LA RSI Support Group

 

 

Suggestions for Newbies from SOREHAND



Date sent: Wed, 27 Nov 1996
Subject: Ideas?

> This is a request for suggestions from those who have "been there."
>
> I'm in week 6 of tendinitis and "mild CTS" on the right side, have seen
> two docs, been diagnosed, given antiinflammatory drugs and PT (but no sick
> leave), and should soon receive fancy chair and ergo keyboard from
> employer. I'm attempting to be extremely cautious, but am not improving
> and have now managed to pass symptoms to my left wrist/forearm.
>
> I felt lucky to have caught it early, but am now starting to wonder--it
> is starting to feel like a spiral.
>
> Is it possible to continue working in computers (at, say, 5% of normal
> output) and recover fully? Should I try to take a couple weeks off?
> Look at other careers? If you had it to do over again and were at week
> 6, what would you do?
>
> Thanks,


Date sent: Wed, 27 Nov 1996
Subject: Re: Ideas?

What an opportunity! To catch it early and be able to save yourself from the agony! You may generate considerable interest with this post. Remember, we are mostly talking from our experience. Your Mileage May Vary.

1) Getting a few ergo doo-dads for the office is nice, but should not be considered to take the place of a good ergo evaluation of your workplace. An ergo keyboard at the wrong height, for instance, won't allow you to realize whatever benefits are available for you. Likewise, the only value of the expensive chair is in allowing you to find a comfortable position from which to work. Read the literature that comes with these gadgets. Immerse yourself in it until you not only know what each control does, but also why and how it affects YOU. Then use them properly.
 
2) Study your work patterns (lots of info on that here!) and eliminate habits, postures, and practices that do not contribute to smooth, efficient use of your body. You only have a limited amount of resource available to you now. Don't squander it on things of no value. This is so all-encompassing that it is hard to break it down into specific segments. It extends to every aspect of your life, not just those for which your employer pays you. You don't leave your CTS at the office. It follows you home, and you get to keep it. :( Treat it by every thing you do during all waking hours.
 
3) Working during a recovery period is *not* a good idea. Find a way to reduce this load. Vacation, sick leave, administrative absence, whatever it takes. Holidays are coming up. Be creative. Pay the price now, or PAY THE PRICE later. No kidding!
 
4) Be prepared for lifestyle changes to accomodate this unwelcome companion. Give up fly fishing and handball. Get an electric can opener. Hire someone to split your firewood. This is serious stuff, and must be treated full time.
 
5) EDUCATE yourself. MDs don't get a lot of training in this. You may find it necessary to educate them, too. There are plenty of online resources to set your feet on the path of enlightenment. Be a consumer of medical care, not just a patient. No one cares for your health or has an interest in it like you do.
 
6) Above all, don't mask the pain with meds and then work until it starts hurting. That is *GUARANTEED* to ruin your chances of recovery. You can take that to the bank.
 
You are extremely fortunate to have caught it early. You seem to have an employer who is willing to work with you. So far, so good. Now play to these strengths. Don't be a pain about it, but be as firm as you dare in protecting your dwindling resources against unrealistic expectations. You don't look sick. It's easy for others to forget that you have a limitation, and if you don't speak up on your own behalf, your wrists will have a private counseling session with you!
 
Craig
 
been there, done that, lived through it. It's never over, but it's liveable.
 

Date sent: Wed, 27 Nov 1996
Subject: Re: Ideas?
 
If I may be permitted one more word on this subject ...
    If you are now at 75%, and make a recovery, you may come back up to, oh, say 85% of pre-RSI capacity. If you continue to work and expose injured tissues to abuse, they will deteriorate. If you wait until you are at 50%, for instance, you may eventually recover to maybe 70%. How'd you like to spend the rest of your life at a lower level than you are now?
   Do the math, then figure out what it will take to give your aching wrists a rest.
 
Craig


Date sent: Thu, 28 Nov 1996
Subject: Observations
 
I've been reading and participating in this list for some time now, and I'm starting to notice a trend. Has anyone else seen this?
    Quite often a new member or recent sufferer will ask, in one form or another, for help from the fund of expertise available here, and express the hope, wish, or desire that the help be of such a nature that no changes are needed to the life or work style which brought the sufferer to us. Many say they cannot schedule time off to recover, so they want to get better while working.
    On the other hand, the responses of the sadder but wiser members all have a common thread of how hard this CTDemon is to shake. They tell horror stories of months and years of pain, torment, runarounds, and uncaring bureaucracies. They mourn the lost abilities and say, in one form or another, "if only I had known, I would have been smarter in handling it."
    I understand the desire of the new folks to find an easy way through this problem. As some of our members have commented, we often place an inordinate amount of trust in the miracles of modern medical technology. There is a high expectation that well-educated and conscientious doctors can pull us through anything. (Maybe they could. But there aren't enough of them in the health care system of *any* country to do it.)
    What I am trying to say, in my own circuitous fashion, is that the new folks asking for experienced comment need to listen up! This is the voice of experience. THERE IS NO EASY WAY!!! Make the changes now while you can schedule them at your convenience, or have them forced upon you by circumstances that were, but are no longer, within your control.
    There are elements of your activities which have brought you sufficient pain to be here. Without change, those elements will continue to move you in the same direction, farther and farther from the reach of recovery techniques. Stop NOW while you are only on the edge! Do not persist in that which you know will destroy your life as you know it!
    That is the common thread I see in the responses to your questions about easy ways out of your present situation.
    As far as scheduling time to recover, have you read any of the horror stories about how people were forced in pain to take unplanned weeks, months, and years away from jobs they enjoyed? Have you read the posts which describe career changes and the problems of finding a new job when your hands are merely ornamental appendages?
    DO YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU?? Learn from the wisdom of those who have blazed the trail with their broken bodies and shattered lives. Or join us in our 'personal appreciation' of this subject.
    Those who will not learn from a study of history are doomed to repeat it. This forum is here to warn you away from the hazards and pitfalls which lie in wait for the unwary. Be smart. Make us feel that we have helped save you from the disasters which could beset you.
    As we in the USA celebrate today the feast of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the ability I still have of using a computer. I am thankful for the sorehand family, from which I have learned so much. I am thankful that I have a place I can go to ask questions and get uncompromised answers with no conflict of interest. I am thankful for the open and (sometimes heated) discussions which explore topics I hadn't thought of. I am thankful that occasionally I can contribute somewhat to this exchange.
    And if we can save any of the new members from experiencing the "full treatment" we have, I'll be thankful for that too.
    Have a happy and a thankful holiday.
 
Craig

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