Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I Have Never Flipped Anyone Off

Contents of this post may be disturbing to the very young or the squeamish!  Do you recall this post from the summer? I had sliced my little finger open on a can of olives. Two stitches, lots of blood, me fainting...
I topped that yesterday. I will  show you.

Just scroll down.

If you don't mind X-rays.












Are you still with me?
Good.
As you can see, I missed the bone.

I was being very careful.  

I WAS!

Remember this bookshelf? 











I had repaired the broken parts and sanded it.
I had put wood screws in the back where it had come loose.
I was  putting a screw in one of the legs to tighten it up a bit.
It was the last one.
Literally.

The very old wood suddenly splintered and went flying. In a split second my eyes followed it and my free hand flinched upward as the drill went haywire.

I was screwed.

(that is SO not like me to say anything like that!)

It was 4:45 in the afternoon. Richard and I were the only ones home. It felt as though the drill was chewing up the outside of my finger. I expected to look at my hand and find a real mess. Thankfully there was not blood or I would have passed out right there! My first thought after seeing this lovely brass screw through my finger was that I was not going to be able to remove it myself. My second thought was of my 15 year old son sitting inside of the french doors just a few feet away. I did not want him to panic. I needed him to have a calm head. I prayed for help and merely walked into the house, past Richard, and up to the kitchen. I picked up my cell phone and called Britt at work as I ran very cold water over my had while NOT looking at it.

Britt and her father work at the Fitness Center in the afternoons. She supervises the facility and he is coaching the swim team. I knew he would not hear his phone out in the pool area so I called my ever calm and helpful girl. I had to redial several times because of nerves I suppose. I finally got through and was linked to her desk. She did not answer. I had to call back all the while growing more faint. "Please, PLEASE, PLEASE! Somebody pick up the phone!" was my only thought as my head started to spin. This time I asked the friendly desk girl to find my daughter and tell her it was an emergency! I had to explain it to Brittany twice. "You did WHAT?!" , she asked. At that moment Richard yelled, "You did WHAT?!" He ran up to the kitchen, took one look at my hand and exclaimed, "I have got to go sit down. I am gonna pass out!" I called to him that I needed him to be calm because I was going to pass out! (It was my turn...seriously!)

Recalling his Boy Scout first aid training he sprang into action. "Sit down Mom! Feet up. Feet UP!"

"That's for shock son."

"Oh, yeah. Head down! Between your knees!"

I complied.

Brittany heard the whole thing.
She was home within minutes and took me to the E.R.

It was a slow day in the American Fork Hospital Emergency Room. Two ladies were standing at the front desk window filling out paper work. The staff inside the window was engrossed in whatever they were doing. The girl at the computer glanced up. Britt said "Hi". The girl glanced back down as if we were not there. A guy in scrubs leaned forward and looked out at us. I was standing there with an ice bag in a dish towel on my hand. He straightened back up and did not reappear.

"I have a wood screw in my finger," I stated very matter-of- fact, but very loudly.

That brought a nurse out post haste!
She took one look and said, "Oh, we'll take you right back!"
The two ladies said in tandem, "Can we see?!" I showed them and they were duly impressed.

They were the first of many.

To shorten a long story, The nurse was calm and professional up until the point where she brought out her cell phone and asked if she could text a photo to her husband. "Sure, why not?" I replied and I held my hand up for her to get a good shot. I was in fairly good spirits. It didn't really hurt like you might think. What hurt were the four injections she put in my finger! FOUR. My finger looked like a sausage by the time she was finished. When I was numb she brought in the doctor. He was a handsome 40-something guy. "Ooo! Can I take a picture?" he asked. As he ran to get his camera a sweet little student nurse appeared.  She asked me very meekly, "may I see?"

My husband arrived soon afterward, took one look, and told Brittany he needed her chair. Sigh.

By this point I was laughing it up and inviting everyone in. I was numb and in a bit of shock I think.
 
Feet up! Feet Up!

Doctor J came back and had me hold up my hand.

"Um, can you put the other fingers down and just hold up the middle one with the screw in it?"

"I have NEVER flipped anyone off," I stated firmly.

The nurse looked at me dumbfounded and said, "really? Wow."

Lady, you CAN get through life without using crude language and gestures.

The X-ray tech. was very kind and did not laugh at me once. I love her.

Upon viewing the X-rays and inviting other doctors to do the same, (they were gathering like flies and sneeking glances at me) Dr. J came into my stall and said, "Let's get this done!" He explained that I had been very lucky. The screw had missed the bone. He sat down and proceeded to unscrew the thing right out of my body! I didn't look. At that moment a maintenance man appeared with a power drill. "Oh, didn't they call you? We don't need it anymore," said the doc. The plan was that if it had gone into the bone the doctor would need some power to get the screw out. I felt sorry for the maintenance guy as he walked away looking very disappointed.

SO, here I am nearly 30 hours later and my finger is still numb.
I think it is a blessing.
I think I will throw the old bookshelf away.


If you want to see a picture of the injury Britt took on her cell phone I refer you to her Facebook profile. Ask her to be your friend. she'll love it!

Be warned...it looks like a really good Halloween make-up job!

7 comments:

URFAVE 5+A Few said...

Oh my word!!! Bless your heart! That looks like it REALLY REALLY hurt. I'm quite sure I would have passed out.

You know Brian has been doing trim work now for 12 years and I quite often think how on earth has he never had an accident with any of those tools. Then the thought came to me of if he ever did and was at a house alone and got hurt he could pass out or go into shock and bleed to death. Since that thought I have said to him that I need to know where he is exactly at everyday so that if anything ever happened I'd know where to find him to help him. I'm so glad that you had Richard and Britt to take care of you and that you were able to keep calm.

I hope your finger gets better soon!

Take Care,
JoLynn

Lianne Barr said...

Wow, you handled that really well! What a story! I hope recovery goes well and quick.

Anonymous said...

This is just a terrible story, the x-rays speak for themselves. I'm so happy that you were able to remain calm and not pass out...it could have been so much worse. I think it's so funny how everyone at the hospital wanted to take a picture, it probably was on YouTube within the hour. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Helen Ellsworth said...

Marianne I got sick all over again just reading and looking. What a day. And you didn't hav your Mommy to kiss your boo boo. Actually that wasn't very nice for me to say. It wasn't funy. Hope you are feeling betterr. Love you lots. Love Mom

Abbie said...

I saw the crazy pics on facebook! I'm glad you shared the story :) But I'm more glad you're ok!

Lori said...

Oh my goodness - you poor thing. First I will admit that I thought it was really cool - so pre-Halloweenish. I'm sorry, that sounds so rude, but I'm sure someday you will be able to joke about this. But then I really started to feel your pain. How did it not bleed and how did you not get lightheaded and pass out? I mean it isn't just a puncture wound - there is a crazy screw drilled into your finger for Heaven's sake. Unbelieveable. I asked Doug to come into the office so I could show him what you had done and he just stood behind me, with his hands to his mouth and said, "What the crap!" He is very expressive. You are so lucky that it didn't nick or go into the bone. I hope your recover is quick and that you are using your hand again very soon. Did you do any nerve damage? I'm sorry that I thought it was cool - I should have gone into medicine instead of law - I would have loved to be a surgeon. I know, I'm weird.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, I can't even believe you made it through that experience! I'm positive that I would have passed out on the floor.