Broke thumb...Now what to do

[44fanatic]

On the day I quit my job (long story, but it was time for me to be home and take care of the family) , I also broke my right thumb(dominant hand).

Thought about spending some time casting but hitting the sprue plate either by hand or with a knocker seems out of the question

smelting, wont trust pouring with my left hand

Hunting...forget it, seems my thumb will get nailed by recoil

Fishing...maybe in January

Now that I got the time, the home improvment project is off until I can swing a hammer.

Reloading at a very slow pace comes to mind.

For any of you that have been hampered by the cast, what have you all done to deal with it?

BTW...took forever to type this...backspace n delete...LOL

[Doby45]

I say you can still cast. Take and get you a wooden object that you can swing the mold like a hammer but only hit the sprue plate on the wood and have your sprue collection bucket/pan under that. So all you use your right hand for is opening your bottom pour valve. ;)

[montana_charlie]

Think you could run the vacuum cleaner, or load the dishwasher...maybe even wash windows?
If you are still able to wipe your butt, I bet you could paint the garage.

CM

[Dan Cash]

25 years ago, I had rotator cuff surgery which incapacitated my right (dominate) arm for 6 weeks. In anticipation of the lay up, I hunted up a revolving pocket pistol as I did not figure I could be that handy with my 1911. I found a Lew Horton 3 inch M24 Smith .44 Special. In the 6 weeks time, I learned to shoot left handed.

[Bloodman14]

Doby, +1. Charlie, you are a big help.:kidding:

[leadman]

I have been in that same situations many more times than I care to. You can learn to adapt to using the left hand. I will admit though that it would be difficult to cast.
Give the thumb a couple weeks then you should be able to use the left without causing pain to the right. Amazing how many parts of the body get involved in an operation, like sitting up.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

I spent 6 weeks with both arms cast from elbow to middle knuckle. You can do a lot more than you think.

Sam :D

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Take good care of the other one!

Take a walk out in the woods, just enjoy it!

[44fanatic]

Thanks Charlie, you are more than welocme to come over and wipe for me...LOL. Did the vacuuming yesterday...Beer in hand and watched the wife...at least that is what I will tell yalls (actually stepped on the cord and broke the holder thingymajig for wrapping it up on.)

Forgot about knocking thesprue plate on the work bench. Thats hown I started until I read Crash Corrigans thread about the mold ha ndles.
Learnin to shoot left handed may be a good idea. G26 is small enough, ought to give it a try.

N's is killig me on typin

[Blammer]

about a month from now it won't hurt as bad, you'll be tempted to try a few other things you find painful now.

Speedy recovery to you.

[Bret4207]

Be thankful you're not in a movie called "Brokethumb Moutain"....

[jcwit]

Man alive thats a bummer. I might know a little bit about how you feel. I ribbed (not cut, ripped) two fingers out of my hand about 10 years ago and had them put back on. Took over a year before I could carry anything with that hand, now can grab a 5 gal. can of gas and never think anything about it.

Best I can tell you is take it easy, read a few good books, do what the Dr. says, mind your wife, ect., ect.

Seriously, best of luck and will keep you in my Prayers.
jxwit

[geargnasher]

With a two-cavity mould, you should be able to cut the sprue before it fully sets. This is the way I do all my casting, the mallet is used to push the sprue plate open and tap the hinge if necessary to drop the boolits. If you're having to beat the sprue plate open you're waiting too long or your sprueplate/mould is too cold. If you're using a bottom-pour, you can hold your mallet between the middle and ring finger of your bad hand for tapping the hinge and just use the Karate-chop side of your hand (assuming you can wear a glove or wrap a rag around it) to open the sprue platee.

Gear

[crabo]

How'd you break your thumb?

[44fanatic]

How'd you break your thumb?

Dont throw a 20oz coffee mug that is full. I think my thumb was in the handle when Imthrew it.

[blackthorn]

So---we can take it that you left your job on better than good terms with your former boss???

[home in oz]

:bigsmyl2:You can learn to work a channel changer in your non-dominant hand....

[rhead]

Be VERY careful with your other thumb until this one heals. Sorry to hear of your injury.

[Bloodman14]

And just why were you throwing a mug full of perfectly good coffee???:coffee:

[tomf52]

Muddy Creek Sam said - "I spent 6 weeks with both arms cast from elbow to middle knuckle. You can do a lot more than you think".

