Doc says no shooting, no anything

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Monkeyleg

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This is just a rant; nothing particularly interesting.

For months I've been having dizziness/balance problems that have kept me from doing anything serious, such as shooting, motorcycling, etc. (If I can't drive, I don't shoot or ride, either).

Anyway, I had surgery on my inner ear two weeks ago. Doc said to not do anything for a week. Read, watch TV, work on computer: yes. Anything more: no.

Saw him last week and he said to continue to do nothing. I'm bored out of my skull.

Saw him today and he said I could do light work, such as mowing the lawn. I asked him about shooting.

"Absolutely not." He said he was concerned about the noise damaging the eardrum he'd grafted, or the recoil damaging the tiny bones he'd reconstructed. (In six months he's going to do this all over again, and rebuild those tiny bones with artificial bones).

So, I asked him when I could go shooting again.

"See me in two months."

Aaaarrrrrggghhhhh!!!!

For the past couple of years I've spent more time on gun stuff (Wisconsin CCW, my full-time website, time here on THR) than ever before, and done less shooting than ever before.

Something just ain't right.
 
:(

That bites. You sure have my sympathy.

Maybe you should invest in a very nice air pistol? Not much recoil or noise -- maybe the doc would allow it.

If not, you may need a good first person shooter game.

I mean, ears are good, but sanity is important too!
 
If it's any consolation, I was banned from all centerfire shooting from mid-February 2004 until the end of last month, due to a back injury and resulting surgeries. I was, however, able to get away with rimfire shooting - maybe with a pair of decent muffs, you'll be able to do the same? Check with your doctor.
 
+1 to BigSlick.

Also, read stuff. Every book you read makes another wrinkle in your brain (ok, not really but y'know). My grandparents are in their 80s, and both are razor sharp mentally. I attribute it entirely to their downright addiction to the printed word. Every newspaper within 100 miles, every magazine they can stand, and an average of ~500 pages a week in a book. Big collections of stuff are good for medical downtime. Dad read The Complete Sherlock Holmes when he had his tonsils done, and I polished off all of Shakespeare when I tore up my knee.

Since you're not in a position to exercise your body, keep those brain muscles well toned.
 
Two Words: Video Games

No, seriously, they'll help maintain your hand-to-eye and targeting skills. My wife had a brain tumor and surgery that resulted in some severe occular/vestibular (balance & focus) problems. Among the things we did was play video games to help reprogram her sight (e.g. ability to acquire moving objects and track them) and reflexes. Unfortunately, her problems are pretty profound, but it did help some, but with your situation, I suspect it would help keep you sharp/focused without recoil trauma. Worth a shot (pun intended). Good luck, and this, too, shall pass. :D
 
For the past couple of years I've spent more time on gun stuff (Wisconsin CCW, my full-time website, time here on THR) than ever before, and done less shooting than ever before.
Click to expand...

Yep. The causes are worthy, but always devour three or four times as much time as we ever anticipate.

You might try an air pistol. I still can't think of it as real shooting, although it's helped my slow fire scores quite a bit, and it requires the same concentration as shooting.
 
Sounds like a good time to practice your dry firing technique with several pistols.

Good "dry firing" and be safe.
LB
 
I've been having intermittent dizzy spells lately. Doc gave me some Allegra D a couple of days ago. May I ask why you had surgery? What was the diagnosis?
 
Ditto to trad. archery

Yes indeedy, a good time to wax the traditional archery strings and do as your ancestors did.

Hope your surgery and efforts are fruitful :)
 
"...maintain your hand-to-eye and targeting skills..." Eye/hand maybe. Targeting no. An air rifle or pistol is good trigger control, breathing and sight picture practice. A bow will keep your back and shoulders in tone.
 
Wow... they FINALLY found out why you were dizzy? Cool... :evil:

Seriously though: I'd agree with the airgun recommendation. It's at least CLOSE to shooting, right?

And what about riding? If it's ear damage that has the doc worried, I'm sure we can figure something out (maybe swaping a Jap for the Harley on a temporary basis?). Heck... might be able to talk my roomie into loaning his Honda out, since he's going back OTR...
 
Monkeyleg, as much as you will miss shooting (temporarily at least), I'd follow the doctors advice. It'll work out for the best in the long run. Prayers said for your complete recovery. Scott
 
I feel your pain. I just had back surgery two weeks ago and my Doc told me the same thing. He finally said I could shoot but no bending or twisting,which made me really slow durring IPSC practice yesterday.I cleaned out the local library on every gun related book they had for three weeks. Good luck and I hope your recovery goes well.
 
As if the WCCA wasn't enought to keep poor Monkeyleg busy...

I think Monkeyleg is the perfect test case to sue against the silencer provision in NFA '34.

All the way to the supreme court! Probably could use the ADA as one piece of Federal law to pit against another... :D
 
Volunteer for pro-gun work. Be an activist for a while.

Second on the pellet gun and muffs. He'll probably say no to plugs, so forget about that.

By the time you can get a silencer, you'll probably be ready for that second round of surgury.
 
Thanks for the kind words. I guess dry-firing is it for now. (Don't have an air gun).

While muffs should be fine, IMO, there's no guarantee that somebody isn't going to start blasting away with a .44 mag. Plus, those tiny little bones in the inner ear are very fragile right now. Wouldn't take much recoil to damage them.

So, back to sanding and painting the bargain HK91 stocks I bought.

At least I don't have to go through months of agony like Preacherman did.
 
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