I'm going in tomorrow to have my long left finger broke again. This is the third time I've had to do this. Long story short, I smashed my hand in a industrial accident 2 years ago. Imagine a plate of steel weighing 200lbs and traveling at 20 in/sec. smashing down on your hand with 1200lbs of force. Incredably it only split open three of my fingers and only broke one. Veeeerrry lucky that! I had two repair attempts done by a hack here in Olympia. I have almost no movement of the big joint. Tomorrow I'm going to the UofW and have it fixed by the best!

The word "Ouch!" comes to mind, but some how I don't think that coveys it quite right.
Good luck.

The expression shown in your avatar is so very apropos, Phoenix42.


Good luck, Neutrino! Break a leg! ...um
Um, well, then just good luck, I guess...

Daaamn. Good luck, and yes, all things considered, you are quite lucky. A friend of mine lost his thumb to a forklift accident. He still "feels" the thumb and sometimes it is incredibly painful, even though it isn't really there.

Love the Wallace and Grommet mousepad, as well.

Good Luck!

Ouch!

Cheers

Cris.

Daaamn! Good luck, dude.

Thanks for the support! It looks like everything went well. There's a good chance I'll regain almost full motion! I'll post some xrays and a pic of my finger with the skin pulled off when I'm in a little better shape.

X-rays would be cool. You can keep the rest though. Ick!

Nah, I want to see!

Heh. That reminds me of the time I got my shin stitched up after a mountain bike accident. I had seen a shiny white thing under the skin, and didn't know if it was bone, or ligament, or what. So I asked the doctor, and after freezing the area, he put his fingers on either side of the wound, pulled it wide open, and said "That's your bone, want to touch it?" I declined, and sat back feeling suddenly light headed. Sadly, I regret not taking the opportunity.

I take it you haven't gone to see a BodyWorld's exhibit, then? (I think that was my second or third date with SWMBO.)

I went to one of those, if i remember correctly it was in PA when I went. Was pretty interesting..

I went to “the Bodies” exhibit up in Seattle. I made it about a third of the way through before I realized that they were real. I’m not sure if I would have gone had I known.

The steaks at Morton Steakhouse were absolutely fabulous after though. That kind of made up for it.

Speaking of body parts and stuff, here’s a pic of my hand 3 days after the surgery. It’s all sown up but the stitches and swelling are pretty wicked. I’m just warning you. The great news is that I can now make a fist! This is the first time in two years! After losing mobility for so long it’s amazing what can be a simple pleasure, like gripping a steering wheel. The very very best part is that I hit an A chord on my guitar for the first time in two years! This was enough to just about bring me to tears. Loosing the ability to play was a huge loss. I was never any good but that has nothing to do with it. Playing is a means of self expression and I had lost that. Now I have it back. This is huge!!

And it's straight, too!

Can you tell us what they did? I'm interested in what the repair was for something like that. Was it done under a local anesthetic? Did you watch?

Good to hear you're regaining mobility. Have a healthy recovery!

Thanks guys for the words of support! This is such a huge thing for me. It might seem that just one finger is not such a big deal but this really had a huge impact on my life. I don’t think it is generally understood that the long finger is your most valuable finger. It is the power finger. It’s the one you grip with. Also the loss of the use of this finger tanked guitar playing which was a major bummer for me.

I was out cold during the operation. It took almost three hours. They had to go in, split the tendons to get down to the bone, remove the screws and plate, cut the damaged section out of the bone, realign the bone, remove all of the scar tissue that had formed, install a new plate and screws, reassemble the tendons and sew it all up.

The finger is now about 6mm shorter than it was before. The process I am going through is quite different than what I was doing before. Only three days after surgery I was out of the cast and required to start physical therapy. The plate and screws are such that they provide all the stability that is required. Immediately exercising the finger is paramount to maintaining flexibility. This eliminates scar tissue from forming on the tendons and joint and inhibiting motion. What is also amazing is that there is no pain. I stopped taking the pain meds on Saturday and have been pain free ever since. Your fingers are really quite amazing. I have grown a new appreciation for their elegance in form, function, and complexity.


I don’t remember where Morton’s gets its meat beyond some place in the mid-west, central US. The beef is the absolute best. They roll out a cart with samples of there fare and you choose what cut you want. Everything is ala Carte so be prepared.

Inside pics!