wrote

But with regard to your question, the side-
effects are the result of my decision, which I think was a good one.
I've already pretty much given up being able to work in the shop, at
least with regard to lathe & mill work (it's not real safe, working
with such tools when you've got a bum hand). But I see those thing
more on the order of challenges rather than disabilities. In any
case, it's a bit too early to draw conclusions.

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Jim's start he Don't accept any conclusion, as you say. I've seen some
pretty darn handy disabled hand and finger guys get around in a shop, like
you wouldn't believe.

Start talking around to find some people with similar one handed
disabilities, and then as your are ready and able, visit them and pick their
brain as to how they learned to work around stuff. Even seeing how some
people without a hand work around stuff (not even in a shop) may give you
inspiration. Jim's end here
**************

As you've probably guessed by now, one of the most important aspects
of this regime is to keep my HEAD 'healthy' -- to not let the problems
get me down. Ideally, the problems get compartmentalized -- tucked
away with similar problems and dealt with as a batch rather than on an
individual basis. So long as I can control the pain, I strongly
believe I can overcome the problems inherent in the treatment.

****************
Jim's start he Sounds like a good approach, to me. Jim's end here
****************

As for the rest of it, I'm just damn happy that more people don't have
it. Right now, me and the team of physicians are literally hand-
tailoring a treatment that matches both the patient and the disease.
If more people suffered from MM the bean-counters probably would not
allow a team-oriented approach.

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Jim's start he It appears to me like you are indeed lucky to have a good
team of people working with you, and I can only help they keep up the good
work, and you keep up the good work, too. Jim's end here