the Schedule - Overruled

The Schedule said I had to do three hours on the mountain bike on Saturday. My Daughter said I had to take her to the Lough Shore. My Daughter won.

I loaded her and her brother into the bike trailer, Granda borrowed my marin, and we took the scenic route down along the river, through the castle gardens and down to the shore; ate ice cream, watched the pirate ship race, saw a demonstration rescue by Lough Neagh Rescue and lay in the sunshine.

I couldn't help but notice a girl in the crowd with her arm in a sling and a plaster cast all the way up to her shoulder looking awkward holding a wee baby. That wrist surgery's never far from my mind these days.

Martin does a lot of his training with weights on his ankles. Personally I don't see the logic in this, because the weight's balanced - so when you have to pull one weight up, the other's pushing down, cancelling out the effort. Pulling a five year old and a three year old behind you in a trailer, on the other hand, now that's a definite training enhancement.

The problem is that my straight line cycling fitness isn't my biggest worry. I really need to improve my off-road skill, so tomorrow I'm heading down to the Mournes for an overnighter, taking my new £10 Lidl lightweight tent, sleeping in my as-yet-not-used Scottish Silkworm sleeping bag liner, and cooking on... I'm not sure which of my too-many stoves I'll take.

I wonder where my compass is.

what's on my mind?

Saw a girl today with her arm in plaster. I wonder if she had her ulna shortened. Nah, probably just slipped on the ice.

So what did he say?

He sent me for an X-ray to check for ulnar variance. Normally the head of your ulna is a bit shorter than your radius. Mine's about 2mm longer. That increases the load placed on the ulna, but also allows the ulna to compress the TFCC Triangular FibroCartilage Complex. It is likely that my TFCC is torn or worn through. This can be confirmed with an MRI scan.

(That picture's not my x-ray, but it looks similar. I hope Oregon Uni don't mind me using this)

The solution?
IF that's the problem ... he'll slice open my arm, break the ulna, shave off a couple of millimetres of bone, and bolt it back together. I'd be in plaster for 6-8 weeks, but because I cycle and canoe he'd want me to take a bit longer recovery time. Maybe 10 weeks.

All very simple and matter of fact. He does it every day.
I don't do it every day, and I thought it was a sprained wrist.

Now with the NHS I'd expect the MRI scan to be in December 2012 and the surgery to be in August 2015 (OK so maybe a very slight exaggeration there) so I'd just do this ride as normal, but Mr. Swain mentioned that IF the MRI scan shows a tear the possible date for surgery could be as soon as THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY!!!!! Four Weeks! 30 Days! NEXT MONTH!!

I told him about our planned coast to coast. He was confident that IF it's torn, and IF he operates in February, it could be healed in plenty of time, even allowing for minor complications, but he very sensibly pointed out that missing 2-3 months of training could scupper me for the ride. Another option he offered would be to do the surgery after the ride, but IF it needs done I think I want it done and dusted and out of the way as soon as possible.

I think I do.

Now I just have to wait for the MRI scan.
It's not the coast to coast ride I'd intended for this blog, but you've got to admit that it is mildly exciting.

NOOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday I saw an orthopædic hand specialist. I've had wrist pain for years. I went to A&E a long time ago and they checked it wasn't broken. "You've got a sprain of your triangular ligament" they said, gave me a splint to wear for two weeks and sent me home.

A sprain should get better, so although this didn't, I decided to give it a while, then I just got used to the discomfort, changed the way I do things a bit so I wouldn't have to turn my palm face up, or put pressure on that side of my wrist.

A month or so ago I sprained my thumb. It healed within two weeks and I realised that maybe the other side of my wrist shouldn't still be sore. So I did something about it.

I get health insurance through work, and this is my first time using it. For somebody used to the NHS, this is frighteningly fast.
I rang my GP two weeks ago. He recomended physio first. My first physio appointment was last Thursday - she tried some manipulation, laser treatment and ultrasound. I had another physio session on Monday (the one where I had to ride up the big hill) where she did the same, but then said "we're really only guessing what's wrong. You would be better seeing a surgeon who specialises in hands to get a proper diagnosis." Actually, unbeknown to me my GP had also written that on my notes as the next course of action. So I arranged an appointment with Mr. Swain at the Ulster Independent clinic. That was yesterday.

If I'd been going through the NHS I probably wouldn't have got referred to a physio in the first place, but if I had it'd be a 6 month wait before I saw one, then probably a month before my second appointment. Two years to see the specialist, and another year before anything was done.