about the busted arm. Don’t worry, though, I’m sure Jonathan can fix you right up in his space lab in space. Granted, your new cyborg arm may be prone to the occasional fit of uncontrollable human-killing, but think of all the pianos you’ll be able to lift.
Seriously, though, you have my sympathy and the sympathy of all of your dedicated fans. May the healing be expeditious, inexpensive, and painless.
Storm… I just heard. As someone who has been dealing with something similar with my shoulder, I recomend physical therapy both with or without surgery. Just remember to pop a strong painkiller half an hour before the therapy. And check your therapist’s credentials. If your orthopedist is anything like mine… he’ll also recomend lidoderm patches to help deal with the pain, and biofreeze lotion to rub into the area daily. The therapist will prob. do ultrasonic therapy along with exercise, massage and hot and cold packs.
If you need a good orthopedic surgeon in the area, I can recomend one in Rockville. Just email me for the name, address and phone.
Roman V – please, pray tell, explain to me how you would be “further screwed” if health care were socialized. I live in a country with socialized medicine and I will stand up right now and say “hell yes” to universal health care.
@Lena: I was born in a country with socialized health care, and socialized… well everything else. And as soon as I could I got the hell out of there as fast as I could. Seems the government is just inept there as it is here and anywhere else. At least here they aren’t given access to control my health care situation.
Socialized health care in my country works fairly well. Having grown up in the States and only moved to Israel in 2006, I’m constantly amazed at how easy health care has been here (except dental care, which is something else entirely).
The problem with private health care in the States is that the companies who are supposed to provide it either don’t at all or worm their way out of providing quality health care to their employees. Some only provide it for full-time employees and others try to keep their workers from access to things like regular doctors’ appointments (many of these plans are ER-visits-only plans). They’re so concerned about their own bottom line and the salaries of their top corporate people that the majority of their employees have monetary value rather than human value.
Actually, I ran away from the States because of this money-driven culture. I was tired of being a number with a dollar-sign in front of it rather than as a human being deserving of decent treatment by the people around me.
The difference is, in Israel people actually care about you and the politicians are not a bunch of silver-spoon elitists. Frankly, I doubt most of the people here who want to establish a socialized health care system really truly care about me as a person. Especially with all those powerful lobbyists. Plus, lots of the current proposals are conflicting. Some want to provide for illegal immigrants for example, others don’t. It’d be tough to chose who’s plan is better.
But come on, this is the Paul and Storm comment section, not the “Let’s argue about politics” forum, so I wish Storm a speedy recovery.
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