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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019) and AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021).

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Russell in the wars

I've been having a problem with my right hand over the last three months, and it hasn't responded much to physiotherapy. After some ultrasound scans the other day, it now turns out to be an early case of Dupuytren's contracture - yet another of those delights that you can develop in middle age (hollow laugh). It's nowhere near as bad as the case illustrated in the Wikipedia article I've linked to, but it'll get worse and I'll eventually need an operation to get it fixed. Just what I needed. Not. But at least it's nice to know it's something diagnosable and sort of fixable.

5 comments:

Tony Smith said...

An older friend of mine who passed away late last year had that for several years before he finally did something about it, which marked the rough start of five years of medically induced suffering.

Not long after his hand surgery had healed and he was getting started with the follow up physio he finished up back in hospital with an unconnected pancreatic problem and while in that time suffered bed sores which became diabetic ulcers with infections that were never fully cleared.

Worst of all the, hospital which had done both procedures totally failed to continue treating the hand while other conditions were at the top of their clipboards. If you want to know which hospital not to go to I'll be happy to tell you by e-mail, but without any guarantee that others will be any better.

My friend was always a difficult character and more concerned to help others than to help himself. The strongest recommendation I can make is to make sure you stay in charge of your own treatment.

Russell Blackford said...

Ugh. Thanks for the story, Tony. I do trust my GP, but I know that embarking on any invasive medical treatment is risky. Thankfully, there's not much else wrong with me at the moment. Fingers crossed (as it were).

clodhopper said...

Russell: I sympathise. I am hobbling round like an old man at the moment with bad plantar fasciatis in my left foot. A case of left foot, right wing politics I suppose. The trials of mid age eh? Hope you hand improves soon.

Best of luck with your submissions. That's an impressive amount of work in a short space of time.

best

clod

Brian said...

At least your brain is still functioning if your output is any indication. If we're the product of design, the designer was by no recognizable standard intelligent.

Hopefully this is no more than a hiccup for you. :)

David Cook said...

A friend on LJ (watervole.livejournal.com) has dupuytren's - she managed to get radiotherapy treatment, which can apparently help arrest the progress of the condition. Here's a link to her posts talking about dupuytren's.