I broke my pinky! :o(

[KJM]

Hi all. I am currently a student. I am just devastated about it. I have surgery tomorrow. The reason I decided to post it here is to see if anyone out there may have had a similar experience and can give me any advice on what I might be able to do during the 6-8 weeks I have to be off my writer. As I am sure you can imagine, I am quite concerned about how much speed I will lose as a result of all this.
Thanks.

[KJM]

Haha. I just read my own post and it looks like I said I am devastated about being a court reporting student. Just to clarify: I meant I am devastated about breaking my pinky. I am sure you all could have figured that out though.
: P

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Well, the subject was clear.
I am sorry to hear that :( 6-8 weeks is a long time ro stop doing anything
maybe a member can suggest exercises that you can do till then?
I wish you well

[Rebecca Blasco]

No biggie.

I was in 160 at the time, and one weekend I was helping my dad in his warehouse. He was moving some 55-gallon drums and I, like a dumba$$, had my hand on one barrel when he "dropped" the other one -- there's an art to moving those barrels.

Anyway, my hand got smashed in between the two. Hurt like hell. I broke my pinkie on my right hand, along with several smaller bones in my hand at the base of my fingers. Blue, purple and green bruises, and a big fat finger.

I didn't have surgery. They had put one of those silly little things on my finger and it was just annoying. I took it off and kept plowing right through. The responses I got from my teachers ranged from, "Are you insane?" to "What a trooper!"

I didn't put a great deal of pressure on my finger, so I would literally write with every finger but my pinky finger, but within a week, I could write with it again. It hurt, but it wasn't unbelieveable pain, just like a dull ache.

Long story short, at least for me, no harm no foul, and it didn't even really slow me down.

Good luck with that. How'd you break it, anyway??

[Marla Sharp]

KJM, I feel for you. I broke my fingertip a couple years ago and had to be off work for almost three months. The nerves were damaged as well, so anytime I'd touch the skin, it was like it was on fire. Absolutely horrible and one of the most painful experiences of my life.

I did nothing constructive during those three months, and I wish I had it to do over again. I used up all my savings because I had no income, no disability insurance, no help at all since I was an independent contractor. I was several years into my career at the time, though, so I didn't need to practice to keep my speed up. But it was tough getting back into it after such a long hiatus. My brain slowed me down because I stopped "thinking" steno.

So I would definitely set time aside each day to practice mentally. It's actually your mind that you have to train in court reporting school, not your fingers. Your fingers can move at lightspeed if you want them to. It's the thinking that slows you down.

I also lost my mom when I was in court reporting school and took a couple months off. That slowed me down a bit, but not too much, surprisingly. I still got out in two-and-a-half years. You just have to want it. This is a great career, and this won't be your only bump in the road ahead. If you have the drive and determination, you will be just fine. Don't worry.

[Carol R Worsdell]

Hang in there. I broke several bones in my hand in '91 when I was working in court. I had been a reporter for 10 yrs by that time. I had surgery, pins placed in my hand. I was off for 3 months with a backlog of criminal trial transcripts. I was able to work on the computer with 2 fingers plus the thumb on my right hand. It took 2 months for me to be able to even lift my pinky finger off the table at physical therapy. I began to get discouraged, but kept plugging away at the PT and eventually it started working again. 17 years later, I am still working away! So, do the mental fingering and don't be too hard on yourself during recovery. You will get past this hurdle. Look on it as a positive and see how you can make the best of it.

[KJM]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I had the surgery on Friday, and thankfully, the doctor was successful with 2 pins. He did have to open my finger up to get them in but no permanent screws. Had a bit of an unfortunate experience with my meds, but it is taken care of now. Pain was horrible on Fri, Sat, and most of Sunday. I finally called the doctor and he suggessted the dressing may be too tight. Now that I have taken the dressing off, it is much more comfortable. But this spongebob thing I have to wear for at least the next 10 days is a real annoyance. I'm going to have to try to get a picture of it. Oh, and this one-handed typing is for the birds.

[Renee Bencich]

Hi KJM, I'm glad to hear your surgery went well. I was at 100 wpm in CR school when my doctor ordered me to take two months off due to illness. Two months turned into a year and a half. Surprisingly, once I enrolled back in school, I got back to 100 wpm within approximately a month. I had feared the worst because I had not so much as touched my machine in the entire year and a half. To some degree this skill is like riding a bike. I'm not sure where you are in your education but I'm not certain it would make a difference. I've recently been off of work for six months (not due to illness) and started practicing a month before the RPR test and feel fairly confident that I passed at least the first two out of three portions of the test. This skill does come back to you, so my advice would be to give yourself the mental and emotional break necessary to heal physically and then be ready to get back at it when that time comes.