Thumb Update Uodate Update: Visit to the Urgent Care Place

So I went to the urgent care place in Bayside (there's one in my 'hood but my mom says it's filled with drug addicts), and while I was waiting I started to regain some of the feeling in my thumb. Some, but not all. So I showed it to the nurse lady there and she was like, "I think you're gonna need lots of stitches" and she moved me from the doctor room to, like, the hospital room, where there's a bed and shit.

The doctor, whose name was, like, exactly the same as the doctor from the Simpsons, came over, took a picture of the the wound (for medical records, maybe?) with a really cool SLR camera, and I told him my thumb was numb. He pressed down on various parts and he said, "The reason your thumb is numb is that the cut was really deep, and it probably struck a nerve, resulting in peripheral nerve damage." I asked how long it would take to heal, and he said, "It'll start to heal gradually, and at minimum you'll feel fine in a few weeks." So I was like "Holy shit" and I probably exclaimed that to him. But, see, I was right, wasn't I?

So then he started applying a lot of pressure to the cut for some reason, which hurt like hell. He was like, "I'm gonna need to sew this up." And I asked him, "How many stitches?" He didn't know. I estimated it would be 5 stitches.

So he made the nurse bring him a pillow, and Ilaid down on the hospital bed. He put all this numbing dye that looked like blood onto the area, and gave me 3 shots of lidocain, which started out hurting like hell, but as time progressed, I realized that I couldn't feel my right hand. It was really weird.

He said he was going to wait 10 minutes for it to become numb, but in 3, he came back and started stitching me up. That hurt like hell, even with the lidocain. I caught a glimpse of the string going through my thumb, it looked and felt, for lack of a better word, odd.

The nurse put antibiotic on the newly stitched cut, and the Simpsons doctor took another picture. Then she warpped it up in this bandage that makes it look at lot worse than it really does--it wraps around my thumb and my wrist (but it makes me look like Stephen Colbert!). Then I was prescribed an antibiotic, and was told to write "very awkwardly and carefully" for the next month (actually, I dont think I can write at all right now).

So now the injury is inside the tightly wrapped bandage and it's swelling. And it hurts. And it's numb. And I won't have to take the math test or participate in gym this week.

Thumb Update Update

I'm going to the urgent care center soon, I'm guessing I'll need stitches, b/c the cut is still open.
I still can't hold a pencil...hmmm, maybe no math test for me?
Maybe I'm a hypochondriac. But I just touched the scalding hot light in the bathroom with my thumb and felt nothing, which is really scary. So hypochondria is out, for now. I did start to regain some of the feeling in other parts of my thumb, so maybe it's not that bad. Mehopes.

Thumb Update

5 minute might be soon for an update, but I've been looking online and this shit ain't good:

quote from allexperts.com:

Subject: deep cut on middle finger ... some numbness

Question
a heavy screw driver from a table while i was picking up an object on the floor ... as it fell it jabbed and cut me just above the first joint on my middle finger

i ran to wash it ... there is no infection and the screwdriver does not have rust in it ... but as i washed it, i felt like vertically half of my finger is numb but i can used my middle finger effectively, but the sensation is weird.

it's been 2 days and it still feels the same, is this a major concern ?

Answer
Hi Lim,

Unfortunately, this can indicate a serious problem that may require a visit to your doctor.

There is the possibility of nerve damage, which might explain the numbness and weird sensation. If this is the case, then surgical intervention may be required. Least case scenario, a tetanus booster and/or antibiotics may also be good. Even though the tool was clean and you washed the wound, there is still a significant risk of infection that can also lead to some serious complications.

My advice is to keep the area clean and see your physician as soon as possible.


Ben's note: Yeah, sounds like my life is ruined. This is exactly what happened to me. Apparently nerve damage takes anywhere from 6 months to never to heal. Oh well--no math test for me on Monday?

"I Think I'm Bleeding..."

I was making some chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight, and I was trying to pull open the "safety can" thing. It was pretty tough to open so I pulled as hard as I could. When it finally opened, my first thought was, "Wow, finally."

My second thought was "Holy shit, there's blood spouting all over the kitchen!!!" I didn't feel anything, but it took me about half a second to realize that the source of blood was the inside of my thumb, right at the flexing point.

I never felt any pain; I was probably too shocked to feel anything. I just walked over to the sink and started turning the tap water red with blood. It bled for, oh, an hour and a half. I lost, like, a quart of blood. At least.

I probably should have gone to the ER, yeah. But on a Saturday night? When my parents aren't home (there was an adult in the house; Jack's babysitter)? When the bleeding finally stopped gauze was applied, and I tried to get back to my annotated bibliography for Peterson. It's supposed to be 10 pages typed, by the way. But after about 30 minutes it started bleeding again. It bled for another 15-20 minutes, clotted, stopped for an hour, and then bled for another 30 minutes.

At no time did I feel more than a slight amount of pain--mainly I just felt numb. After it finally stopped bleeding and I had, like 4 bandaids all over my thumb, I began to feel even more numb in the area right above where I was cut. I'm worried that the clot might be causing me to lose circulation to the top half of my thumb. Is that logical?

I'd rather feel pain because then I'd know what was going on, right now my right thumb can't feel a thing. On the bright side, I might have a valid excuse not to take the math test on Monday--bending my thumb causes it to bleed.

Then again, maybe I need stitches? Yeah, I do...

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