4 ms·
I lost the distal phalanx of my thumb in my left hand when I was a kid (6 y old). I've lived my whole life without it and have had gone through the full "stages
by xtracto 3y ago
I lost the distal phalanx of my thumb in my left hand when I was a kid (6 y old). I've lived my whole life without it and have had gone through the full "stages of grief" rainbow and obligatory bullying in school.
Now I am 40 years old and in general my feeling is the following:I would enjoy having a prostetic phalanx which is indistiguishable from the real deal mainly to avoid "distracting" people that I am interacting with. The reaction of most adults is basically to get "distracted" and wondering at some point. I've caught a lot of thease both in public moments (while giving a talk and gesticulating with my hands, you can see into some people's eyes when they "found out", and get distracted). And in private scenarios: I play guitar (more on this later), I've had moments where I am playing with along with somebody else, and you can clearly see when they "realize" about my missing finger. Adults are usually shy/educated and don't ask about it, but it is funny seeing that "moment of silence" when they are pondering whether they should ask and I guess they get "ashamed": "did he realized I stared" ... like, after 30+ years, I don't give a fuck haha.
Now, on the other hand (pun intended), I've researched about prostethics. There are some really good prosthetics which are purely visual. I've never tried those (just haven't pushed myself I guess), but what I would really like is a prosthetic that is more functional. As I mentioned, I play guitar, and one of the things that I am missing is the ability to play some Barre chords as well as I could, or doing shredding (I like to play metal) on some topmost strings, basically because I am missing the "support" that would be provided by the thumb-tip to apply the "force" (don't know if I am explaining myself haha). Also, I've always wanted to play the piano but also ... the remaining part of my thumb won't help with that haha.
So, I guess in summary: for the public side I'd like the "transparent" prostethic, while for me, I'd love to have some prosthetic that would make it easier for me to play guitar haha. Or a laser pointer, or something cool... of course that may be the geek side of me talking.
BTW: I caught your pun