Friday, October 22, 2010

Ow my hand!


So, lately I haven't been blog posting. There are a number of reasons, mainly (but not limited to) my health, so I figured I'd do an update.

Some of you already know about my recent run in with stomach flu/food poisoning, and thankfully I've recuperated from that. but during the time of my rehab, a problem surfaced which I ignored during the first week of this "vacation". It's regarding my right hand, which many would remember is my drawing hand, and it is somewhat damaged. Now, I don't know the extent of the damage, since I can still use it and flex each finger, but I cannot lift anything more than a pound or so with it anymore.

Q: Oh man! How did it happen?
A: Actually, it's very embarrassing how it happened, kind of like that NBA (or was it MLB) player who cut his arm on a fruit knife.... that was on his bed. As I got up that morning, my back was in such a horrible state (the local beds are.... terrible to say the least), and unable to pull myself up, I used my hands to support myself, and in the groggy, half-awake state I was in, I put all 120 pounds (about 54 KG) of my body weight on the right hand, and I heard that horrible cracking sound.

Q: Why is it a problem now? didn't it really hurt right then and there?
A: My "two-headed" sword, as Gilbert Arenas would say. You'd know by now I'm no stranger to pain, and since I was able to use my fingers, I thought nothing of it. That's what I didn't foresee, was my stomach problems happening, and with that deterioration in health, I received little to none of the nutrients I eat on a regluar basis [due to the inability to eat properly]. That lack of nutrients led to my body allocating self-repairs to my stomach instead of my wrist, where eventually my wrist, without nutrients for self-repair, ended up failing, which is why I think I only started feeling the effects after the stomach problem.

Q: What now? No more Sawamura Seiji Right Hand?
A: Well, what probably happened was I dislocated my wrist, if that even happens. Since I can still use my fingers, and since I don't have symptoms of Carpal Tunnel, what I cannot do anymore is bend my hand forward (like how a cat does with it's paw) or that kung fu stuff (you know, Palm Strike... or something). But that's not the important stuff, see. What sucks is that now I have to limit the following activities:

-My Logitech Trackball is right hand based (as the ambidextrous Trackball mysteriously failed), so I can hardly use that without feeling pain, since the right hand model is thumb based (my specialty when FPS gaming as I am a terror with that mouse). Which, for the first time in almost a decade, I personally used a conventional mouse (the one with a tail, and that you grasp and move around a square pad. Wait, you knew that...). Funny isn't it? How I've just used a trackball all those years (Thanks Microsoft for creating your Trackball, lord knows what I'd do without it.), and my first foray into a conventional mouse since is due to health reasons.

-Some of you would do well to remember that my right hand is for precision, and my left hand is for power. Now I'm somewhat ambidextrous as my right hand can be very powerful (due to precise handling, as my brain is probably connected to it lol), and my left hand can be very crafty with individual finger usage. For a few years now I've been training both hands to be in tune and fully ambidextrous (as my dominant eye is surprisingly on my left), but with this recent injury I probably have to return to the previous state of Right Skills, Left Power.

-My right hand isn't new to injury, sadly. I broke the ring finger of my right hand playing American football back when I was in Germany in my younger years. This has brought about an unusual ability, such as showing someone the birdie, but instead of the middle finger I can use the ring finger lol. That injury, though, was the start of my eventual decision to be Right Skills Left Power.

-Now, very important here, is drawing. Precision is my right hand, and drawing goes with it. But now I must limit my drawing time to shorter intervals, as I have been knowing for drawing for hours for a month or so. Now, I'm uncertain how my art style is affected by this new predicament, as I haven't attempted to seriously draw since. I believe though, that my ability to draw manga and girls will not be deterred, and that I will continue to do what I love: drawing.

-Also important is the modern times, ja. You probably know I type very fast, quite unorthodoxly at that due to my unique ability to maintain a set speed across any form of keyboard possible. I won't be thanking Mavis Beacon, though, because I never finished her lessons and the typing games became more of a game than, well, learning how to type lol. Now, I know I'm not 100 WPM (because I believe people use that rating for full sized computer keyboards anyway), but I would put myself between 50-60 WPM. Keep in mind this is across mutiple keyboard form factors and sizes. I remember one time when my friend showed me his Samsung Q1 UMPC, and that he said the typing needs to get used to, and he had an external keyboard for that, which I did see, but when I asked him to try his device, he was shocked when I, for the first time using a UMPC, was typing very fast with no errors. Mind you the early Samsung Q1 model had no physical keyboard, and the software keyboard I used was cut in half, which meant you were only supposed to use your thumbs, and you only have two thumbs total. And that's where we are now, you would remember my current phone, a Palm Treo, which is a portrait QWERTY, and my thumbs do extra duty now that my right hand hurts faster than before. I still type damn fast, though, but at the price of pain and the sudden realization that I have an impulse to type fast before anything else.

There are other tiny little things like unable to princess-carry a girl unless I can somehow use my left hand behind her back and my right hand softening her butt, or now I have to use my left hand to roll dice, or now I'm unable to use my right hand to shake the hot sauce bottle lol. That may sound funny, but with me, when it comes to barbecue, it's all about my left hand to eat and the right hand to pour the ketchup. I'm somewhat of a clean freak in that in no way do I find it logical to use ones dirty hand for such things. So, this is also part of the reason why I'm not active online much anymore. That, and... I'll confess I have some new pets now, in the form of several hermit crabs (ranging from tiny, tip-of-your-finger sized, to the size of a pint carton). I find it fun taking care of these guys, in the hopes of seeing the smaller ones grow to ginormous sizes XD

Wish me luck.

2 comments:

  1. Dahak8611:37 AM

    you know... the very same thing happened to me about 4 years ago.
    I've sprained my right wrist, in the very same manner you did... lolz... talk about coincidence...(i know you're against coincidence) :P
    even though I didn't feel any pain, I was unable to do certain movements (well, I could do them, but it was very difficult), so I had to immobilize my right hand and wrist for about 2 weeks, then it got back to normal.
    just, even after these many years, my right hand is evidently weaker than my left one. oh well, I got used to that...

    Wish you all the best.

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  2. Wowsers, are you sure you're not my clone? We usually like the same anime girl, your need for fanservice was just like me 4 years ago (not saying I've cooled down XD), and your hand too? lol

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