My Blog
The personal blog of me, Tim Trott. What I get up to, photography, news and so on.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Me, Myself and I category.
Thursday 7th June 2007
I have just bought another telescope, this time a short tube refractor. I had been thinking of getting something smaller than my 200mm Newtonian (also Skywatcher) for two reasons: Firstly, following the car crash that I was a victim of last year, I have been unable to carry heavy objects in my left hand, nor have I got a great deal of dexterity in my left wrist. The large Newtonian and HEQ5 mount proved to be a little tricky to setup, align and use. Secondly I have been thinking about getting a small scope for solar use, but was undecided about whether to get a telescope, spotting scope or another camera lens. I was browsing the net when I found this little telescope, and it seemed to be ideal. I know its not going to be as good for deep space objects (my main interest), but with all the light pollution around my area I was having a lot of trouble locating them anyway.
This telescope is much lighter and I can just about lift the mount and tripod with only by bad wrist (without counter balance or OTA attached). This will allow me to continue to explore my astronomy while my wrist is healing (I am still waiting for a corrective operation). The main targets for this scope will be The Sun, The Moon, Saturn (may be too late this year), Jupiter and Mars, and I will also be attempting some globular clusters as well.
While I had my wallet out I also purchased my first set of filters: Antares 11, 12, 15, 21, 23A, 56, 80A colored set, a variable polarizer and a light pollution filter. I also purchased a Thousand Oaks glass solar filter, which should enable me to get some great solar photographs.
Sometime before winter I will be upgrading my HEQ5 with a SynScan kit, which will hopefully find the deep space objects for me! I can use this new telescope as a guide scope and with a long camera exposure I should be able to capture some good deep space objects (that’s the plan!!).
Now all I need is some clear skies!!!!!
Attached Thumbnails
Comments: No responses yet
This post is filed under Astronomy, Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 6:48pm
Thursday 7th June 2007
I have tracked down a web site which sells the same sort of plate that was fitted in my wrist after the car crash I was a victim of. For anybody interested its called a Distal Volar Radius Plate and is marketed by a company called Hand Innovations.
They also offer a surgical technique guide, which contains detailed instructions for the installation of the plate. WARNING: This is a detailed guide with photos. Do not view this document if you have a weak stomach! The first link is safe to view, it only shows the plate and a descriptive text.
I am still waiting for another operation to correct my distal radial ulnar joint instability, which has been causing problems since the accident.
Comments: No responses yet
This post is filed under Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 6:38pm
Thursday 24th May 2007
I have seen the consultant following-up from my recent wrist arthroscopy where he informed me that during the surgery he found no damage to my Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC), which was his prime candidate for my wrist instability. He has now concluded that a tendon is to blame and that he will be able to repair this injury, however it will be a more complicated procedure, not without risk. This procedure should result in greater stability of my wrist joint, however it may sacrifice range of movement. There is also a risk of nerve damage resulting in loss of feeling in my palm, however this risk is low. This will also mean that I will require more time off work and will be in plaster from above my elbow to my fingers for approx 6-8 weeks after the operation. Fingers Crossed!
Comments: 2 responses so far
This post is filed under Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 7:50am
Friday 4th May 2007
I have just come home from hospital where I recently had a wrist arthroscopy to aid diagnosis of the instability in my wrist. The medical term for the instability is a Distal Radial Ulnar Subluxation, which was caused by the car crash I was involved in last year.
It is difficult to explain what is happening in my wrist, one of the bones ‘pops’ out (dislocates) when I turn my wrist from palm down to palm up. It is also moving when I put pressure down through my palm. I have created a short video clip to help illustrate.
In the first scene, you can clearly see the joint ‘click’, and if you look at the area under the scar you can just about see the bone popping out of the joint. There is no pain associated with this action, but I can feel the bones grind on the cartledge. In the second clip you can see the instability when I put a little pressure throgh my palm. Again there is no pain with this action unless I start putting more pressure through it. Because of this I cannot use my left wrist to help myself out a chair, pressups or carry anything heavy.
My surgeon was hoping that an arthroscopy would reveal damage to the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) which could easily be repaired through keyhole or possibly with a larger incision. Unfortunately it turns out that this was not the case. My TFCC is undamaged and intact, but there is ligament damage to the palmar side of my wrist. These will have to wait for another further, more complicated, operation sometime in the future.
I am currently in bandages for the next few days, and will be having my stitches taken out in a fortnights time.
Comments: One response so far
This post is filed under Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 7:24pm
Monday 9th April 2007
I have now got a date for my next wrist operation and I have already had a pre-op examination - in a couple of weeks I will be having an arthroscopy to find out just what is going on in my wrist.
I have poor grip strength and limited weight holding capacity (I can only hold about 3-4kg in my left had otherwise my wrist hurts in the joint). As I turn my hand from palm down to palm up my ulna (the little bone in the arm) dislocates from the rest of my wrist. The consultant I saw believes that this is because of damage to the Triangular Fibro Cartilage Complex (TFCC) which is the major stabilizer of the wrist joint.
During the procedure, the surgeon will insert a camera into my wrist in a couple of locations and examine the joint and soft tissue, if this confirms that the TFCC is causing a problem then he will proceed to open my wrist again and fix the problem. If it isn’t the TFCC causing the problem, then its back to the drawing board.
Comments: No responses yet
This post is filed under Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 4:42pm
Saturday 24th March 2007
Its been a little over a year since my right knee was shattered in a car crash and I was discharged from hospital last month, so today I put my knee to the test by climbing Jacobs Ladder in Cheddar Gorge. Stairs and steep slopes have been painful since the crash as the knee joint plays an important part in both movements. It is usually worse going downwards than upwards, however I can manage a normal flight of house or office stairs without much trouble now.
Jacobs Ladder consists of 274 stone steps that run from the bottom of the Gorge to the top, each step represents 1 million years into the Earths past. They say that at this scale, mankind’s existence is equivalent to the thickness of a sheet of paper on the top step!
The picture shows 46 steps between two resting points.
At the top we walked a little of the Gorge trail, but the land underfoot was very uneven and tiring to walk over. Coming back was even worse and my knee rapidly grew more painful. By the time we reached the bottom we were glad of a sit down!
Attached Thumbnails
Comments: 2 responses so far
This post is filed under Car Crash, Injury and Recovery by Lonewolf at 6:16pm
