Modern medical technology is truly amazing. I had my arthroscopic surgery on my elbow yesterday to remove a few floating bone chips - the aftermath of years of "dumb jockery" and of having my ego write checks that my body couldn't cash. The surgery itself lasted about an hour, and it took me another could of hours to get over the sedative.
Today, I'm almost as good as new, except for the big ace bandage on my right arm that'll be there for the next few days. The most interesting thing about the whole process was that instead of giving me a general anesthetic (sp?), they used what's called a "nerve block". This involved my getting an injection in the right side of my neck (luckily, they'd already given me the "don't give a damn juice") that killed all sensation to my right arm. It lasted until this morning. So, for the last 24 hours or so, my arm pretty much just hung there. About the only way I could tell what the arm was doing was to either visually check it or use my other arm. It's amazing how "simple" tasks like opening a bottle of Tylenol or getting a scoop of sherbet are so much more complicated one-handed. It definitely gave me a much better (albeit still small) insight into what people go through after small strokes that leave them with a non-functioning limb.
In any event, the Unknown Wife says I can go back to being a right-winger again (or at least having to a right wing that works).