A long road ahead

Good luck to you on your up coming operation, Pat. I had a similar repair job done about 8 years ago. Sure made a difference. Be patient with the healing and don’t try to get into the shop to fast. I rushed it a little and ended up in the emergency room after sticking my thumb in the table saw blade. I guess my reflexes were still on the slow side. And I will second the part about Japan. I used to go there quite often, and it was always a great time. One of my favorite travel spots.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Hey pat
Hope you operation goes well and recovery is quick. As far as the band saw goes check out Grizzly they have a few to choose from. I spent big bucks on a laguna and I know grizzly has much better customer service and of course better prices.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Pat, I am wishing you nothing but the best on your upcoming surgery. None of us enjoy the prospect of surgery but when we have endured as much pain as I am sure you have it is really the best alternative in the long run. I hope your recovery goes well and we can get you back into the shop soon.

Keep us posted on what is happening with you.

Japan sounds like a wonderful place to visit. I would love to one day.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

i have two words for international travel: sleeping pills

-- criticism: the art of analyzing and evaluating the quality of a artistic work...

Hang in there Pat.
You’ll be back in action in the shop before you know it.

-- Eric

Good luck on your surgery. We’ll be praying for a full recovery and hope to see you back in your woodshop soon.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Good luck with your procedure Pat!

In an interesting parallelism, I’m reading your post here in my living room in Kyoto the very same Friday morning at 0856 AM and it’s been just over two months since I had had surgery on my left shoulder. In my case it was an Acromioplasty+bursectomy+a partially tore tendon repair from a workout injury though. As you are about to do, I flew to my hometown to get it repaired and, after a period of time to allow for some rehabilitation, flew back home here.

I concur that those long flights are no fun at all (And I am a private pilot who loves to fly!) but they are the price to pay to visit/live in such a place. For me it’s only about one round-trip a year though.

The only thing I can tell you is to take it very easy and get ready for a long recovery. I’m still relatively young, very fit and strong and yet, two months after a very successful surgery and fast recovery, I gained almost full range on motion but I still have a couple of sticking points and not much force throughout.

Doc said I should allow for an entire six months before going back to the gym and lifting again, and then, start all over with light weights and high reps. Not fun at all.

PS: At the recommendation of a friend of mine who is a Physician and owns two clinics in Ireland, I got myself a PowerBall for the rehabilitation. It may look like a toy but it darn helps at the early stages. Maybe you want to consult your doctor about it. If you need any help drop me a line.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Hey Pat good luck with the operation. I spent time in Okinawa, and that was some beautiful countryside. You are right about the flight though. When I came home I was up for what seemed lke 30 hors fly time total. Oki to Flint, MI

-- There is no such thing as a mistake. Its called a design modification Rick Kruse, Grand Rapids, MI

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts guys. I got home earlier this afternoon and haven’t been to sleep yet, I always try to stay up late the day I come back so I can sleep thru the first night. It usually takes me about a week to flip back over to SD time.

Talked with the hospital today and reviewed the do’s and don’ts for Monday, really looking forward to Monday, man my arm is a pain, literally.

Jim, I have been looking at the Rikon and a couple of Grizzlys but today I saw an ad for the new Jet 14” Pro with a 12” resaw with no riser, looks very interesting. But I could only find one review of it by PopWood Mag, was hoping to hear more from someone who actually used it to get better feedback. Just another saw to do more research on :o)

JoJo, thanks for the advice, and sharing that powerball, it looks very interesting, will definitely talk to the surgeon about it.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

Well, surgery was successful, so says the surgeon. He found a “pebble” of something floating around the shoulder joint and he repaired the torn bicep tendon, the labrum tendon was fine. Expect to be in this shoulder harness\sling 4-6 weeks; then 4-6 months before full recovery. The pain med prescribed didn’t work, so it was a long sleepless night, seeing the doc this afternoon for a followup and hopefully newer pain meds that work.
Typing with one hand is a lot slower than I thought it would be ;o)

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

So, it has been 6 days since the surgery and I have one update, note to self: don’t let SWMBO talk to the surgeon for an update on my condition, get the info directly from the surgeon myself. Seems that after seeing the doctor Tuesday afternoon, I actually had a torn and separated Labrum tendon, not a torn bicep tendon. The work was more extensive than first thought, they gave me a set of photos of the surgery, which are interesting but no big deal. The surgeon was surprised at the amount of damage but I wasn’t, it was very painful for some time. So not much got done this week, I did resume working from home, and was on the work phone most days.
I am going crazy not being able to do something in shop! I have so many things I want to get done. I have been reading over old mags about tablesaw jigs that I want to make now that I have the new tablesaw. I have also spent a great deal of time researching about which bandsaw I want to get. One day I make a decision, then the next I start looking at something else (today I found an 18” Rikon on Craigs List for $800). It got so bad last night that I purchased a few more tools online. Picked up a new respirator and some knives at Lee Valley and the bought a large tenon saw (crosscut) at Adria Toolworks (this was the last saw that was missing to make my set complete). Not that I can use it right now, but at least it will be ready once I am ready to get back into the shop ;o)

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

Glad to hear your surgery went well. I see the fire for the craft is strong in you (doing best Yoda imitation). Take it easy and keep dreaming big. You’ll be at the bench when the time is right.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Thanks Doug, I am trying hard to follow doctor’s orders but seems like such a waste of time to be home for one week and not get any shop time :o(
We are going to HD today to price out some cabling, I need to upgrade the power in my garage to handle the new tools I plan on purchasing. I was going to do the work myself, but looks it will get done faster if I have a contractor do it.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"