Look what I did!

Sunday morning, 3 AM (I told you I wake up early) my cat began his usual crying to be fed. Even before I started the coffee, I got out a can of cat food and pulled the tab to open it. It was sort of stiff, and my arthritic hands fumbled it, and VOILA! The edge of the lid sliced into my left thumb down to the bone, a neat 3 corner flap.

 

So much blood! Squirting, running, dripping, and so painful! Took me about 40 minutes to stop the bleeding with firm pressure and 1/2 a roll of paper towels. With the cat yowling the whole time, because he knew there was a can of food up there and didn't get fed yet.

I wrapped it tightly and waited for Ron to wake up. Even the slightest movement of the thumb joint sent burning zingers of pain up my arm: I knew some nerves at least had gotten cut. It amazed me how helpless I was with only one hand. Takes a lot longer to make coffee one-handed, and when I had to pee, it took forever to get my PJ pants back up.

After Ron got up, we debated how best to get my thumb tended to on a Sunday. I thought I'd have to go to the VA in Minneapolis, as the local ER's and Urgent Cares always cost an arm and a leg. I found a phone number for my St. Cloud VA Nurse triage line, said it's available 24/7, so I called it. Had to hold 25 minutes, but she answered and said the VA Clinic in St. Cloud would see me as soon as I got there! I told her the web site says they're closed on Sunday. She replied, "Yes, we don't tell anyone they're there."

Didn't get home til 4 PM. 4 sutures, very deep, and it DID cut nerves, but the doctor who sewed it up said he thought the tendons were intact. Plus a tetanus shot, so the other arm hurts, too.

So the thumb doesn't work very well. Zero gripping strength, still very painful. I have to call work today and find out if I'm able to do the job, which requires a couple hundred handwashings and glove changes daily, not to mention being able to pull a cap off a needle, or insert a spike in a bag: things I have trouble with WITHOUT this owie. Oy.