Mostly Pinless and Oranges

This is what my hand looked like 8 weeks after my accident.
I got all the pins out of my finger tips at 10 1/2 weeks. This is what my hand looks like today:
It kind of looks like it did before my accident. I am amazed at what modern medicine can do! (I still have one pin in my thumb that I will get surgically removed in January). When Dr. Fryer removed the 6 pins from my fingers he did not numb anything. He used some surgical pliers (they looked similar to thick scissors) to clamp down on the pins. Then, he just twisted and pulled/yanked each pin out. It was quite painful.

It has been/is still a hard adjustment to get use to my new hand, but I am grateful for what I have left.
There are so many things I am having to re-learn. I have had a hard time peeling oranges since this happened. One if my main concerns with citrus fruit right now is getting juice in the sores on my finger tips. Today, I successfully peeled an orange without getting any juice on my finger tips.
Lemons and limes, here I come!

May you all enjoy lots of yummy oranges this Christmas season!

September 25, 2010--Hospital, Life flight, etc.

Wow it has been a while since my last post. Where does the time go. I am definitely feeling like a terrible blogger. I think it may be due to the fact that most daily activities take me longer to complete now that I have a lower functioning hand, and an adorable little baby to occupy my time. Here I go on part two on my life changing experience:

We got to the hospital and the Paramedics took me in the VIP Entrance (Very Injured Persons). Then I was hooked up to some stuff; more IVs (medicine too!), nasal cannula (for oxygen), and a baby monitor. The X-ray tech. took some pictures. Here is one picture:
Ryan and my dad arrived at the hospital right around when I had started feeling overwhelmed with my situation. They gave me a priesthood blessing and I instantly felt calm again. Several hospital employees kept coming in and out observing different things about my situation, and I remember listening to my dad tell all of them to "spare no expense to save my fingers".

I kept thinking, "Uh, that is not true. My dad won't be the one paying the bills. My sweet husband and I will be doing that. Oh boy! This is going to be so expensive. What have I done?!?"

(these next details are in no particular order)
I was given a nerve block (a massive shot) in each finger for pain. Two of my moms came to visit me in the St. George E.R. and fret about everything. The plastic surgeon came in to talk to me. After observing my situation, he said he would definitely be able to close up my pinky, repair my thumb, and possibly save my ring finger. He said he did not think he would be able to save my other two fingers, my best chance for that would be a life flight ride to Salt Lake County. After a couple hours of coordinating, waiting, and stressing, Ryan and I were flown to Salt Lake. I recently learned they were not going to life flight me, because I was so pregnant. One of the life flight nurses stepped in and said she was confident that I would be okay, and she would be willing to chance it for me. (Just one more miracle/blessing to add).

The hospital was going to fly me to the U of U hospital, but then they checked our insurance coverage. We had better coverage at Intermountain Medical Center, so that is where I went. It just so happened that the best plastic surgeon in the state (who also specializes in hands) started working there in August (yep, another blessing to factor into the miracle of my hand and having a healthy daughter).

I am so grateful it was a beautiful and sunny day. It made the life flight as pleasant, smooth, and fast as it could possibly be. I looked out the window a lot and tried to mentally prepare myself to wake up from the unknown future (I had never done anything like this before and had no idea what to expect) with my current stumps sewn up.

We arrived in Murray and I was taken to another triage /pre-operation room. Shortly thereafter my little brother, Jesse, tearfully greeted me and asked if it would be possible to do a finger transplant. He told me he would give me one or two of his fingers if they could perform the surgery. I was very touched but I laughed at the thought of ruining a perfectly beautiful hand because of my mistake/accident. I did not cry then, but I cry now whenever I think about what my sweet little brother was willing to sacrifice for me. The doctor chuckled too when my brother asked him. Once we established that a finger transplant was not an option, I reassured Jesse everything would be okay. Everyone, except Ryan and I cried a little more, then I was prepared for surgery.

Before I went into surgery, a member of the staff explained to me that I may have to have an emergency C-section. If they could prevent it, then they would. She reassured Ryan and me that they would definitely keep a close eye on our little girl. Then they transferred me to a new bed, wheeled me down the hall, into the operating room, and shortly thereafter I was out. . .

September 25, 2010, pre-hospital

I have decided I need to start writing down my hand experience even though typing with one hand takes forever. I don't know how long it will be 'till I can type with two hands, so I am going to do this in segments. Here I go. . .

I planned on pressure bottling some dry beans on Saturday morning. I got up early, saw Ryan off to work, got the kids fed and ready for the day, then started pulling things out to start bottling. Then I realized I had a question about the process of bottling these beans. I thought, "It's only 8 AM, I can't call my friend this early on a Saturday to ask her a bottling question. It is a beautiful day. I will just take the boys outside and start on a woodworking project I wanted to get done.

I proceeded outside with my two little boys. I wanted to make some toy train pieces with my scroll saw (which I love and plan to use when I am better). All the pieces of wood that I could use for my project had a routered edge. So I thought, "No biggie I'll just square up a piece on our table saw, then be on my way. I proceeded to cut the 22' piece of wood. About half way through cutting, there was a knot (knots are more difficult to cut, for those of y'all who don't cut wood very often.). I put my left hand toward the back of the wood, then the whole piece split and jumped. I blinked, heard a loud noise, then looked down and my fingers were gone. There was blood everywhere. I thought "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! can I pause then rewind my life a second then fix that?!? My fingers are gone! Wow, That is a lot of blood. Is that my bone? Yes, I think it is. Should I call someone? Yeah, I probably better."

