pardon the one handed typing- i fractured my right wrist yesterday while ice skating with mt little girls. i went to the ER this mornig. the doc guessed it will take at least 6 weeks to get back to normal. tomorrow i hope to see a hand specialist. it looks like i'll have cancel december gigs/projects. too bad because i actually really enjoy playing christmas music. i'm just feeling very down... i was making good progress with jazz/blues walking bass, some dan coates arrangments. also i'm in the middle of recording my latin band which i hoped to finish next week.

while my right hand is healing i'll try to work on my left hand chops. also i need to improve my aural skills so i'll try transribing bass and chord progessions. of course i can spend more time on my vocals too. hopefully i can come out of this a little stronger.

anyone here gone through anything similar?

Yes, when I was nine. My piano teacher had me focus on left hand repertoire then too which dramatically improved my left hand technique, and the benefits are still appreciated now many years later ...

so even though it's a drag you gotta cancel your Xmas gigs this year, Glad you're able to see the silver lining in spite of this.. Montuno, Wishing you a quick recovery. - Scott

Sorry to hear about your mishap. May you heal quickly

I play a lot of fast jazz and about 5 or 6 months ago my right wrist all of a sudden felt like it was broke. the pain was terribly bad.
I moved my mouse to my left hand where it still is and went to walmart and bought a wrist brace that has splints on three sides and that solved the problem. I have no problme playing with the brace on and no more pain from it. that might work for your wrist while it is healing.
Bebop

Music For The Left Hand Alone

Playing Left Hand Keyboard Bass Lines

Playing Piano Music For One Hand

My right hand had severe problems for more than three years. My finger tips would split and bleed while playing, and eventually the skin began to slough off. I went to 14 doctors, and none of them figured out what was causing the problem. I was to the point where I was wearing a white cotton glove in order to play at all, and at times the blood would ooze through the glove. Turned out to be a vitamin D deficiency--my blood level was just 10. A level of 50 is normal. It took just three weeks of taking vitamin D supplements (5,000 IU daily) to alleviate the problem. I know how you must feel, but six weeks from now you'll be back in the saddle.

Good Luck,

Gary

Hell Gary,

That is some story, you wouldn't think that possible and such a simple answer to correct it, funny thing the human body, do you still take the medication or did your body correct this problem. Hope Montuneman gets better quickly, no ice skating for us old ones hips are the things that go.

Tony

I know the REAL story of what was wrong with Gary's hand, but I'm not telling. But as kids we were told it could make you go blind to do that all the time.
MM, I hope you get better quickly. Where did you find ice in Texas this time of year?
DonM

I still take 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily, and the hands still look fine. It has been more than two years since the problem was solved, and only now are some of the doctors admitting they should have tested my vitamin D level. And, in researching the problem I have been amazed at all the problems associated with low vitamin D levels, including coronary artery disease.

Good Luck,

Gary

P.S. DomM wears contacts!

MY wife's Dr. just put her on some high powered Vitamin meds because she was way low on her blood test. that is something we just never think about.
I can remember years ago playing in all night clubs that my fingers would bleed and I would have bandaids on all my fingers and keep on playing. this was on a grand piano though, about 1962. I had to quit playing for quite awhile for those fingers to heal up.
Bebop

A year and a half ago, I was cut badly in the left arm during a robbery. The net is almost no feeling in my left hand and constant pain. The operation to help the pain may make me completely numb in the left hand. Lot's of nerve damage.

As a guitar and left-handed bass player on B-3 and other keys, this has been life-changing.I have nothing but pain when playing, and have to watch finger positions; particularly on guitar.

After slamming arrangers for years, I now have to use one for about 50% of my jobs.


Funny how things work out, sometimes.


Get well soon!


Russ

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 11-29-2010).]

thanks guys, it sounds like some of you have gone through something similar or even worse...

just got back from the hand specialist. turns out the wrist is broken. he thinks i should lay off drumming for 2-3 months and keys for at least 1 month. i'm very down...

[This message has been edited by montunoman (edited 11-29-2010).]

