Guess who gets to have reconstructive surgery?

amcardon

amcardon

Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
942
Ding, ding, ding! ME! Today was my 5 year old's birthday and after dinner he was opening presents and one of them had over 20 zip-ties securing the toy to the packaging. One of then was extremely difficult to get to and as I cut the zip-tie I also cut 2 tendons in my thumb. I have full sensation but zero movement. Went to the ER, they cleaned it up and put in 2 temporary stitches and I meet with the surgeon tomorrow morning.

Terrible timing! I have finals and national boards (I'm in med-school) in the next 2 weeks and my wife is 37 weeks along...

What do we do when we injure ourselves? We take pics. And then we can go to the hospital if needs be.

Oh, and my 5 year old's response, "Dad, it doesn't look that bad, put some superglue on it and let's play!" He knows me too well already ;)

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Aaron , that is ugly . Are you sure you want to make knives before you learn how to use them ? :D

I'm not trying to be a smart ass , I just could not help myself . The devil made me do it .
 
Yep I know what you mean with the zip ties,opened a few of the grandkids toys,best to use wirecutters,they are hard to cut with a blade---I hope you heal well and have no problems-it is a bitch to be out of commision for a while---Best Regards Butch
 
Dang! Sorry to hear about the laceration, but glad it wasn't worse!

Being that I'm juggling sharp stuff every day I try to keep the mantra of "always cut AWAY from yourself" in the forefront of my mind, but I know how it goes...

Zip Ties are indeed a challenging material to cut, even if your knife is light saber sharp. One trick I've learned is to slide the blade under the tie and then "lever" it up, edge first. Less force involved and they'll usually pop right off. As a previous poster already mentioned, a wire snip works great too. But we're not members of the "Wire Snip Forum", are we?:D

Hope that you're enjoying full use of that delineator of species we enjoy and that your boards go well. Most importantly, I wish you and the Mother of your Child a beautiful, complication free birth. Keep us posted on that for sure!

Best wishes,

Taylor
 
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bladsmth said:
Man, you know that hurt.
I gave you some advice about thinking where things will go when there are sharp objects involved, but I guess you forgot.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=820201
Click to expand...

Yes you did! I was actually using flush cutters but there was one stupid tie that i couldn't reach and had to use my knife...

I go in for reconstructive surgery first thing Friday morning. Thanks for the well wishes!
 
Bored or of my mind sitting and waiting for surgery... Let's get this done with already!
 
So surgery went well. I really won't know the prognosis until Thursday when I go back and meet with the surgeon.

After surgery I woke up with this cast on:

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For this amount of repair:

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The cast was extremely annoying so what did I do?

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Kydex, leather and wool... So much more comfortable!
 
Hope you make a full recovery. I like your "Homemade" Splint!!:thumbup:
 
Did you have help making that? seems like a difficult task one thumbed... Hope you have a speedy recovery.
 
Neat brace. I know what you mean about trying to do things one handed. Use your elbow,.........or your toes.

When I was 16, I traumatically amputated the left index distal phalanx while working on a motor bike. They grafted my index finger into the palm of that hand for eight weeks to let it grow into the fascia. When it was fully attached, they cut a piece of my palm out with a flap of skin and made a new finger pad. During the three months that I was one handed I became proficient at all sorts of two handed tasks.
 
with all due respect...let me give you a little advice:

as an orthopedic surgeon, I feel obligated to tell you that you should listen to your surgeon, and not be "your own doctor"

If you trust the surgeon enough to allow him/her to fix you up, please trust him/her enough to put up with the dressing they prefer:cool:

you are lucky you did not get the flexor tendons - that would be MUCH worse!

oh, and for zip ties, you can use a toenail clipper or a wire cutter - MUCH safer

good luck :thumbup:

Bill
 
Sorry to hear of your injury Aaron. It doesnt look too bad but those two tendons will need some time to grow back together. Listen to your doctor and doctor BillF
 
billf said:
with all due respect...let me give you a little advice:

as an orthopedic surgeon, I feel obligated to tell you that you should listen to your surgeon, and not be "your own doctor"

If you trust the surgeon enough to allow him/her to fix you up, please trust him/her enough to put up with the dressing they prefer:cool:

you are lucky you did not get the flexor tendons - that would be MUCH worse!

oh, and for zip ties, you can use a toenail clipper or a wire cutter - MUCH safer

good luck :thumbup:

Bill
Click to expand...

Thanks for this post! Normally I do use wire cutters or flush cutters but this particular zip-tie was in a really awkward location where I couldn't get to it with anything but my knife... Also, the cast she put me in was lined with soft cotton everywhere but this 1/2" x 3" strip where it was the hard, abrasive material (ie - no padding at all; what the crap is that anyway?) and it happened to be directly over my stitches and was extremely uncomfortable to the point that I wasn't wearing it at all but felt I needed "something." I guess I could have expounded on that a bit more... Trust me, normally I would give the same advice as you. I'm a med-student, massage therapist and an EMT so hearing somebody made their own brace would normally be something I would cringe at. I made sure the brace maintained the same amount of flexion and abduction as the original cast my surgeon made, just didn't think too many people would want to hear all those details :D
 
So, for those interested, I just got back from the surgeon to see what the prognosis is. Apparently I cut an extensor tendon, collateral ligament, joint capsule ligaments, cartilage and superficial nerves. Great aim! I am in a new brace (see pic below) and will be for months apparently. I start physical therapy this week and go back to the surgeon in 4 weeks. Surgeon said she estimates that I should plan on a 16+ week recovery to have normal (not full) movement to my thumb. There was significant tearing to the joint capsule so she said that is what will take the longest to heal. Goody! She did say that I'm not restricted from doing anything as long as I can wear the brace and it doesn't hurt ;-)

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as a knifemaker your idea of what hurts and the doctor's may differ slightly

take it easy and make sure you heal up.
I did the same to my right index finger (flexor tendons instead of extensor tendons though)
is was three months before I could use the hand for light tasks. I still can't curl that finger in all the way but I have full strength and range of motion.

learning to write left handed was the worst.
 
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