The whittling project itself lasted exactly two nights. The project ended on Wednesday when Randy sliced open the top of his thumb and we spent the night in the ER. I called a neighbor to stay with the boys (they were already asleep). Randy was in a little bit of shock and I never actually saw what he did until the doctor did a little coaxing to get the cloth off his hand. It wasn't bleeding very badly by that time, but there wasn't much skin left to do any bleeding. He cut out a chunk the size of a large thumb nail! Randy wouldn't look, so I checked it out for us both. Wouldn't you know it, I forgot to bring my camera! I was so mad, but that wasn't really my thought when I was trying to get out of the house. Sorry... After a quick tetanus booster, they gave him some antibiotics, irrigated and dressed the wound and gave us directions to visit a hand surgeon the next day. The doctor was concerned that Randy couldn't move his thumb up. The doctor thought there could be some tendon damage.
While we were checking in at the ER I got a call from our neighbor who was staying with the boys and she said that Travis had woken up and he was very upset and inconsolable when he woke and found out that we were gone. She spent most of the time we were gone telling him stories of nice happy places, praying and trying to convince him that we were coming back. He threw around the word "abandoned" a few times to describe what we had done. It was way more work than what we ever thought "staying with the kids" would be! Travis didn't even fall back asleep until about 11:45 pm. (He did sleep until 7:30 the next morning though!!!)
Ok, so back to Randy: After we loaded up on pain meds and antibiotics at the 24-hour pharmacy, plus a Wendy's Frosty to make the pain meds go down easier, we went home. Randy mentioned that we should be sure to look for the part of his thumb that he cut off so that Travis or Justin didn't accidentally find it the next morning. Good thinking! I found the chunk of skin still stuck to the blade! We did a quick clean up of the accident site and went to bed, ready to get up early and start calling the doctor as soon as he opened. My many years of doctor-appointment-making skills were to my advantage as we snagged a perfect slot after lunch. :)
The morning brought the challenge of the shower and getting dressed with one hand. Randy bumped it a few times and it nearly sent him through the roof! Poor guy! He even rode along with us to therapy and to Justin's blood draw (we go back to endocrine next week and the doctor wanted another thyroid reading before the appointment). Then it was time for his appointment. We had to explain what "whittling" is to the nurse. They did an x-ray to make sure he didn't cut or damage the bone (he didn't) and then we met with the doctor. He said that Randy did a really good job of cutting his thumb and that it was a tough case because he cut all the way to the bone in a scooping motion (kind of like, when you whittle...) and so he actually cut out a section of the tendon. When it gets that close to the end of the thumb, the tendon is very thin and fragile and so he can't just pull it back together and stitch it. It will simply pull right out. Instead he'll have to graft in a piece of tendon from his wrist. As for closing up the hole in Randy's thumb, the surgeon cannot graft skin he cuts from another part of the body over the bone and cartilage that is exposed because it will not take. It has to be "live" skin that he cuts and stretches around from the rest of the thumb. He will then be able to graft skin lower down on his thumb over the muscle that he exposes while stretching the skin. Pretty intense, huh? And he plans to pin and immobilize it because the repair will be so delicate that he doesn't want it moved for several weeks. By that time, scar tissue may form so firmly that it may not even bend at that joint.
That means surgery on Tuesday and a very long, painful recovery process. So until then, he is brandishing a splint and some major gauze wrapping. He is already tired of it. He said that buttons are nearly impossible and he contemplated wearing elastic waist-banded pants to work on Monday. I am pretty sure that's not in the dress code!
I want it noted for the record that in spite of my many incidents with knives, I have never required a visit to the ER, much less surgery. My clumsiness with knives has become the brunt of many a joke, but this time it's not me! I have had to awaken Randy to help bandage my hand after cutting myself washing our brand new steak knives, I have splattered blood 360 degrees around the kitchen, narrowly missing Randy standing right next to me, and I have various scars from knife slips and fumbles, but never did I do anything this good. You know this means our children are banned from knives forever. They are likely to lose a limb with our history!
(Travis took the picture!)
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