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Dealing with a medical hiatus from welding

“Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.” -Paracelsus

A few weeks ago I visited my surgeon post-op, hoping to hear him say, “Everything looks great; let’s do a couple weeks of exercise and you can get back at it!”

Mind you, this was already four months after the latest surgery, two months after the cast came off, and my fourth surgery in two years, so I thought I knew what to expect. But this was also a different surgeon and a different surgery.

While the first three were oddball enough (both the first surgeon and therapist had “never seen anything like” what led to my issues), this last one was extremely rare. So instead I heard, “You can start light rehab, but you’re on heavy restrictions for two more months.” Argh.

His reasoning is sound. There’s no data for this particular operation, so he has no “quick heal/slow heal” stories to reference. And I’m still in a bit of pain.

We want to play it safe. By waiting at least six months from the original “cut chop slicey dicey,” as my wife calls it, we can at least be sure the repaired ligament won’t tear by doing too much too soon. So it won’t be until July or so before I’m fully back at it.

What I have been allowed is a little bit of low-stress TIG work. I go out to my shop for an hour or two here and there to run some beads. It’s keeping me from going completely insane.

OK, maybe not, but it’s an outlet. Baby steps. And it’s nice to know that after spending the majority of the last two years on a medical leave and unable to do any work, my hand/eye coordination has not abandoned me yet.

So, here are a few pictures of my first welds in six months. And I put together this video of a piece I welded on this weekend. If you watch it closely, a lot of questions I get asked on a routine basis are answered in it.

All images courtesy of Brown Dog Welding.
About the Author
Brown Dog Welding

Josh Welton

Owner, Brown Dog Welding

(586) 258-8255