Hurts so good...

[osodecanela]

I’m healing, at least I think so.  My hand hurts, a deep seated ache and a tightness that makes movement limited, but at the same time, with me testing my limits.  

So the back story.......

Sunday evening, I was enjoying some mindless television, when my husband marking the end of the month, went to give the canines their heartworm and flea & tick meds.  The puppies took their meds readily.   Arjuna, not so much.  He took his meds and dropped then on the floor.   LJ had no success.   I was asked to step in.

I picked up his chewable tablet and offered it to him. He took it and dropped it.   I repeated, as did he. I went to pick it up again and this time, he chomped down on me, opening a gash on the back of my hand.   

I screamed, as much out of surprise, as pain.  He let go, seeming as startled as I was. I looked down, seeing exposed tendons before blood obscured my view.  Not good.

First pressure, then hydrogen peroxide to flush things clean, and finally two major bandaids to cover.  Finger were able to move, & sensation, other than the searing burn where I was flayed open, was normal.  That was a reasonably good sign.  It was 7:30 pm.  A fast check of my brand new Medicare advantage plan sent me to the same institution I practiced in until I retired 3 years ago.   I drove myself cross county.

I left my husband at home.  Look up squeamish in the Oxford. You’ll find his picture. Besides, I want him nowhere near a medical setting until both of us have been vaccinated.   The other thought in my mind, was if I needed a tendon repair,I did not want him waiting there.  So I drove by myself.

I left the house at 8, walked into the ER at 8:45, & finished my paperwork to be seen right at 9.  At a quarter to midnight, I was taken into a patient room. 

By 2, I had been seen, numbed, irrigated, x-rayed, sewn closed and re-vaccinated for tetanus.   The extensor tendons to my 4th & 5th fingers had been exposed, but not torn.   I had arrived ready to argue if the doc had wanted me to leave without antibiotics.   My medical history is just too risky for me to forego that intervention. Unfortunately, it took almost another hour for the pharmacy to cough up one dose of pain meds and my first two doses of antibiotics.   I got home at 3:45, had some supper; did I mention I got chomped before having any dinner & then ate nothing just in case I needed a surgical tendon repair.

I woke up at 8 am, clear that my hope my regular anti inflammatory would be enough for pain relief.   Before going to sleep, I took one half of the Norco I’d been given. The epivicaine was just wearing off. The half got me to sleep.  The second half when added to a Celebrex helped.

I'm now not quite 48 hours out.   My hand feels achy and tight.   It’s hard to flex and extend my rings and pinky fingers. It hurts to move them, yet simultaneously doing so feels good.   It hurts to the touch, and I see some bruising at the edges of my bandage.  My second bandage actually.   I showered last night, and despite the plastic bag covering my hand and rubber banded in place, I still got wet and needs to redo it.

I’m going to have along week. LJ will do the dishes for the time being, but the kitchen remains my bailiwick. It hurts to hold a knife when prepping, food, so it’ll  be in my other hand for now.   Time for some more pain relief. It’s been 10 hours.