health disaster

[adt70hk]

Mark, so very sorry to hear you news. I obviously hope you make full recovery,

ATB

Andrew

[Mickc1440]

Sorry to hear your news Mark, but as others have said give it time before making any decisions on your hobby stuff. Listen to the doctors and good luck with your recovery

[Bri62]

Mark sorry to hear your devastating news my brother had two heat attacks a few years ago and had to give up his love (Fishing) Fast forward to now and he is back fishing !! fingers crossed for you mate

[scottie3158]

Mark,
Sorry to hear about your woes. Wishing you a speedy recovery so you can put all the stuff to good use.

[Guest]

Had three heart attacks in one day, one which started at home, sitting on the tiolet and having my morning smoke, and the other two in A&E... Thought it was the end of my working life and modelling, not only that, a few trips to the trick cyclist and he announced that no, I was not a grumpy barsteward but had in fact PTSD...
The point I am trying to make is, do not let this barsteward get you down, no doubt you have been told to change your diet, stop the drinking and smoking, and yes after a while you can start bonking again... The angiogram is fun, you can see the ticker in triplicate as they see what is wrong with it, new spring, overwound etc, just let the doc sort out that part...
Eventually I was kicked out of the hospital and told to start rebuilding my life, I had lots of adventures in front of me, what to eat and drink, was I scared, not really I just let nature take its course, the medics sort out the mental and physical side, lived in tracksuit bottoms for months, but eventually I started to get my act together. The biggest struggle was controlling the PTSD, and once I had that underway, then I could stop throwing models against the wall, taking the PC monitor for a walk down the stairs and along the path by its cable etc etc....
So do not give up, do not let it beat you, work on the arm even if it only half works you can use it, and train your right arm to do things, after all it must be fun wiping your backside with the wrong hand...
I went back to driving trucks, the diet once I was used to the fact that I could eat what I had been eating before but in lesser portions and kept an eye on the sensible things to eat I was fine... That was in 2001, and in the next three years I took a degree in Graphic Design as a mature student at Uni, learned to be a PC technician and built a couple of my own tower computers from taking a course at College, and as I said I then went back to driving trucks....

[Miko]

. . . . till i get some rehab underway and

Rehab is positive, focus all your attention into that then you'll be good to go in no time.

It's the worst piece of advice ever, but 'don't worry' . . and if you can pull that one off you'll be fine

A positive mental attitude is your first goal!! Be strong, never give up!

Keep us informed of your progress, that'll keep you straight!

Miko ( every cloud. . . . )

[Airborne01]

Give yourself time to come to terms with this and to start the healing process before you make any rash decisions Mark. You may have a long road to recovery in front of you, but long roads do come to an end. Keep dropping in as well. It’s good to have goals to aim at in these situations, and restarting modelling could well be one of yours.

... and you've got friends to bounce your emotions off ...
Steve

[yak face]

Sorry to hear this mark , sounds awful for you. As the others have said though dont get rid of your stuff just yet , its something to aim for . For now though just concentrate on getting better , cheers tony

[Lee Drennen]

Tim makes a very good point. Keep looking in on the forum and comment whenever you want.

Yes keeping in touch is good therapy Mark great group here.

[PaulinKendal]

So sorry to hear this, Mark.

As others have said, at this early stage you don't really know what effect it'll have on your modelling ability going forward, so don't despair.

It might also be worth considering that most of what we do (not just as modellers, but in life in general) is in our heads, not in our hands. If it were to turn out that you can't continue to model-make (and I sincerely hope you can), the skills you have that make you a modelmaker probably won't disappear. You will still have much of the mental aptitude for doing stuff - if not modelmaking, then something else that will stimulate you, and that you'll enjoy.

I'm convinced that what makes us modelmakers is not special physical abilities, but a mental attitude that allows us to focus on stuff to advantage, in a way many other people just can't. Unless you're very unlucky indeed that ability will remain with you to a great extent, and you'll be able to use it to enjoy yourself, even if it's in a different branch of the hobby, or a different hobby entirely.

We hobbyists are very lucky people - never forget that, and very best wishes.

[A_J_Rimmer]

Something else that I thought of - there was a young lad on another forum I used to frequent that had Autism and another physical disability that I can't remember the name of, but basically he had very limited use of his hands, one more so than the other. By using vices/clamps etc. to help with handling (he was pretty much one-handed) and thinking around his condition, he was able to turn out some pretty respectable armour builds.

What I'm basically saying is - if you feel the desire to do something - the application of a bit of thought should get you past most obstacles.

that being said, I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery.

[davecov]

Sorry to hear of your health problems, Mark. I hope that you will be able to resume modelling at some point. There is nothing wrong with just talking about modelling, even if not physically able at the moment, and the support of forum members is a great help.

I have been have issues with Rheumatoid Arthritis (minor compared to your situation) but I have been unable to do any modelling for two months now. I am hopeful that within a few weeks I will get new medication that will allow me to resume modelling again and inflict my bodge jobs on the forum again. I haven't sold any modelling equipment but I now realise that my stash is much too big for my remaining years, so I am busying myself selling off models. That is making me feel better already!

Dave

[Easyrider5258]

Thanks for all the inspiring replies, have a lot of visits from physio speech and heart/ stroke specialists since my post, I will hang on to all my modeling gear for now, my left arm / hand was most affected and to make matters more difficult I am left handed, initially the left arm just hung unmovable , but in just a few weeks can now raise lower arm and clench a very weak fist so feeling more optimistic, what happened is I was out on a test ride on a new motorbike I was going to buy, I came over feeling a bit lightheaded, dizzy and was able pull over kick sidestand down before tumbling backwards off the back of bike, people saw what happened and called 999, paramedic arrived in 5 mins by car followed by ambulance 20 mins, into papworth and a stent fitted, up on ward for 3 weeks and back home, so I had a heart attack, and stroke and already have lung disease to a degree, I now need oxygen at home when exerting myself but not when resting, if I go out I have a smaller cylinder in a backpack to keep levels safe, so that's where I am at the moment
Had a stairlift fitted and looking at walk in bathroom / wetroom, modeling again? don't know yet, don't have the dexterity yet but hopefully will get some back as really starting to enjoy the craft
I'll post developments now and again and enjoy reading all your builds for now, regards, Mark.

[adt70hk]

Mark

Pleased to hear your making some progress. And equally pleased to hear you had excellent care very quickly on the day.

Good luck with the continued recovery.

ATB.

Andrew

[Stefee]

Excellent news.