Spent the day in hospital

Honestly, only me huh! Worked yesterday cutting down a sloe hedge. Had my thickest, chunkiest leather gauntlets on, but at the end of the day, the last few branches to go, and one of the long thin thorns got me in the middle knuckle of the ring finger on my right hand. It went way in and hurt like +£$*%$!_(*^, I thought I was going to pass out! It bled like billy-oh and by the time I got home the finger had started to swell. This was the same knuckle I hurt before Christmas, if you recall. Talk about sods law! Well, I had a ring on that finger and by the time it struck me to remove it.....I couldn't. My finger was throbbing. This morning, dropped the kids at school and shot to A&E in Chelmsford. Saw the triage nurse who very efficiently, if rather painfully, cut the ring off my finger. Now she starts poking my knuckle and is worried about what is stuck in the joint. Next off to see a doctor. He is also worried, prescribes a double dose of antibiotics for a week and suggests a tetanus injection. He talks to ultrasound who agree that they should do a quick scan to see what they can find in the joint. Trapse off there, have the scan, no waiting around, I seemed to jump the queue, and sure enough, not one, but 2 splinters in my joint stuck in the tendons just on the bone, so well in. Back to A&E. Probably need surgery I am now told. Bloods taken, tetanus, canula left in just in case, then walked over the the plastic surgery and micro surgery unit. Sit for nearly 2 hours waiting to see a surgeon. He finally arrives and takes a look. Does more poking and proding and explains that it is actually quite a big op opening the knuckle to look for something so small, and most peoples bodies are very efficient at dealing with foreign bodies stuck in them, so rather than cut me open, I am left sitting in the day room with my hand up in the air doing finger exercises until the swelling goes down. It is now 3pm - I only had porridge and a coffee at 8am and nothing since. Feeling rather light headed. The surgeon makes me a cup of tea, bless. At 6pm they finally decide the swelling has gone down enough for me to come home, but there will probably be long term problems, aches and stiffness and they are concerned as I cannot bed the very top of my finger, not even under force so the thorn may currently be interferring with nerves and tendons that deal with that joint. Anyhow, have lots of emergency numbers and names and if it flares up I have to call to ensure they have a bed and go straight back - they will then peel back my knuckle skin and have a poke around, as the doc said and if they cannot find anything, wash the joint, stitch me up and keep me in for a couple of days!!! Couple of days. When I had my hernia done I was in and out in 6 hours!!

So, my day, 12 hours I will never get back. Will be bathing my sore finger, and it is still sore, in sloe gin from now on!!!!

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Wot'r you loik! Confused

Honestly Emma...you keep us all worried about you on a regular basis these days.
That knuckle penetration doesn't sound all that great to me. It is true that one's body can often expell foreign bodies, but you've managed to tuk those splinters well away in that joint space.
I know from personal experience that thorns can be troublesome. I'm hoping that the regimen prescribed you will do the trick and that you can get those bits out of that joint space sooner rather than later.
I am sure that your doc has already explained the different ways that it can all go, so there isn't much for you to do now but take your meds and care for that knuckle.

Bless you, you've had it rough the last while...you should be due for a nice, long lucky streak now don't you think?

Fingers crossed for you and that 'hot' knuckle.

p.s. Pity about that ring.

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Sjoerd http://www.volkstuindersvereniginghoornenomstreken.nl/Page11.html