Thumbthings REALLY never end

I had presumed that yesterday's visit to the doc would be my last - he would have told me what the status of my thumb and wrist was and essentially would have told me to live with whatever it was. But no. The first comment was about how the thumb is pointing int the wrong direction and that it would have to be operated if I'm ever to regain proper use of it. The second was that the bones in my hand should be repositioned so that they would stop grinding into each other. In other words, operation. This from the doc who has left me once on the operating table when I was already out cold because he decided at the last second not to operate. Due to a waiting list, the operation won't be until December. The thumb should be able to regain its strength, but the wrist will lose mobility. The idea with the wrist fix is that it will prevent almost certain arthritis due to heavy damage decades ago. This is disappointing since even now the wrist won't bend enough to allow for comfortable bicycling. After the operation I get to start over from the beginning with a cast and rehabilitation etc. Possibly I'll recover enough strength to finally be able to change gears while bicycling. Just so long as I don't try to hold onto the handlebar.