Maimed Sally

[annwfyn]

Today I managed to cut the tip of my finger off. Well, not deliberately. I foolishly allowed my hand to rest against the hinges of an open door for a moment while climbing up from sitting on the stairs and the wind blew the door shut.

It was odd. At first I wasn't sure what had happened to me. I didn't hurt. In fact, I didn't feel a thing. Then I looked at my hand, and saw all the blood. Weirdly I wasn't sure what to do. I phoned my Dad and when he answered the phone said "I've cut my finger off. I'm on my own in the house. What do I do?"

Dad said "call an ambulance."

I asked him "what number would that be?"

Eventually after a rather odd 999 call ('I'm afraid we're experiencing a high call volume right now. Please hold and someone will be with you as soon as possible') an ambulance appeared. One ambulance ride, 1 x ray and 14 stitches later the end of my finger was successfully re-attached with only a few problems (there's a long story here featuring a very sleep dep'd surgeon, and jez having to act as a surgical assistant). I'm now bandaged up, and feeling rather sore but alive. rweishaar and belleinblack were fantastic for calming me down and finding me ice when they got home and found me in shock with blood pouring from my hand. pierot was lovely for doing a u turn en route to Egham and coming straight to the hospital as soon as I called ("hi Matt. Is jez driving? Erm...could you tell him that I've cut the tip of my finger off so I'm going to St Thomas hospital if he needs to get in touch with me"), and my Dad was a saint for being able to keep me talking and calm on the phone in the immediate aftermath.

I now have books, ice cream and DVDs. And I can't quite believe that I managed to cut the end of my finger off!

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I'm glad they reattached it!

I've done foolish things with door hinges too, and I certainly understand the not being sure what to do thing - I remember after I managed to slice the back of my wrist open all I wanted to do was hide and hope nobody ever noticed, it never occurred to me to go to hospital, that was for important things...

Now, tell us the long story. I'm incredibly curious.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

OK...

It starts at about 5 pm, after I'd been bandaged, and stabilised, and given gas&air painkillers to get me out of shock, and x-rayed and finally given a local anaesthetic by the A&E nurse so she could clean up the wound without me wimpering. I got put on a bed and told that a plastic surgeon was coming down to look at my hand.

At about 5 pm the plastic surgeon arrived - young guy, looking exhausted and blinking occasionally in a sleepy kind of way. He was actually drooling slightly at the corner of the mouth. He staggers in, takes a look at my hand, and says "yeah...we'll bandage you up, and then properly re-attach that on Monday when we can get you into a proper theatre." I feel slightly panicked ('what do you mean you'll keep my finger in two pieces, but held together with a bandage til Monday?') but nod. He then asks me if there is anything he should know before booking me in. I tell him that I've got a slight intolerance to latex - nothing major, but it gives me a rash.

He pauses. He sighs. He says "my manager will throw a fit. We've got a load of rules about how to treat people with a latex allergy. Oh, what the hell. I'll just nip across and steal some instruments from surgery and do it now."

And lo! He wanders off and comes back in a while with a surgery pack which he's just nicked from one of the theatres. He gets on the gloves, and then realises that he's forgotten to open the pack and asks jez "do you mind opening that for me?". Jez opens up the surgery pack, and passes instruments as required. Jez also helps the nice surgeon set up the light on my hand so he can see what he's doing.

He begins to sew. This wouldn't have been quite as alarming had he not got two stitches in, looked at the angles and where the cut was and said "this isn't going to work" and undone the first two stitches. It also would have been far nicer had the local anaesthetic not started to wear off halfway through. We got six stitches in and I said "I think I can sort of feel that". He said "erm...OK. I'll do another stitch and if you can feel that I'll top up the anaesthetic." Two stitches later I apparently went green and said "I'm not meant to feel that, am I? I can feel that" and he pottered off to get more anaesthetic. Jez held my other hand while I tried to break his fingers to stop myself from either passing out or vomiting.

The surgeon comes back, injects my hand with more anaesthetic, and finishes the stitching. He pauses for a while and looks at his handiwork and (jez swears he realises what a botch job it is at this point) says "you know, I think you just need to go back to your local GP in 10 days to have the stitching taken out."

He then gives me some antibiotics and wanders off. It is purely me and jez being ditzy that we don't realise that he hasn't given me any painkillers til we're wandering out of the hospital, just relieved to be free. On the plus side, the non-prescription stuff I'm on isn't too bad - I hurt a LOT but it's manageable pain right now.

It was a weird experience. I'm not entirely convinced I got the cream of the NHS crop there.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

1) What were you doing up at half five this morning?
2) What were you doing typing Epically at half five this morning, without (I presume) someone to tell you that that's kind of dumb?

/over protective

Hope you slept well, and the story does sound really cool if people aren't involved. In six months, it'll go down really well at parties... :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

My finger began hurting then. It hurt lots. No more sleep for Sally.

*looks mournful*

I may go scavaging for painkillers from a doctor tomorrow.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, fair. :/ Have you eaten breakfast and dosed up on the paracetamol you've got?

Things to Do at this hour of the morning will usually involve the net, right? Just try to be careful if you can't find any other distractions. :)

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

PS - this icon is now for use to respond to anything you say right now.

