Tuesday, August 27, 2013

What to do when you smash your finger

I was minding my own business--just walking into the house from the garage when it happened. Ouch! Awh! Ouch! The new city codes demand a tight slam... oh I mean close... on garage doors. It's more important to keep out a fire than to protect our body parts so that makes sense.

Anyway, I recommend keeping any body parts you like and want to keep for a while close against your body at all times because catching anything in the mouth of these monster doors is rather painful and takes a millennium to heal.

 Step number 1: If you go to a small town urgent care facility after such an event, ask them if they know the difference between dis-solvable stitches and non-dis-solvable stitches.  If they look at all confused, then either ask to see their credentials or else run away.
 Step number 2: Always consult a hand specialist within a few days of the accident. Anyone else will most likely turn a little green and tell you that it doesn't look very good and send you away.
A hand specialist will often start over... carving and sculpting your finger as if it were a piece of clay. This is not fun. I repeat.... you do not want this turn of events. Therefore, consult a hand specialist after a few days if necessary rather than after a few weeks.

If the end of this story is a good one, you will get another picture. If not...well,you don't want to turn green and say that it doesn't look very good so I'll save you the trouble.

Looks better--don't you think? The second surgery took place on August 14th (Gregg and I's anniversary). Growth was detected the middle of September. It is now 2 1/2 months since that glorious announcment and the nail has grown out about 3/4 of the way. Only about half of the nail is very healthy but that means in a couple of months, it should like quite normal.

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