MM ... that IS a bummer, but at least you will be back playing keys in a month ... which to me seems like a short time for a broken wrist ... As always, count your Blessings ...
t.

You have a very positive focus, working on other skills.

I hope you recover fast. Take it slow and easy when the cast/splint comes off.

I'll tell you. I never play basketball or volleyball, because of the danger of injuring a finger.

When I get attacked by hooligans and Iranian spies, which is quite often, I never use my hands to take them out, preferring kicks and head butts. I recommend you do the same in similar situations.

Beakybird

That's using your head for sure.
DonM

Vitamin D deficiency in the USA is rampant. Think about how many people do NOT get at least 15 minutes a day of strong sunlight. From the docs and cardiologists whom I trust (not mainstream medicine, mind you, they will kill you!)... vitamin D is the biggie of biggies. I got on to it from heart disease problems. But deficiency causes all sorts of problems.

I shudder to think at how many older people never get 15 minutes a day of strong sunlight, even my own mother. I put her on a supplement.

I saw a lady, I think on this forum recently, and she was lily white. And a young person at that. I thought immediately of I bet you she has problems someday.

BTW, the doc/researcher/author I trust most, Dr. Michael Eades, says that sunblock is BAD NEWS, not good news. That we should tan deeply, this is nature's way, and that it is making the Vitamin D problem even worse. We get in the sun block it out!

Yes ... everything has a downside ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40423327/ns/health-diabetes?GT1=43001

t.



Check the recommended dosage in the article ...
t.



[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 11-30-2010).]

There was just a medical report saying to not take too much vitamin D: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/11/30/can-too-much-vitamin-d-be-hazardous-to-your-health/.

I'm confused.

Beakybird

Regarding those cited Vit. D articles, I'll see what I can find out by those in the know (in my opinion, they are in the know, haha). I reserve judgment until I see how this report is analyzed.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen mainstream articles cited, and automatically taken as gospel by 99% of us, just because some "prestigious" institution printed it. I don't trust MSM or mainstream medicine. I wish it weren't that way but after a bazillion hours of reading over about 25 years, I have concluded that mainstream sources must be viewed with a VERY wary eye. You have to dig further from sources you trust.

The arrogance and stubbornness of mainstream medicine, once dogma is established, is astounding. As for this study or that study, it happens ALL the time -- flawed studies are rampant. So, maybe this Vit. D article is right. But it might just as easily be garbage.

Bill ... agreed, but at least these articles might make people THINK before just ingesting stuff that they HOPE will help their health ...
t.

Bill and I are in total agreement about mainstream medicine. Keep in mind that I worked in two of the largest hospitals in the mid-Atlantic region for 15 years as technical director of their cardio-pulmonary divisions. I witnessed mainstream medicine first hand and it was, and still is, anything but concise science. Depending upon which report you read, the general consensus is blood levels should be at least 50. My level was 10 and I get lots of sunshine exposure. I constantly monitor my level, which now hovers between 45 and 50 while taking 5,000 IU daily. When I was taking 4,000, which the article says is the highest that should be consumed, my levels were never higher than 30.

I don't place a lot of stock in newspaper articles that tend to sensationalize medical reports. In many instances you have to read the actual report in order to determine not only the sample size, but additionally, determine the validity of the study itself. There is a cottage industry out there of individuals that make a damned good living doing ridiculous studies. And the only way they keep this industry alive is by getting their points of view published in newspapers that thrive on sensationalism.

Keep in mind that most people have never had their vitamin D level measured. The same holds true for C-reactive protein and a host of other factors that determine whether or not you may be subject to cardiovascular disease. Doctors tend to ignore these factors and look strictly at cholesterol as if they were wearing blinders.

Of all the physicians and surgeons I worked with, I trusted only about 1 percent to work or me or members of my family. And, unfortunately, unless you have worked in the field and extensive and diverse, direct experience in the medical field, there is absolutely no way to determine how competent, or incompetent, your doctor is.

Sorry about the rant,

Gary