Because it's funny.

;P

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I suspect you got the cream of the NHS crop after it had been out in the roasting heat for two days without ever being put back in the fridge...

...I think I should cut it with this metaphor :)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

So, the main lesson learned here is that Jez may have a bright future as a mail nurse? I meant "male nurse."

[commlal.livejournal.com]

I think that requires an Ooops moment. Glad to hear that you are ok!

Get better soon!

[ulaidhan.livejournal.com]

Good grief.

:P

I'm glad that you're firmly on the mend now!

[fetket.livejournal.com]

Poor thing *hug*

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Ouch! *queasy*

Er, oops?

[headinclouds.livejournal.com]

I can't quite believe it either.


Glad your ok hon.
*Much Hugs*

[castorpollux23.livejournal.com]

Sally, I was worried about you. I'm glad that you have it re-attached. I pretty worried when I was talking to you and the like.

Icecream will help and stuff. Let me know if you need anything!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I didn't call you back and let you know what was happening, actually. I did think about it, but I kinda didn't get a chance, and then I figured that Ryan or Christa would update you at some point as they came home just as I was leaving and knew what was going on. I figured I must have been kinda freaky to talk to.

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Dear sweet god. How much of your finger was missing?

*slightly freaked*

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Just the left hand side of the tip of my ring finger running down to the first joint. I just missed hitting any bones which would apparently have been far more work for all concerned.

Erm...is this entry really squirm inducing? Should I put it under a cut?

[melsner.livejournal.com]

So you didn't actually cut off any bone during this? Just skin?

...

What are you upset about?

:)

Seriously, as much as a wuss and hypochondriac as I am, I've had some rather bloody yet cheerful trips to the ER...

I'm useless during the minor stuff, but great when it actually is a shirt storm... I meant "shit storm" because I'm not sure if I'd handle a shirt storm.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Ring finger? Is this a very, very complicated and painful way of making sure there's no chance of getting engaged or married any time soon?

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Not so much squirm inducing as "friend bleeding = bad bad bad"

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

There are times I wish I'd thought to take a picture of it at A&E. But on the whole, I think I'd then get accused of being Heartless and Uncaring and Evil, in spite of having to then explain to Sally afterward what it looked like. :)

(This is my Special Sally Icon. Isn't it great? :P)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Love the icon.

Hey, remember all the fun we had when Sally was running around London too soon after her breast reduction surgery and ended up getting an infection because of it?

She's very special.

And yes, I mean that in the exact same way that she says, "Mike is special."

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, though I don't think (unless she gets gangrene) that we'll be able to sort out her funeral any more than we already have...

...What reading would you do? ;)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

I think in this case, it would be the Merchant of Venice. "If you prick me, do I not bleed?" And the bit about the pound of flesh.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of Macbeth, myself. Either 'Here's the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of arabia will not sweeten this little hand' or 'By the pricking of my thumbs'... :)

[pierot.livejournal.com]

Guys may i say that i love you both dearly and am so glad of your solicitous nature with regards to Sally.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

That's nothing. We had a whole service sorted out after her surgery...

Just in case, of course. :D

I'd even worked out what to wear. Though I was a bit stumped by the hat thing - or is that just weddings? :)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

You would look smashing in a wide brimmed black hat with a veil.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

I'm uncertain. I'm only slowly coming to accept that a bowler hat is a reasonable addition to my Costume Wardrobe; though veils do have huge advantages.

Sally's funeral, I think, should probably involve people coming as their characters. Oh, and to be entirely dragging-back-an-old-joke-I-killed-yesterday, NiN's Ringfinger should be played. ;)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Bowler hat with a veil!

[castorlion.livejournal.com]

NO she wouldn't - this is Ginnie we're talking about. She'd instead (and forgive me for imagining sheer black dress to accompany the hat) look almost entirely like she'd murdered Sally and turned up to gloat.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but it would still look smashing. Possibly more so.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

We have nothing but the greatest of affection for the dear girl.

But at some point, Ginnie and I apparently turned into Wednesday and Pugsley Addams.

But only I get to call her Pugsley.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I was actually all butch and Manly yesterday, too. I made a barbecue with nothing but the tools I carry round in my handbag. How good am I? :P

The tools I carry round in my handbag do actually include a pair of pliers and a screwdriver... :)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

...

What (or who) did you end up barbecuing?

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Sadly, only Vast Quantities of Meat rather than any actual conscious beings, though the cats were pushing for inclusion on the Burnt Offerings list. :)

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

It's a superb icon.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

I utterly gloat about it.

(And reply, by and large, to thank you for pandering to me and to make Sally's comments figures look more impressive. ;P)

[vireton.livejournal.com]

i almost did the same with a huge bushman saw it just sliped andt i nearly took the enitre finger off i could see the bone and all.. anywayi survived and so will you... any way i am feeling mixed about alot of things will talk in person with you...

[aardnebby.livejournal.com]

Eeep! *hugs* hun!

*shock* hope you are feeling ok!

[leahdarbyshire.livejournal.com]

aww hon, I'm so sorry for you! Thinking of you lots, hope you get better soon, rest up hon.
Leahxxx