At the shop, there is an oil fill pipe on the loading dock, that sticks up about 3 inches from the surface. It is right in the path to the entry to the shop area. I have to remember that it is there… but there have been times I have forgotten, and stumbled over it… but never fell or got hurt. However, my luck ran out early Tuesday evening (Aug. 5th). In one sense, I was indeed lucky that I did not fall to the left and drop about 4 feet to the pavement. Instead, I was propelled forward, and jammed 2 fingers… notably my left ring finger. NOT CUTE. I kept on casting; I had some ice on hand in my cooler, so I soaked it for a few minutes. I was optimistic that all would be OK because I could bend the finger (but it did hurt). I was toying with the idea of getting medical attention but decided to wait until morning. And morning came, and the finger wasn’t looking too good. Swollen and bruised. So I went to the VA, and Xrays were taken. The radiologist’s report was quite verbose, but part of which was the following: Suspect a subtle Nondisplaced intra-articular fracture involving the volar aspect of the fourth phalanx. The good part, whether or not there is this fracture, the treatment is the same: splint until finger feels better! It could have been worse whereby surgery would be needed to ensure proper healing. As of this writing, the finger swelling has gone down considerably, if gone altogether! It still hurts when I bend the finger. Will be using the splint when I am not bathing or washing the dishes. And to continue on with my lead tasks, I invented what I call “The Splinter Glove” and I now have a trusty cone standing sentry! I will place this traffic cone over the fill pipe every time I am working at the shop! Can’t rely on my remembering it is there! I have created 2 PDF documents in regard to the past couple of days:
Birth of the Splinter Glove Part 1
and
Birth of the Splinter Glove Part 2
Pictures of hand this morning (Aug. 8th) around 4:00AM:
Stay tuned….
