Today I had to take my wife to the local county hospital for a minor surgery, she needs to remove a limp on her wrist. What made me write this here is the fact that we went to the same hospital, same floor, same doctor that operated me 10 years ago for a cut tendon on my left hand.
It was funny(in a not so funny way) to see again those places after ten years because they brought back so many unpleasant memories. I remember I was thinking about how my life as a guitar player is over and how I won’t be able to play the guitar again. How would I play the guitar with an injured tendon on my left hand? What should I do?
I had a couple of ideas while recovering from the surgery, like trying to play left handed, but I would have needed to start all over again learning the guitar and all those processes in my brain needed to be reversed also…I have also considered starting playing drums since I used to love playing drums at that moment.
The good thing is that after the surgery I was able to recover well and I’ve got back to playing the guitar. In the beginning I remember my pinky had no speed and precision, I wanted it to press a particular fret at a particular molment but my pinky used to think something else.
But after a while, I’ve got back to normal(I still have an issue with that finger but I have managed to live with it) and playing the guitar actually was the best thing I could have done since I needed exercising that finger and guitar playing gave me all the reasons in the world to do that while actually playing. By the way, 4 fingers playing sucks big time!
So today, while seeing again those places made me remember all these and how the doctor said that comparing to the patients there, I have not such a big problem(and how right she was) and she will do her best because I play the guitar. Thank God I do!
PS: My wife still haven’t had the surgery due to doctor being very busy today with urgencies so I am going to go there tomorrow again. Brrrr….
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6 Responses to “Save your fingers, gentlemen!”
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Ovidiu OprescuRomania, 31 years
Playing the guitar since 17 and enjoying every moment of it!
Come meet me also on Mixx, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Digg, MySpace, MyBlogLog, Twitter, BlogCatalog
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Dr. J
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
After severing 3 fingers in a circular saw accident, a colleague of mine bought a banjo for physical therapy. It worked and he regained normal use of his fingers. He’s still not a very good banjo player, though.
Ovidiu
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
For me it was the best therapy in the world and I was even thinking about this at one moment, probably if I wouldn’t have played the guitar, my recovery would have been much slower.
Pribek
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
A wise man once told me; “We are better a dealing with the big things, it’s the little things that trip us up.”
When confronted with disaster or catastrophe, instinct trumps rationality.
“I’ve severed a tendon, I will learn to play left handed.”
“I’ve lost three fingers to a circular saw, I will play the banjo.”
See, someone observing, would think, that’s irrational, this guy needs to see reality and just move on without the use of his finger(s). But, something in you recognizes that what you stand to lose is soul deep and, it starts analyze outcomes and possible solutions. Instinct knows that the survival of passion is at stake and, that’s important stuff. Rationality be damned.
Ovidiu, I have no doubt that you could have learned to play left handed, if necessary. If that would have not been possible, some other seemingly irrational solution would have presented itself because the music is soul deep. And, even if the ability to play were to be taken completely away, the soul would still be fighting to find some way. After all, the physical thing you do to express the music isn’t who you are it’s part of what you do.
Are you familiar with Jason Becker?
check this out.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1775128028743135037
Ovidiu
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 am
I am sure of that, Jack! I would have probably managed to play the guitar left handed. Or in case I wouldn’t have continued with guitar playing because of that injury, I would have played something else, or maybe I would have been involved in an other artistic area, a person has many “faces”. I like photography very much, graphic arts in general, so I may have been involved in something like this, I guess, because if you need to express yourself, you find one way or an other.
Yes, I am familiar with Jason Becker, I know what you mean, but I didn’t know about this video. Really intense and emotional. When I have heard about Jason Becker’s illness, I was shocked, now I am amazed to see this video and his performances, cause this is the only way you could call what he does in his current condition.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:59 am
I had a problem with my hand. Both of my hands actually. The problems happened at different times though. Both from being in fights!
I pushed my pointer fingers knuckle backwards literally an inch. It looks weird now. I was supposed to have surgery but I never went back. I just took the cast thing off myself and went on about life. Good thing it wasn’t my fretting hand.
My left hands pointer knuckle isn’t pushed back, but there’s a problem in it somewhere from punching someone in the skull. It will hurt at times when making certain chord shapes if I haven’t picked up the guitar in a while. If I play at least 3 times a week, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll have arthritis when I’m older.
I was younger and dumber when it was the fighting/drinking days
Ovidiu
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
@SRV: Quite a reckless behavior, man, especially when you play the guitar or any kind of instrument, you need to stay away from such events. Actually, look who’s speaking, myself!!! Bad things happen from time to time and we need to go on, and in case we don’t manage to go on playing an instrument, as Pribek said earlier, find an other way to express yourself.