hot air balloon ride crash --> need advice on 1 handing a mbp 16

[MareLuce]

hot air balloon ride crash in holland
mri --> "full width rotator cuff tear"
surgery last friday back in us: rotator cuff repair, distal clavicle excision, subacromial decompression, biceps tenodesis

nerve block pain pump has 28ml left, 4 hrs maybe
in 4 hrs, lft arm pain begins
9/10 pain accrdng to YouTube
left arm/shoulder immobile 6 weeks. zero weight bearing and in this sling

mbp m1max 16" on end table to right of recliner

advice needed:
1- how to move mbp from end table to lap with least risk of dropping it? 1 handed + without help

2- how to best use dictation on new mbp keybd? normally i type 124 wpm. never use dictatn

3- any other advice from 1-armed people / someone who has BTDT with a mbp

 

[jav6454]

Siri dictation and integration should help alleviate one handed usage. Get better.

 

[DeltaMac]

Maybe you could use something like a bedtable.

 

[VineRider]

hot air balloon ride crash in holland
"full width rotator cuff tear"
surgery last friday back in us: rotator cuff repair, distal clavicle excision, subacromial decompression, biceps tenodesis

nerve block pain pump has 28ml left, 4 hrs maybe
in 4 hrs, lft arm pain begins
9/10 pain accrdng to YouTube
left arm/shoulder immobile 6 weeks. zero weight bearing and in this sling

mbp m1max 16" on end table to right of recliner

advice needed:
1- how to move mbp from end table to lap with least risk of dropping it? 1 handed + without help

2- how to best use dictation on new mbp keybd? normally i type 124 wpm. never use dictatn

3- any other advice from 1-armed people / someone who has BTDT with a mbp

I am sorry you are going through this as I have had rotator cuff surgery and it was not fun (2 and a half tears is what the told me...had to reattach my bicep as well). I used dictation on my MB Pro 13 and it was a lifesaver. Go into settings/keyboard and select dictation. I used "press control key twice" as the shortcut and that worked pretty well so I didn't accidentally invoke it without meaning to.

As far as lifting one handed, since I had the Pro 13 it wasn't too much of a problem and I could use in my lap or on a table without any issues. I got fairly proficient typing with one hand as well. Mine was left shoulder and I am right handed so that helped. I just grabbed the laptop either in clamshell mode or in open mode in the center of the laptop and it worked fine. Granted that device is not as heavy as the 16.

Only other feedback I would give you is this:

1. If they tell you do not use the arm for 6 weeks, don't use it. That was my timeframe as well. I was very diligent to make sure I didn't use that arm. Dr. told me that the tendon is attached to the bone with very little blood flow and the biggest mistake people make is movement before the tendon heals.
2. Stay ahead of the pain. Don't over take the meds, but don't neglect to take them either. It is very painful and when the nerve block wore off, mine was extremely painful.
3. When you get the arm out of the sling, do the physical therapy. I could only move my arm up about 2 inches and I thought I would never be able to get my arm above my head again. But, with about 6 months of PT, I was able to regain full motion
4. You may experience some neck pain. This is due to the muscles in your neck compensating for the fact that you cannot move the shoulder. There is PT that can help this too.

Believe it or not, you will get used to using your MB one handed. I was able to go back to work and do pretty much what I needed, albeit slower than two handed. Hope you get well soon.

 

[MareLuce]

Great suggestions,
Thank you so much.

@VineRider
Can't see control key because of the sling so I made dictation invoked by press either command key twice
That is how I'm making this reply. Seems to work well.
edit - it doesn't work if I have something highlighted
why not?

Embarrassing to admit – I started using MacBook pro instead of my ThinkPad X1 extreme with Skylake mbp, but
I have never actually used dictation on the MacBook.
The old keyboard would invoke it erroneously all the time so I just turned it off
Use dictation all the time on my iPhone of course

21.5 mL left on the nerve block pain pump.
I feel like I'm in that Justin Timberlake science-fiction movie

In Time (2011)

Justin Timberlake in In Time (2011)

www.imdb.com

if only i could trade time on my wrist
I would much rather have more nerve block than pain meds I like the way my brain works as is
i asdked for more
nurse said risk of infection exceeds potential benefits
Seems small to me, just going in with a tiny thread

 

[VineRider]

Can't see control key because of the sling so I made dictation invoked by press either command key twice
That is how I'm making this reply. Seems to work well.
edit - it doesn't work if I have something highlighted
why not?

Not sure. I just tried this, highlighted some text in a Word doc, then activated dictation and it put in my spoken words over the highlighted text. I'm certainly no expert in using dictation, but mine seemed work as expected.

 

[MareLuce]

hmm

activate siri dictation doesn't work in google docs
Using my shortcut of pressing command key twice
I could change the shortcut but it needs to be something on the right since the control key is only on the left

 

[VineRider]

hmm

activate siri dictation doesn't work in google docs
Using my shortcut of pressing command key twice
I could change the shortcut but it needs to be something on the right since the control key is only on the left

Does your keyboard have a right command key? Mine does and on my 14" Pro it is an option for shortcut for dictation.