
Ask HN: Just survived cancer, but now disabled, need advice - xnewwayx
Hello guys, 
I in my early 30s, spent 10 years building a career around my small video production company. Just found out I had cancer in May, and spent the whole summer in hospital, went through 2 surgeries and radiotherapy. Luckily I&#x27;m fine now, but due to the surgery my right hand is now disabled. I can&#x27;t work in video production anymore, and frankly I&#x27;m depressed and feeling useless. 
I just want to ask what I should do now. I&#x27;m weaker now but I can still use computer with my left hand. I&#x27;m not asking for a money making method to get rich, just something to make me feel useful and help pay the bills. (All my savings are spent on the surgeries). 
Thanks.
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lunixbochs
Hi, which OS are you on? My free project
[https://talonvoice.com](https://talonvoice.com) combines speech recognition,
eye tracking, and other novel methods to completely replace keyboard/mouse
input for people with hand or other injuries (Windows and Linux support are in
beta)

I’ve struggled with hand injuries myself. If you are patient and willing to do
some calls / screen sharing and work with me, I’m happy to spend some of my
free time with you to see if we can build a workflow for you that enables you
to be productive with only one hand.

~~~
xnewwayx
Hi, thanks but I can still use computer just fine, a tad slower but ok.

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hos234
Have you thought of Teaching? You could contact schools and orgs that run
training/workshops etc and see what full time/part time options are available
that suit you. Some of them might have experience with this stuff and might
point you in the right direction eg -
[https://www.inclusionfilms.com](https://www.inclusionfilms.com)

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks, I've thought about teaching too.

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saluki
If you enjoyed video production could you use technology to keep working in
video production?

Custom foot pedals, voice to text, mouse with left hand.

Here's a thread on setting up pedals for keyboard input.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/PUBATTLEGROUNDS/comments/9q4rph/hea...](https://www.reddit.com/r/PUBATTLEGROUNDS/comments/9q4rph/heavy_duty_leaning_pedals/)

Glad to hear you are fine now. That's the important thing.

~~~
throwaway8689
Agree op should look into this. I've had RSI-ish problems and mouse with my
non dominant hand was not too hard to learn.

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Meandering
Have you considered an apprenticeship? I'm sure it isn't ideal for someone who
seems to have a lot of drive and probably is use to handling every detail.
But, if you can get a recent grad or promising young family-member/friend to
join you, there may be ways to adapt. You could step back and focus on
clientele and the big picture in addition to fostering someone else.

~~~
xnewwayx
I'm quitting video production for a change, also harder to cope with
deadlines/ stress from work now.

~~~
saluki
You might find this podcast interesting.

StartupsForTheRestOfUs.com

If you're still interested in doing your own thing, maybe something new with
less deadlines.

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kresten
Make a YouTube channel that authentically documents your day to day life.

Your audience would be other people in a similar situation.

Communicate stuff of interest to your audience, get a slab of money from
google.

~~~
xnewwayx
Thinking about that too. Maybe can help inspire others with similar situation.

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anotheryou
If left hand works well you'll adapt! If it's a bit weak there are some
helpers possible.

For fun I changed my keyboard layout to something exotic and felt really
handicapped at first (totally self inflicted, and not comparable at all to
what you go through mentally). It's OKish after a month, and now I type faster
than I ever typed on qwerty.

 _Mouse_ :

I think with 30 your brain will adapt very well to your left hand. If it's too
weak maybe the fingers can do more work so a trackball or something could
work. The switch to the left hand is a brainfuck anyways so it doesn't matter
if you also change the device, just settle on one quickly.

If hand/arm are alright, but fingers weak: click with something else (e.g.
your foot). I can research or build hardware for that. (cheapest solution:
remove all but one key from a keyboard and use a tool to map that key to
click)

 _Keyboard_ :

The most common fix I think is having a modifier to "mirror" the keyboard.
E.g. when you hold space and press a button on the left side of the keyboard
it will register the key that is on the right side of the keyboard. There is
scripts for this readily available, just let me know if mac or PC and I can
find one for you (or you google).

 _Editing_ :

For editing you'll need shortcuts. You could either try to change them or find
a mouse that has a few more programmable buttons. If neither works you can
probably script something.

If everything fails I'll build you bunch of stomp-pedals for the feet that
register as a keyboard (like guitarists have; just for shortcuts, not for
typing).

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks! I'm used to typing and clicking with my left hand now.

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olegious
Read the story of Rick Allen. He is the drummer for Def Leppard, one of the
biggest rock groups in the world at one time. He lost his arm in a car
accident and learned to play drums with one arm and a modified drum kit.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Allen_(drummer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Allen_\(drummer\))

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks

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rwesty
You have your left hand free. It's a tough situation and I'm very sorry you
are going through this. I would suggest learning to use the computer with your
left hand, things will click (excuse the pun), faster than you think. Good
luck to you man, wish you the best. What is the name of your company if I ever
need video production?

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks! I'm used to doing things with my left hand now. Due to stress from the
work I plan to sell the company to one of my employees and do something new
for a change.

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DoreenMichele
List of Remote Jobs or Gigs Platforms

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JfNAbUX_lN9K3MCNHO15...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JfNAbUX_lN9K3MCNHO15GJtJ5qpk7H9Cl3xTBwv2FR8/htmlview)

Potentially of interest:

[http://writepay.blogspot.com](http://writepay.blogspot.com)

r/gigworks

r/workingonline

r/freelance

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h2odragon
Tutoring. Put out flyers / ads for people to come to you and pay $100/hr or
whatever to learn the tools and workflow necessary for them to become their
own utube star.

It's trite, but I'll say it anyway: dont focus on the things you cant do,
focus on the things you can. That can include "working out how to do the old
things again now that its harder".

Good luck

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks, I like to think like I'm playing a game in harder difficult haha

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equalunique
You probably have already checked out some ambidextrous mice, but FWIW, this
is the left handed mouse I use: Elecom M-XT4DRBK

~~~
xnewwayx
Thanks, I still use my old mouse, just swap the buttons.

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tartoran
First wait to gain your strength back, it will come back soon. Then think of
your alternatives. You could eventually go back to your old self but you have
the opportunity to leverage this experience in your future decisions. They say
for a reason “what doesn’t kill makes one stronger” for a reason. Wish you the
best!!!

~~~
xnewwayx
Thank you, I'm trying to leverage this situation too. Maybe it's a turning
point for something better.

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th582ujdj
On the bright side, it will be easy for you to jump the line for Superhuman
email if you hit them up.

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agustif
You could hire interns/apprentices to click and type for you, some coders do
this.

~~~
xnewwayx
I can manage to use the computer, just find it hard to cope with the stress

