Thanks! I have a lot of problems with my left wrist. I've suffered from tendonitis to weakness of my left arm due to a pinched nerve on my neck. I had surgery a while ago in which they removed my disk so 2 of my cervical vertebrae(C6 & C7) had to be fused because I couldn't play guitar. It fixed the problem, but now the top disk from the one that was operated, it's almost gone! So I'm starting to some weakness again! Is not as bad, but it's quite annoying! I have to warm up for at least 30 min to get up to speed! Kind of sucks!
Brother, if anyone understands this it is I. My heart goes out to you, George.
When I was 19 I took a job (to buy a van and music gear, of course!) involving stacking up to 140 tonnes of fruit juice a day onto pallets, which I bound and moved with a hand fork-lift whilst the production line kept turning over. It was a 6AM-starting day from Hell, which I managed to do for 6 months until I could no longer grip or squeeze anything. This lasted 3 years and the head orthopaedic surgeon in the state said I'd never play any musical instrument again. I was a gigging bass player at the time. The ability to use my hands gradually returned, but to this day they're always super-cold, stiff and I can't make repetitive movements for more than a few seconds. I decided to go the home-recording route, figuring that I could stitch phrases together in a DAW (just MIDI at first - this was long before we could do this with audio), in order to give the impression I could actually play.
28 disastrous years, riddled with impossibly-improbable complications (deaths, thefts, illness, depression, poisonings and poverty), have followed and here I am today, still trying to finish buying the gear necessary in order to be able to achieve this "simple" goal of being able to cobble together some sort of product.
So, I totally feel for you, mate. Been meaning to PM you and express my empathy for your situation. IMHO, challenges like these make us better people (or turn us into assholes - the choice is ours to make), and it was obvious to me from the get-go that you've chosen the former option, thank God for your and our sakes!
Good on you, George. Way to go man. Keep hanging in there, brother. I too am plagued by perfectionism, and guys like us are our own worst critics and enemies, so in this regard I totally understand you too! Part of the challenge is to make sure that in the long run at least, our talents aren't wasted in the grand scheme of things.
PS: I know tendonitis so well too. I was a ridiculously-successful swimmer for a brief (2 years) period. 6 golds from 6 events at state champs in South Africa, then repeated the "feat" (same figures) here in Australia and also beat 3500 swimmers including the entire iron-man contingent (adult males and females) of South Africa across a dam in a one-mile race at 12. I don't tell anyone about this "success", 'cause I was destined for the sort of things most wouldn't even dare to dream of, only to have them snatched from my grasp whilst momentum was building quickly and the fruits of my hard work were just starting to be borne. The first of virtually-countless disasters, this experience forced me into my shell, changing my personality, and I accepted right away that I'd have to prove myself (we all want that!) in some other way down the track... an impossibly-long track, it appeared. I refuse to discuss this for this reason, and that track has had its goal posts moved ever-further away for 35 years since, making it even-more ridiculous to even contemplate talking about. Funny that your tendonitis has drawn me out from under the covers, if only for this moment, mate. Anyway, my coaches (both olympic coaches and one ex-olympian), both here and in S. Africa, said they'd never seen anyone work so hard. I only swam for 2 years total, was sleeping around 1 hour only, training 4-5 hours a day doing up to 17km in the pool and going to school etc. I know now that the lack of sleep caused the tendonitis that forced me to retire (it's all about recovery). The "experts" only wanted to keep pumping anti-inflam meds into me and offered no explanation as to the condition. It took probably 15 years for me to be able to raise my arms above my head, and numbness, nerve pain, coldness and tinnitus have all plagued me ever since, all of which I put down to, just as in your case, pinched nerves, which I figure were caused by the forced unsettling of things through the "superhuman" demands I placed on my body. Unfortunately I haven't been able to afford a single massage ever, let alone manipulation, so I've learned that one can indeed press on in pain. Heavy-metal and other poisonings mean that massages etc. wouldn't help in the long run anyway, 'cause of the effects they have on cell division, hormones and so on. Every breath since age 14 has hurt, but I honestly don't care! Making music and being of service to my fellow man is all the sustenance I need, the former due to be taken care of within a year, which is both exciting and extremely surreal, as I'm sure you'd be able to imagine given your challenges.
Once again, I feel you on the tendonitis thing, George. Poor chap. Be strong, mate! Your talent and musicality shine through like a freakin' lighthouse in my living room, brother!