Joe Bloe Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Day 8: I practiced for about an hour last night. My hand felt pretty good. Fretting with the pinky is still a little tender, but not too bad. One side effect, it's a great way to work on a soft touch with your fretting hand! ;>) The swelling, which wasn't bad, has gone down. I don't have any pain this morning and can do "normal" things with it today like twist open the cap on a bottle of vitamins, hold a coffee cup, etc. I'm looking forward to rehearsal tonight... Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Day 8: Rehearsal last night went well. I was able to play for about 2 1/2 hours without any major discomfort. Fretting with the pinky still causes some discomfort. Our lead guitar player commented that he could tell that I was just a tad slow at times. Overall I'm impressed with how good I'm doing after only eight days. I'm pretty sure that within another week or two I'll be ready to go. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Malone Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Joe, glad to see that the recovery is coming along. Wally I have basses to play, places to be and good music to make! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Evening Day 8: Northern Illinois had a snow storm last night. I tried shoveling snow tonight...not a good idea. It only took one shovel full of snow to decide that shoveling snow is still out. The same for plyers, allen wrenches, etc... In general, heavy items or things that require a strong grip are still a bad idea. I wouldn't even want to consider a baseball bat or a golf club. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Day 9: My hand feels really good. Hold the steering while to drive doesn't hurt any more. Except for tasks that require a lot of hand strength, I feel like I'm almost back to normal. The stitches are still in. They don't come out for five more days. The incision looks like it's fully healed. I have never had any bleeding from it since I took off the bandage/wrap that they put on after the surgery. At this point I think that only reason I still need to wear a bandage is so that A) I dont' gross people out when they see the stitches. B) So I don't catch the stitches on something and rip them out. C) To try and get sympathy from the girls. ;>) There really isn't much more to report on at this time, so I'm not planning on doing daily entries to this blog anymore. I will post any siginificant developments (like my wife throwing me out of the house for all the sympathy I'm getting from other girls, setbacks, when I feel I'm back to 100%, etc.) Thanks again to everyone for their support and good wished while I was going through this. I was worried that it would have a negative impact on my use of my left hand, and therefore my bass playing. It does not look like this will be the case. My band pretty much takes December off, so I really won't get an acid test (get that thought out of your minds you hippies!) by playing a full 4 hour gig until January. It has effected my conditioning some by not playing much the last couple of weeks. So I do expect to need a few weeks to get back into shape once it's fully healed. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScruffyBass Babe Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hey Joe! I, too, put up with ridiculously excruciating pain in my fingers, hand and wrist for a lot of years. I thought, like most ordinarily stupid people, that it would go away some day. Well, long story longer, I had a carpal tunnel release on my right hand in 1998. Recovery was not too great, and I ended up with months of physical therapy. I was in so much post-op pain that I even had my therapist crying right along with me. Formerly, I had played the guitar for about 30 years, and the operation just about put me out of commission. I laid the poor guitar thing down for six (6) years due to very slow recovery. My doctor wasn't very encouraging that I would ever play again. Every time I tried to play, the pain was bad and my fingers just could not cooperate with my brain. Additionally, I have tendonitis in my left wrist, making the fretting hand angry on occasion. Maybe my case was extreme, I don't know for certain. Going merely on a little voice inside my head saying "Never mind the guitar, go pick up a bass instead", about three years ago, I bought my first bass. Even though I have had to learn some alternate technique to compensate for and accommodate lingering physical short-circuitry between the brain and the fingers, I am playing up to speed and loving every second of it. That one bass turned into TEN, and my passion for the instrument and for improving my manual dexterity, with time and dedication, have given me back the gift of music. HANG IN THERE, JOE......there is a bass at the end of the tunnel! Thanks for listening to my experience with carpal surgery. "Don't let my size fool you - I'm a little lady with a real big badbass bass attitude!" "He's not the sharpest tack in Teacher's chair; but a pain in the ass nonetheless!