As kids growing up in the wop wops we had to entertain ourselves and we were forever begging Mum to come outside and take a look at our latest dare-devil antics. She would have a look of pained anguish on her face as we showed off our latest heroic endeavours which often ended in tears and wounded prides, but, it didn’t stop us for one minute! Oh no, never!  We had some ancient old bikes that we would hurtle ourselves down the gravel country roads on defying anyone gay enough to use handle bars yelling “look Mum no hands” or galloping along at a hair-raising pace on the beloved pony holding on for dear life with nothing more than squeezed in legs…we thought it was all such good fun all this no hands business but it wasn’t such fun last week when I REALLY didn’t have any hands to use….albeit for only 3 days. Put this independent, busy, easily bored gal into this situation and it’s fun and games! Total dependence on others is humbling, frustrating, hilarious and darn right difficult. I didn’t give it much thought really – A quick snip to relieve the Carpal Tunnels and bob’s your uncle….done and dusted! But then a couple of lovely friends mentioned things like, “Fiona, you won’t be able to pull your knickers up, you’ll have to get the hippie kaftan’s out” (thanks Sue) and, “it’s very painful, my husband took 2 weeks off work to look after me when I had a Bilateral” Blimey, I haven’t organized anything and I’m looking after Rosie’s shop Password Please in 6 days while she shoots off to purchase some stock!! Balderdash, they are  scaremongering, I’ll be just fine I convincingly tell myself….Day one and I arrive home in good spirits but soon learn I’m in for a bad bad night…..“drugs, I need some drugs” I wail to anyone who will listen, can’t get the jolly things out of their sealed up little cubby-holes – I’m starting to think this could have been a bit foolhardy and a bad idea to get both done at once….”I’m cold, please cover me up, please move the pillow, please help me to the bathroom….” please, please, please…oh shit, this is not good, I’m not liking it at all! Morning dawns to a grumpy, tired hubby who makes me a cup of tea, feeds me some toast and scuttles off to work as fast as he can without it looking too indecent! Rosie takes over, dresses me, lights and stokes the fire hoping it lasts until the next shift arrives, (quickly realize I actually can’t do a bloody thing so some troops have been called in to the rescue) places glasses of various drinks with straws in front of me and turns the TV on. “I’ve put it on E Mum, I’m addicted to it, you will love it!” “Oh, no I’m not” I soon realize with her long gone – “it’s garbage”…I can’t change the channel, turn the volume down or even turn the bloody thing off – I can’t even put a pillow over my head to drown out the noise…no doubt about it day one is not a walk in the park, but as day two dawns and while I can’t twist, pull and lift, I discover I can gently press a remote or keypad….woo-hoo, things are not so bad after all! I think I will post a sympathy pic on FB and see if anyone buys into it…..:-) From then on things start to improve and it’s wonderful to realize I no longer have the terrible Carpal Tunnel pain…and I’m thinking all those woose’s who have one done at a time are just that – woose’s…but you know what….give me two working hands any day – they are magic!