A big plus one on that. I once broke my right wrist (dominant hand). The very next day I loaded 500 pounds of coal into my pickup one handed with the left hand. Posiitive thought approach helps overcome many of life's bumps in the road.

[jmsj]

44fanatic,
25 years ago I lost function of my index and middle finger in my dominant hand. It took most of a year to get it functioning again. During that time I shot pistols w/ my non-dominant hand.
That is when I found out that my dominant eye and dominant hand were opposites.
Good luck w/ the hand, jmsj

[44fanatic]

I would have to say that me throwing the coffee mug happened at the house (teen getting into trouble and poor grades). Cup was intenionally thrown at the ground in an attempt to get my adopted granddaughters attention. Working a second shift resulted in me not being home to deal with family issues...so, the boss was PO'd that I quit...but he was pretty understanding of why I quit. I would have preffered to put in a 2 week notice but things at the house demanded immediate attention from a Father and I was already taking to much time off from work because of past incidents.

I would have to say that it is difficult to be a member of a family when you only see your kids and wife two days a week for a few hours on each of those days.

Sometimes you have to put the family up front and make sure that they are taken care of first.

BTW...coffee had been sitting in the mug from early in the morning and I will still have access to the range to clean out the scrap. Glad I cleaned it out a couple of weeks ago...LOL

[bigdog454]

I have a friend who lost his arm up to the elbow in an auto accident. He is an avid hunter and fisherman, I am suprised at what he is able to do with one arm. I feal bad about your broken thumb but, buck up it only temporary.

[buck1]

Learn to shoot left handed! Thats what I did.

[Harter66]

Funny as a crossdominate shooter with a broken wrist I feel your angst. I shoot my pistols right handed off the left eye but all the long guns left handed. I broke my wrist 3 weeks ago dirtbiking when I shoulda been hunting. I'm a laddler so pouring isn't working out either.

Hope you get the kids worked out jobs are awefully thin still . In my expirence an understanding employer is often the 1 that brings you back.

Oh well you needed the time off to heal the thumb and beat the kid anyway.

[44fanatic]

My bloodpressure has gone down, my kids grades are coming up and I am going to go to college after the new year...take advantage of the GI Bill. Surgery on the thumb tommorow so I will be doing some figuring after that on how I can get out into the field.

Going to the range next week and see how well I can shoot.
9mm left handed...shouldnt be a problem and will be fun

30-06...been looking for Managed Recoil but cant find any, time to load something up (wishing I had the casting set up for it, boolits would probably work great). Any suggestions on a good expanding bullet (J type) and powder that will shoot good between 1500-1800fps?

20ga 870 w/ slug barrel...ive only shot this a few times as its my daughters and I didnt pay to much attention to the kick. Gonna give it a try.

30Carbine...with the current splint, my thumb gets in the way. Might change after I get the cast on. Thinking 50 yards or less and I can drop a deer.

Have pulled the above long guns out of the closet and did a bit of aiming and dry firing. Can get a nice fit to the shoulder and can easily pull the trigger with the middle finger (give the deer the bird if im that lucky...LOL)

Now that wally world has the winter toys out, gonna get a sled for dragging...
Gonna build a ramp/slide that I can use a "come along" to get a deer in the back of the truck.
Balaclava and hand warmers to keep my hand warm.
Aint figured out how to gut a deer...may just bring it home and put the wife to work...LOL.
Tree Stand...forget it, just aint gonna happen for awhile.

Bucks are starting to chase the does around here and I am really getting the itch.

[44fanatic]

I can shoot and I can hunt...proved and disproved the first...

Took the 06 and 20ga to the range. Was happy with my shooting.

Finally made it out for my first day of hunting on Fort Campbell. Took the 20ga with me, jumped a nice (and I mean nice) 8pt whitetail, called him back in twice with a grunt tube...missed him at 40 yards. Buckfever got me big time.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
2-3 SUMMERS AGO , had carpal tunnel operation left hand, shot right handed 6 weeks. Then, wiping butt was a problem!
AS had operation on right hand, shot left handed, had to drop down to 22 for 1/ 2 weeks left hand. by end of mo. 357. by end of summer back to 44.
Where there is a will there is a way.
Slowed down my karate & jujitsu practices too, dag nab it!
Could not even get firewood for a bit!