April 15
Today Duf’s workout was going to be yard work and mine was house work. It was really nice out, one of the first nice days since we got home, so I decided to surprise Duf and trim the bushes in front while he worked in the side yard. My trimming lasted about 20 minutes until I was screaming I’d cut my fingers off!!! I cut three fingers almost off at the base and top and cut arteries so the blood was spurting. Duf paled at the sight then he wrapped my hand in a towel and put me in the Jeep. As he got in, between screams and tears, I yelled for him to get my purse. He gave me a look like I was nuts and I sobbed, “Insurance card!” He got the purse.
Duf drove like a crazy man to the nearest immediate care, I’m sure the blood, crying and screaming spurred him to not see the red lights. When we arrived he parked by the door and got me out of the Jeep and through the door. I saw three ladies chatting behind the desk and they didn't even look at us until I yelled,”I cut my hand!” They turned and saw a bath size towel dripping blood. They jumped up and basically followed Duf barging me into the Dr area.
A nurse grabbed my arm and ushered me to a room yelling for a Dr. The Dr rushed in and when she removed the towel and blood shot all over them, they both paled. The Dr yelled to another nurse,”Get an ambulance here, NOW!” I was calmer than they were and laughed when he told the nurse to get gloves. They were covered in blood and gloves would not help now. I told him I was disease free and suggested we remove my rings now before we couldn’t. We got the rings off and the tight bandages slowed the bleeding as the ambulance arrived. The EMT’s added bandages and strapped me to their gurney, I requested loose straps so my claustrophobia didn’t kick in!
Duf followed us to the hospital and met us in ER, after he gave them my insurance information. The ER Dr and nurse even paled when they saw the cuts. They got my hand into a surgical glove, they explained it was sterile and would be extremely tight. Once in the glove the Dr clipped the finger tips and pulled the finger material down to create individual finger tourniquets that would stop the spurting blood so he could see the cuts. To say this was extremely painful is a very true statement! The pointer finger, left hand, would not quit spurting so he decided to stitch the artery closed, EXTREME pain and my first time vocalizing my pain! He said it would hurt and I could vocalize as long as I didn't move my hand. At the end of stitching the artery he said I was an amazing cutter but a soft talker at yelling. Dr B. said he would not want to count on my yelling ability for attention, then he laughed and said we must find some humor here!
The nurse administered a tetanus shot and a shot of morphine while Dr B. brought in another Dr to consult with. When this Dr touched my hand the pointer began spurting blood all over him and he grabbed my hand and stood for 15 minutes squeezing that area with hope that it would clot while they were deciding their next step. They said they would have discussed the options in private but since he enjoyed holding my hand, more humor, I could listen and interject if needed. At this point we played rock, paper, scissors (more Dr humor) to decide on the Dr to give the shots to numb the hand, I did suggest this should have been done first, but they wanted to know if I had feeling in certain places. Dr two won, or maybe lost.
Before the stitches the Dr asked if I thought the hedge trimmer was dirty when I cut myself, obviously he has never used a hedge trimmer! The Dr then called in a team to cleanse the cuts, great guys but it still hurt, and he promised the numbing shots when they finished the cleaning job, again checking for feeling.
Finally he injected the hand numbing solution with two painful shots in each finger. Five minutes later the pain was gone and the morphine was also working so I relaxed while he was at the sewing bee, more Dr humor. After everything was sewn tight Dr B returned to examine the hand and the minute he touched my hand the pointer began to pour blood through the stitches. They exchanged a look that made Natalie and me uneasy! Once again we held hands for 15 minutes, but this time I was numb so the pressure did not hurt. At the end of the timed 15 minutes the bleeding stopped and they told me to keep my hand above my heart for 72 hours. They released me to Duf’s care and stressed hand above heart and if bleeding started he should get me back to the hospital. My hand stayed up and the bleeding did not start again!
Natalie was in the ER room right by my side through all of this. She took pictures and video of what they did and the Dr asked if we would all be UTube or Facebook sensations. I said NO and they acted sad that we would not be stars. Duf didn't like all the blood so he sat outside the room with Phillip. Phil is Natalie’s boyfriend and was so nice to come and see the carnage. When we got home Phil brought me a ton of movies to watched while I sat with my hand up.
i have learned to slowly type with one hand!
THE FINGER EATER!!
