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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Wounded: The Tale of a Hand, a Glass, and an Action Hero


I'm right handed.  The above picture is what my right hand currently looks like.  (Note: my hand looks smaller than normal in this picture because I can't lay it flat with the bandages.)  Kitchen accidents are always among the more painful to have, though accidents that happen in the garage or in a factory setting tend to be worse yet.

This happened while I was doing dishes last night.  Most people would assume I cut myself with a knife.  Nope.  A glass broke in the water, and before I knew what had happened, the jagged edge sliced through my knuckle.  I wish I had a more interesting story to tell about it, but I don't.  Maybe I'll make one up and post it later.

Stemming the tidal wave of blood while trying to get two children ready for bed was interesting.  Alas, being a mother means caring for others even when you yourself are in less than perfect condition.  And with my husband still at work, I was on my own.

I was a regular MacGyver.  Using only a toothpick and a piece of chewing gum, I sewed my finger back on when it was dangling only by the . . .

All right, all right, that isn't how it happened.  Get off my back already!  I'll tell you the truth, but it isn't quite as interesting as the yarn I was already spinning for you.

I used a piece of cloth taken from an old pair of shorts and some clear tape.  Wrapping that around my hand, I got the bleeding stopped.  Then, with the blood stopped, I realized that when I bent my finger, I could see the bone underneath.  Ick!  I don't find it all that unsettling to see most injuries, but there's something unnatural about seeing your own bone exposed.  You just know it isn't supposed to happen.

I cleaned it out good and taped it up with medical tape and gauze that husband was nice enough to bring home.  Having my hand taped up like this makes it a lot harder to type, so I didn't meet all my writing goals for the day.  Oh well.  At least the cut is looking better already.  In the meantime, I'll keep writing.  I'll just have to be more reasonable about my goals until this heals more.

Oh, I did manage to finish the dishes with only one hand.  Let's see MacGyver do that!

5 comments:

  1. DAMN, lady. When you told me you cut your hand I didn't think it was THAT bad!

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  2. It's bad, but it will heal. No sign of infection, and today the skin was already starting to stay together again. I'll be back to normal (or at least as normal as I can be) in no time.

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  3. Ouch! Hope it heals quickly.

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  4. Eek! I'm really squeamish about stuff like this when it feels so possible for me, too. I don't think I would have stayed fully conscious through the ordeal. I really hope it heals fast so you can get back to writing.

    I noticed you followed my book review blog (thanks for that!), but I also have a brand new author/writer blog, too. Might be of more interest, so I thought I'd point it out to you: http://cathykeatonwrites.blogspot.com/

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  5. OMG. I think you should go see a doctor.

    To help you with the typing, if you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 you can go to accessibility options and turn on the voice control for your computer. Then all you have to do is plug in a microphone and you can dictate to your p.c. and won't have to type so much.

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