On The Road To Recovery!

After seriously injuring his hand in a motorcycle accident (just as GENERAL HOSPITAL’s recent three-week hiatus had commenced), Ryan Paevey (Nathan) tells Soaps In Depth that he’s well on his way to a full recovery. “My doc is impressed with how quickly my tissue has mended,” the actor reports. “All the ‘road rash’ is gone. The bones have fused, and my body’s not fighting the metal. The surgical side is fine.”

However, there are still a few obstacles to overcome. “My range of motion is still really limited,” he confides. “It’ll probably be a while before I’m on the bike or in the gym again.”

Paevey credits his pal Mike Viruet, a trainer/nutritionist, with helping him heal. “He came over and totally re-hauled my refrigerator and prepared all these meals for me. He designed a plan especially engineered to aid in the recovery process. So it’s pretty cool — I had three microwavable meals from a buddy for a while!”

The GH hunk is right-handed — which is the one he injured — so his life has gotten a little more complicated. “Elastic and I have become good friends,” quips the performer. “Buttons are a nightmare!” The good news is that because Paevey’s injury occurred at the beginning of GH’s hiatus and his recovery has been going so well, the accident didn’t have to be written into Nathan’s storyline. “[GH executive producer] Frank Valentini was really supportive when I called him both after the accident and surgery. I told him I can’t pick anybody up or punch anybody. But that’s it.”

The actor hasn’t had to call in sick a single day of taping because of his rough spill, either. “If I miss a day of work then something is terribly wrong,” he quips. “It’s because I either don’t know that I’m working or I’m dead!”