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Sally, Wow! What a story. I'm sorry to hear that you had so much trouble with your surgery. Being a bass player is a great silver lining to a dark cloud, but I'm sorry to hear about your suffering. Fortunately I have had an easy recovery. I'm think I'm about 90% after eight days. I expect to be more than 100% when the healing is complete and the numbness/tingling is gone. I expect being able to feel the strings will improve my playing. I have always thought that guitar players come and go, but good bass players are hard to come by. A good bass player respects the song and isn't just trying to play so that everyone will look at them. Sometimes you get to shine, most of the time you support the groove that makes it all work. In my no so humble opinion, there are way too many guys on this forum and we are in dire need of more girl's input! Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScruffyBass Babe Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Thanks so much for your understanding!!! It has become apparent (well, sort of) that the Bass World is heavily male-dominated. Not that it's a bad thing, but we women are certainly in the minority. So, just to be a pain in the butt, I drafted a humor-laced letter to Mesa/Boogie about their "customer testimonies" being mostly male. I have some wild & funny stories about my huge & hungry Mesa amp & cab setup, and I thought they needed to hear about it. About the Carpal situation: I really do think now that my case was extreme. I waited 11 years before the surgery, which wasn't the brightest route to take. All these years later,however, the carpal-affected hand is now BETTER than it ever was, and the persistant bass playing is strengthening the tendonitis hand. Anyhow, I can relate to what you've been through, and I do think you are extremely fortunate in your speedy recovery - actually I am quite happy for you!!! Must practice........must practice.......practice now.... "Don't let my size fool you - I'm a little lady with a real big badbass bass attitude!" "He's not the sharpest tack in Teacher's chair; but a pain in the ass nonetheless!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScruffyBass Babe Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Oh yeah, I just took my "real" (well maybe it WASN'T real!) name off of my profile because I was afraid that perverts might start peeking in my windows at my basses & amps, and maybe even saying dirty words to them, which could affect their tuning or even worse, cause distortion of an unwanted sort. It's still me, but I am often referred to jokingly as "scruffy" by my co-workers. "Don't let my size fool you - I'm a little lady with a real big badbass bass attitude!" "He's not the sharpest tack in Teacher's chair; but a pain in the ass nonetheless!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 No problem'o Scruffy. Here on this site, I'm just Joe Bloe, another face in the crowd. The leader of a band I played with in the early 80's gave me the stage name of "The Doctor of Bassology" (not to be confused with "The Doctor" of BBC fame). It seems a little pretentious, considering all the talented and knowledgeable musicians on this site. So here I'm just Joe Bloe, another face in the crowd. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 8, 2007 Author Share Posted December 8, 2007 Day 12: Today I was hand sanding on the p-bass body that I'm refinishing. With both hands. I practiced for about an hour last night. The only thing I struggled with was bridging at the 12th fret playing "Sweet Emotion." Of course part of the problem is that the neck on the bass has moved since winter set in here in Northern Illinois. I have to adjust the neck and the action since the humidity dropped. Anyway, for those following my recovery progress: The hand feels really good. I get a little bit of pain/soreness at the base of the thumb. It think this is more or less where the ligament they cut ends up. The incision is a just little tender. It looks completely healed, but I don't get the stitches out for three more days. I wear a band aid on it during the day so I don't gross people out. I'm using the hand like normal, and don't have to favor it like I did at first. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 Day 15: I had my post surgery follow up appointment today. The doc' said that the tingling/numbness being gone quickly is a good sign for my long term prognosis. He basically said, you're healed, have a good life. No physial therapy. He thought that the bass playing would be good to strengthen my hand. It is still uncomfortable lifting heavy object with the left hand, plyers, etc... Overall, my hand feels great! I can practice with almost no discomfort. Now I just need to get the muscles back in shape froma couple of weeks of minimal playing. Thanks again to everyone for the kind thoughts. I hope this is helpfull for anyone else facing this procedure. And again a final reminder: I'm not a doctor. I don't recommend this. I can't say if it will or will not work for your. This is just my experience in having carpal tunnel release surgery. