07/10/2024
Hey y’all. So a lot of you have been reaching out to me since I’ve been off the music radar for the last month. I really appreciate that, it feels good to be missed.
So about this hand… 👋🏼
It sustained a trivial, but mildly nagging, injury back in February. I didn’t think a lot of it. Over a pretty busy schedule this past summer season I would have a random night where I experienced a few “zingers“ in my wrist and fingers. Nothing prolonged so I didn’t think much of it.
At the end of August, I got to a gig one night and my entire left hand was weak and a couple of my fingers did not want to work at all. That freaked me out. Through all my years of playing I’ve had bouts of tendinitis and repetitive strain injuries, but I never had any nerve issues. It was very scary.
Early last month I started taking a little time off and saw a hand specialist. He gave me a steroid shot in my wrist and said that the cortisone should relieve the inflammation. I was suffering from carpal tunnel and it appeared from the x-ray that I also had 2 cysts very close to the nerve canal. The shot didn’t really do anything to help. Since that was the outcome, Doctor says the next thing to do is conduct the batch of nerve testings required pre-surgery. Says they’ll try to go in there in November and fix me up good as new.
So in the meantime, I’m trying to stay positive and do what I can do to keep moving down the recovery road with one good hand🦋 If you don’t see anything on my show calendar for a little while, this is the reason😕
Thankfully, I don’t have a lot of pain, mostly just weakness and lack of mobility. I may attempt to play a random gig here or there if it feels like I’m able to, but the challenges in doing that may simply be too much for me to overcome at this point. Y’all know how much I love to play the guitar, and I sure would love to be able to do that for you and me both. And it’s definitely scary being out of work for an extended period of time being that’s how I make my living. But I believe this is a temporary obstacle, and I fully intend to be back louder and prouder than ever.
I hope very soon be able to participate in some fundraising efforts in my community because I know a lot of us musicians want to be able to ‘band together’ and show our support for our neighbors, friends, and family out in western North Carolina. I think their recovery is gonna take quite some time and I believe whenever I’m able to do my part, that will still be right on time.
I welcome all prayers, jokes, love, laughter, and support. Much like many of you, I suspect I am far more blessed and lucky than I even have the ability to recognize. This too shall pass🙏🏻🙌🏼
I love y’all, keep on rocking in the free world and I hope to see you real soon 🎶🎸🔊🔊🔊🔊
