maybelateron

Morning all, Got to take all the kit out of the van before it goes in for service and MOT in the morning.

Good morning Will, Really sorry to hear that. So young as well.

Morning all, Just beat the clock before noon.

Belated good morning, Internet was down earlier for me. Dry day here, just off to part with my loyal and trusty Disco 2. Had it 13 years, and the one before it for 7. They don't make them like that anymore. Given up with modern Land Rovers now, not reliable enough. Have a good weekend all

Morning all, Up early by my current standards. Off to get tyres fitted to new motor, part for van, then a couple of quotes. Have a good day.

Had stitches out yesterday, allowed to drive now. From tomorrow onwards I have to firmly massage moisturiser into the scar tissue until all the scabs have come away. Although some of it looks a bit rough at the moment it should look pretty good within a few weeks. I am very happy with the result and progress so far.

Morning all, Weather OK here. Stitches out yesterday so can drive now. Whoopee! Will do a few errands, including getting some decent all terrains put on the new motor. Four wheel drive is still able to be limited by crap tyres! Have good days all.

Morning all, Drizzly here. Outpatients this afternoon to hopefully get stitches out of hand at last. Have a good day all

You are quite right. Unfortunately new liners and seals, complete head rebuild, including pressure test and checking it was true was to no avail. I had a very experienced diesel mechanic (Lloyds shipping approved) help me with the first rebuild.

Morning all, Raining here, day inside for me with book. Have fun

Doing well thanks. Stitches are due out in two days. Saw physio last week, 1 week post op, and she made me a thermoplastic moulded splint. I have to wear this at night for 3-4 months, keeping the finger straight. This is to prevent the scar tissue trying to pull the finger back into flexion/curled up. I am meant to be doing excercises where I curl the fingers into full flexion, making a fist, but I have eased off on these. The reason for easing off is that I have no difficulty achieving full flexion already, but when making this movement I can see it is straining the wound edges apart in places. I have attached a couple of photos taken just now. I am sure there must be deeper absorbable stitches taking a lot of the strain on the wound. Although it looks very scabby today I am sure within a few weeks it will look pretty good; the superficial depth of the wound is having to heal by what is called secondary intention - that is where a scab forms and the wound slowly closes from the edges.

Morning all, Quite a nice day weather wise. More dog and wife walking, done crossword. Monday tomorrow!

I still miss my 59 Power Major. Only parted because the water kept getting into the oil despite many attempts at fixing it. I reckon there was a porous section somewhere in the block.

Morning all, Dry and not too cold here. Another day of coffee, crosswords, dog and wife walk. Might even manage a bit of one handed pottering in sheds😀

Morning all, Going for a longer dog and wife walk today. Happy days everyone.

Good mornaftering all, This taking it easy post op sure makes getting up early a distant memory! Had breakfast, done crosswords, walked dog and wife, managed to do a bit of work for load bed floor liner in new truck. Now time to sit by the stove with next book. Then be bedtime again. Hope you all had a good day

Morning all, Calm and semi sunny here. Going to bring logs up from barn into garage for the boiler today. Oh the joy of using my first bit of machinery for a week. Thank goodness for steering wheel knobs so you can use it one handed.

No quicker to get behind the wheel of an auto. It is the risk of having to make a sudden steering movement that is the decider really. That said, I am able to use the hydrostatic tractor around the yard to bring logs in, as that has a steering wheel knob on it, and the loader control is in the right. Looking again at my hand this evening I am now suspicious there might be more going on than the surgeon and I thought. I think there may well be an early band of tissue forming to the left of the scar, ie running towards my middle finger. With the amount that the very tight band that I have just had removed was lifting the skin up, I am wondering if this masked the early band to the middle finger, and without the middle finger being bent there was no other clue to this. I am not too concerned anyway, as I think that another scar over this possible band would make recovery slower, and I am guessing it would increase the risk of some of the skin between two cuts dying back due to loss of blood supply. As the condition is prone to recurring after some years post op I am not too bothered. I had already reckoned on needing more surgery if I don't die young (ish). Being 64 and not yet planning on retiring, and carrying on with some climbing, I was assuming there will be further surgery at some stage.

I had my one week follow up appointment today. Dressing taken off and wound checked. Stitches to stay in for another week. Can drive once stitches out. Physio made me a splint, using thermoplastic. I have to use this at night for the next 4 months. This is to prevent the scar tissue from any contraction. I can now start bending my fingers to mobilise them. I asked the physio if night splinting has a role in slowing down the progression of early DC. Her view was a definite no, the reason for this being the risk that prolonged pressure on the fibrous tissue might act as a stimulant to accelerate the process in the same way manual work can. Interesting thought. Photo of wound attached, along with one of splint. It is obvious already that the surgeon has achieved very good correction of the deformity for me. Before one of you makes the wisecrack about the splint: I can confirm this is for my hand, not the rare related condition affecting the penis, Peyronie's disease!

Morning all, Off to outpatients to have dressing on hand changed and see physio. Should be able to start driving in one week😀 Have a good day

Three of us sat in the chip box to eat our lunch one day, because it was raining heavily. The box was half - two thirds full of chipped laurel. We did start to feel a bit off/weak/whoozy after a while so we got out. I am not one who is prone to suggestion etc, so I think it was the fumes, nice though they smell.

Slight derail, but a similar thing I find so annoying: Firm come and dismantle large roadside standing tree, technical job, maybe using big mewp or even a crane; they then leave the 3ft diameter stump, which is not going to be ground out, with a horribly messy uneven cut from both sides, that has an inch difference in height between the two sides. I understand leaving it at 2-3ft so it is not a trip hazard, but if you have the kit and ability to dismantle the tree just have enough pride in the work to leave a tidy stump. I often put a bevel around the edge of stump if the customer agrees it will look better. There is an oak stump up our lane that has been left liek this by the council contractors. Sooner or later I will go and make it tidy.

Very true indeed, and they will repeat the fiasco next time you work for them.

Morning all, No phone calls so far, so I assume the area got off reasonably lightly. No apparent damage looking out of the windows, and I can see a lot of trees looking happy.

Morning all, I apologise in advance for the coming storm and winds. Definitely my fault. Why? I hear you all say. I have found the best predictor of impending storms is me being unavailable for emergency work. I have missed out on plenty of storm damage work (not that I'm bothered) by either being on holiday, or post op - knees x 3 and now hands x 2. No - I don't have three knees before one of you cracks that joke. Next time I have a date for any future surgery I can let you all know. Then you can make sure you are available or unavailable, whatever your preference may be. Stay in or go out, but stay safe and carpe diem.