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakeahearts Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I've had both left and right hands done. The first one (left) was the worst and took 3-4 months for the pain to go away. But, it was worth it! What a difference. I have renewed flexibility and nimbleness in my fingers. The right hand took less time to heal (less than a month). I had the surgeon put me to sleep though. I have hard time getting my hand numb enough to not feel the knife. A long time go, I had a cyst removed from my right hand (due to upright playing), and I could feel everything they were doing. The surgeon decided to give me sodium penathol and I went off to dreamland! I'm in my late 50's so that could be the reason for it taking longer for my recovery... Best Regards, Eddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScruffyBass Babe Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Hey there Eddy....my respect to you for having BOTH hands done! Ahhhhhh I can't imagine that! I am now in my early 50's, had it done roughtly 10 years ago. I was partially awake, and that in itself was like a bad trip! I was "sort of" watching what the surgeon was doing, but because of having a case of the partial-anasthesia-sillies, I kept thinking to myself "oh wow". Sooo.....Any bassist who is aggresively bouncing back from surgery deserves all the respect in the world. We are telling our rebellious hands that WE are in control here, not Mister Hand (or in my case, Mrs. Hand). Recovery for me is now in the exciting stages, as I improve daily with practice. Hats off to our brave Joe Bloe for keeping us apprised of his situation. Likely, he will play better than he ever did with time & practice. "Don't let my size fool you - I'm a little lady with a real big badbass bass attitude!" "He's not the sharpest tack in Teacher's chair; but a pain in the ass nonetheless!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 ...Hats off to our brave Joe Bloe for keeping us apprised of his situation. Likely, he will play better than he ever did with time & practice. No applause, just throw money! ;>) Day 21: Seriously, I believe the the bass playing has helped speed my recovery. The surgeon seemed a little shocked when I told him that I played for a few minutes the day after the surgery. I think that getting right back to playing helped with the recovery. I'm sure it's one of the reasons that I didn't have to do any physical therapy after the surgery. I think that my hand, wrist and forearm were in very good shape before the surgery. Currently I get some soreness in the wrist and at the base of the thumb. Nothing severe, it just gets sore. A little massage and it feels better. My playing is back up to full speed and songs where I bridge across the strings do not cause and pain. And yes, now that I can feel the strings throughout the gig I do expect my playing will improve, of course, that's my daily goal anyway! The demo's on our myspace page ( www.myspace.com/JohnnyandtheBoomers ) were done before the surgery. I am now able to play the fast runs in "Born in Chicago" and "Money Maker" more easily and with better timing. Being able to feel the strings better has helped my timing on the fast runs. Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Day 31: I'm back!!!! I had a four hour rehearsal last night. The hand felt great. No problems playing, no pain, no numbness. It is still a little tender lifting/grabbing heavy weight, but no problems. At this point I would call it healed. Similar to a soft tissue injury, it appears that it was about a six week healing period. With the recovery complete I can reassume my super hero identity. By day, a mild mannered wage slave. By night, a riff ripping legend with super human timing. The "Doctor of Bassology" has returned to save the planet from poor timing and inarticulate walking bass lines! But wait, it's daylight outside. I must assume my mild mannered alter ego... Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Hey, Joe - how's it going with your hand, almost a year post-op? I ask because I'm looking at having the same procedure done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Anybody heard from Joe lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 Here I is... I am sooooo happy I got the carpal tunnel release surgery. I can play 4 hour shows with no problems. It has been about 10 months since the surgery and my hand feels great! No problems... Got'a run... I have a show to play tonight... Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jode Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Good to hear, man! Tell your hands I said nice going. "I had to have something, and it wasn't there. I couldn't go down the street and buy it, so I built it." Les Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 That's encouraging. Thanks, Joe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloe Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 It's the night after (a four hour gig) and my hand feels great! It used to fall asleep during long songs with a repetative bass line that stayed in the same postion. Now, no problem. No negative effects on my playing, or anything else. I would call it a total success... Bass, the final frontier... http://www.myspace.com/johnnyandtheboomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Congrats !!! Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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