R hand and R rotator cuff injury..but I did it

Well, I broke my right hand years back, around 1986, and still went to work, without a cast, cause I had to work..Would work till it hurt too much and made me nauseous, then would go to the ladies room, get cold water on a towel, put it on my hand and go back to work.

In 2003, I tore my R rotator cuff.  Opted for no surgery as I do not have insurance..Had to still work, Im the only *bread winner*..Put my R arm in a sling..took lots of ibuprofen, rubbed my shoulder with Ben Gay..Sometimes had to pick up my R arm and place it on the keyboard cause my arm couldnt do it..When I got on the keyboard, I was find..it was just lifting to my keyboard..It was hell..but what could I do..I will not rely on a govt program, never have, and I had to make a salary, have no family to depend on, would never ask my friends..So I did it myself..R shoulder still hurts sometimes, especially when I sleep..but I was able to get through it and you will too..

• Has anyone xcribed with a clavicle fracture? - One-armed MT
  • R hand and R rotator cuff injury..but I did it - hh
  • no but... - Karla
    • clavicle fracture - Nancy
      • Ouch!!! - Lillian
        • no, but with dislocated shoulder, - sm

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had nightmares for 2 days after that.

have been working on and off as an MT for 20 some years. One year I worked radiology and I can remember actually putting out 200 reports one day. I never got carpal tunnel with the keyboard but could get it with the mouse. About two years ago, I had a busy stint where I was probably working 6-7 straight hours, then my fingers began to hurt. First it was the thumbs, then it was all my fingers. Just ached. Not arthritis, because joints were not red or swollen. I even bought a parafin bath, tried NSAIDs. Finally investigated on the internet to find out I had repetitive stress injury. I stopped typing (fortunately I own a small MTSO) and just let my fingers rest. To this day, two years later, of almost NO typing, all it takes is about 3 hours straight typing and it's back. I've decided I've hurt my fingers irreparably and any further damage I do now, I will just pay for later with arthritis or something. Sorry to hear about your disability.

My son was hit by a car 7 years ago and sustained a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma and went through over a year of rehabilitation. He was 15 at the time and finished high school, went on to Junior College and has just finished a year at a state university. He has struggled with learning disabilities and short term memory problems since the accident and has barely passed his classes. It looks as though this was his last semester at school because his grade point average isn't high enough to let him continue school. He will be put on academic suspension. He wanted to go away to school so badly and worked so hard to make it and I know he will be so disapointed when he finds out he won't be going back in the fall.

He is definately a miracle and I thank God everyday that he is alive but I don't know what to do to help him anymore. My question is "Is there anyone out there with a similar situation who can give me some advice on where to go from here?"

status.

Anyone have experience with companies who hire you as an employee, certain hours but don't provide you with the equipment you need?  Worked for a company that did that but no medical spell checker on their software, some accounts they want YOU to buy a C-phone for etc. etc.  Asked them up front if account I would be working on would have medical speller, told yes.  It did not.  Also there was some kind of ShortHand program built in that they knew nothing about, we couldn't get to and conflicted with the autocorrect I used in Word.  Kept asking and it was always we will ask the hospital and then nothing.  Went out bought my own spell check and whatever I needed then three weeks into working, they dump the account.

Start over with a new account, different problems, they want me to buy even more stuff.  Said no I am outta here!

Anybody had that problem?

I start med school (been an MT for 24 years) August 2006. 

One of my classes last semester was Intro to Medical Practices.  I especially inquired about pro bono work by all the physicians and dentists who spoke to the class as guests each week.  All gave significant amounts of their practice to pro bono work.

One physician in particular impressed me.  He is a cardiovascular surgeon.  His main area of expertise is doing cardiac bypasses.  To make a long story short, because of insurance changes (MCare) over the past few years, he only makes about $650 per bypass for his own pocket and that is gross.  Of the $1850 MCare and insurance companies pay him for this procedure, it costs him $1200 in overhead for that procedure.  Until last year, he would often do the procedure for free for patients who could not afford it and had no insurance.  However, for 2 years he had to BORROW MONEY to pay his OVERHEAD because he did so much pro bono work.  He finally decided he just could not go bankrupt doing that.  So now, he STILL does HIS PART for free but the patient has to pay his overhead.  He tells them to call their family, friends, churches and if they have the $1200 for his overhead, he will donate HIS skills/time/energy for free.

The physician (maxillofacial surgeon) who directed this class said his annual pro bono work runs around $250,000 a year. 