I wrapped my hand in my shirt then told my boys I would be back. I ran in the house and grabbed the phone. I started to call Ryan, then I decided I was really bleeding a lot and I better just call 911. So I did. I told the woman on the other end of the call that I had cut off my fingers and I needed some help. Oh yeah, and I am pregnant. How pregnant? Uh, uh, I could not seem to remember how pregnant I was. . . (I think I told her 27 weeks, because that is what the paramedics and police thought when they got there.) While on the phone I grabbed a package of steaks from my freezer to put ice on my hand, it was a little awkward, so I scrapped that idea. The woman asked if I was keeping it elevated and I realized my hand was sitting at lower chest level. I needed it to be at least above my heart. I dropped my shirt and grabbed a kitchen towel so I could keep compression on it while elevating it. Then I realized I could not keep very much compression on it. I thought, "I am losing strength. Oh no! That must be because I have lost so much blood!?!" I proceeded to tell the 911 lady that I felt like I was starting to go into shock, so I had better just sit by my side door and wait for the ambulance. I sat, my hand really started throbbing. I waited, and tried to take slow, deep breaths.

Then, my sweet little four year old came over to me and with his big blue eyes, asked, "Mom, are you okay?" I replied, "Yes dear, mommy just has a big owie." When the police and paramedics got there, I think I was trying to have my four year old be my breathing coach and explaining to the 911 lady that I had my two kids with me.

Hooray! The paramedics arrived, I am not going to bleed to death/die in front of my kids! They asked me if I was 27 weeks pregnant, and I said, "No I am further along than that. . . 36 or 37 weeks I think. . . I can't seem to remember for sure. Just look at my middle--I am really pregnant." Once we got the prego info squared away, I told them about my kids and asked them to please take my children to my neighbors house. The police took care of my kids while the first responders gathered my two missing digits (they were distressed when they could only find two, they came back to report, so we checked and--phew! One was still hanging by a little piece of skin. Thankfully!). I was strapped to the bed, loaded, and we were on our way.

Okay, by this point I am totally ready for some pain medicine! I asked and was told "No, sorry, you are pregnant. We have to wait until we get to the hospital." My thought, "What?! (followed by several deep breaths of oxygen--I can't wait to get to the hospital )."

I am going to stop there for now, because I have been typing for ages. I'll type the rest in my next post. (sorry if this is too long, just don't read any more posts if they are too long).

P. S I am so thankful for friendly and efficient police and all EMS workers. (Especially Deward Stout for keeping me company on the ambulance ride. It was nice to have a familiar face to talk to.)

Just an annoyance...or Drive me Crazy?!

I think I have discovered the most annoying thing in the world. . . I just hope it does not drive me crazy. My fingers have started occassionally itching on the inside. I cannot scratch for relief when they do that. I can hold, rub, and squeeze, but it does not relieve. i just tell myself I need to be grateful for this sensation--it means something is healing.

I have read several blog posts of gratefulness, for the month of November. I have decided to join the club and post something I am grateful for with each post I make.

I am grateful for life experiences that teach us lessons. I am grateful I worked at scout camp and taught various merit badges, one of which was Wilderness Survival. The most important thing to remember in a survival situation is to have a positive mental attitude. That thought went through my head a lot after I cut off my fingers. (I should be getting my pins out in a few more weeks. When that happens I will work on typing faster, then I will type the whole story of my fingers...according to me.) So, I am thankful for lessons we learn in life to help prepare us to handle other experiences and lessons. :)

First Walk

The boys and I took Eliza for her first walk outside today. (our first walk since before I went to the hospital). I did not think to take a picture until we were back home and unloaded. Tucker and Eliza both fell asleep. I only snapped a picture of Eliza. . .
I love the fact that she fell asleep with Binky in grasp. Our walk was fun, I can't wait to go for another one! It's funny what simple things we can take for granted until the privilege is taken away (only for a small time, thankfully, in my case). I am even getting better at one handed typing. I think I will wait to type the whole story until my pins are removed (hopefully in three weeks or so).

Happy Halloween! Hopefully I remember to snap a picture of my kidlins costumes. Then I'll post them. :)

Hands

Before September 25, 2010, this is what my left hand looked like:
Wasn't it beautiful?!
After a split second with a table saw, a long ambulance ride, a life flight ride, several hours (21-22 hours) of surgery (including an emergency C-section), the safe arrival of our precious little girl, and a week in the hospital, I have this left:
It doesn't look that great right now, but it will. I am so lucky to still have my fingers. The first surgeon I saw in Southern Utah thought he could maybe save my ring finger, but my pointer and middle fingers were not salvageable (if he did the surgery). I ended up going to Salt Lake and Dr. Richard Fryer is my new hero! He worked all afternoon Saturday, all night to Sunday morning. I came out of surgery, he looked at my pointer finger, decided the color was not good, so he turned around and performed a few more hours of surgery to save my hand.
This whole experience has been really hard for me to endure, whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I just look at this:

Eliza Kristine Nay
Born: September 26, 2010; 7:26 AM
7 lbs. 1 oz. (yes, four weeks early)

Isn't she darling?! This is the first dress she has ever worn. She is almost three weeks old in this picture. She will be four weeks old tomorrow.