As well, while dentists recoup 95% to 100% of the fees charged for their services (they are ALWAYS getting their money up front), physicians (with the exception of cosmetic plastic surgery) only recoup an average of 31% of their fees.  For every $1000 they spend on a patient, they will only get back approximately $310 and must write off the rest. 

Now that is INSIDE information - direct from the physicians and dentists we had in class.  I was shocked.  Not deterred, but shocked. 

Regarding that lovely cardiologist who gives so much away, take into consideration that the $650 for HIS skills/time/energy for ONE cardiac bypass -- he invests a total of 12 to 15 hours for that one procedure (that is WITHOUT complications happening) including his consult/operative time/followup visits, hospital rounds, etc.  That comes out to about $54 an hour -- and plumbers and electricians around here make more than that.  My Ford dealership in town gets $76 an hour. 

And now, since we are starting to do bypasses endovascularly through the femoral artery, he has to really put the money down for more education to train to do this or he will be out of business shortly. 

Interesting huh?!  When people make comments to me about my future as a physician as a way to "get rich", I tell them not necessarily so!!  LOL  I'm not doing it for money!  You couldn't pay me enough to go through all this at this time in my life!!  LOL  

I do get offensive when someone doesn't like my children simply because of their skin tone.  I'm not saying that the OP said anything about my children or even posted about the topic.  I was just offended that she can so casually admit to being a prejudice person.  Prejudice causes hate and violence.  I take offense to that.  I think that you should, and everyone should take offense to it so that it can be stopped.  If everyone were okay with it or  no one ever stood up about the subject, where would we be? 

Also, there is a difference between knowing someone as an individual that may be a "bad seed" and be a minority and not liking them versus not liking someone without knowing them as a person simply because they are a minority.

All I know is, when those of us who are saved make it to heaven, there will be every race there right along with us, as God has created us all in his image.

I've transcribed since 1983.  You can lessen hand stress if you observe how you hold your hands as you type.  When I was in my twenties I noticed that there was a real difference in the way I held my hands and how the older transcriptionists (they had their wrists up and hands pointing down at the keyboard).  I have always had my wrists laying on something and my fingers are going up.  I have never had one bit of carpal tunnel or pain whatsoever.

I have had a problem with swelling in my lower legs and feet and also my hands for the past few years now.  When this first started I had problems with headaches, went to the doctor and found my blood pressure was high.  So now I take HCTZ 75/50 once a day and do pretty well on it.  It is a pretty good diuretic and my B/P is very well controlled on it. 

In the mornings I have no swelling at all, but I notice though that by the end of my workday my hands and legs are really swollen.  My doctor says to just start exercising regularly and elevate my feet whenever possible.  I also try to avoid salt.  I'm a bit overweight so I'm sure that is not helping either. 

I'm just curious if any of you other MTs have this problem also and how you deal with it.

The OP explained her situation and then elaborated on the situation again. It sounds like she is a giving person by helping other family members and it also sounds like she just wanted some ideas on frugal ways to make a dollar stretch until she gets her affairs in proper order.  Should she require the family members pay SOME type of rent to be accountable?  Probably. We all know the real estate market is not what is used to be and some people are in a bind with their property right now. The OP is clear that she was not fully informed about the whole transaction and there could be particulars that the OP may not have been privvy too. Maybe mistakes were made by the OP and her husband and it's too late to repair the problem.  People make mistakes all the time.  As you are reading this, consider what mistakes you have made in just the past 24 hours.  The key here is that before passing judgement understand that there could be many variables that you are not aware of. 

Help!  Both of my hands today are very painful.  Sometimes I get the usual aches and pains in my hands and wrists from transcribing, but today they BOTH hurt so bad, especially between the index finger and thumb areas.  They feel cramped and the pain is similar to when my shoulders get tense and you rub the knots.  It's not a sharp pain, but a pretty intense pain when I put pressure on my hands, try to lift anything or touch/massage them or even stretch them.  They're painful in the first four digits on both hands.  Has anyone had this and/or have any clues what it is or what I can do to help them.  TIA!

I work in my finished basement and in the winter it is normally a little chilly, but not horrible.  But, for the past few weeks, my right hand has been freezing cold.  I got some gloves and cut the tips off, but that doesn't even help much...my fingertips remain freezing cold.  I am starting to wonder if there may be some other sort of problem, especially because this does not happen to my left hand.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing this? TIA.

I have never used Instatext, but I have used ShortHand for 10+ years and love it.  It is versitile, easy to use and I can use it in every system I work in.  I have used it in Meditech, Citrix, Star, and all worked well.  AND I was able to convert my FlashForward to it and my autocorrect to it.