So now I can finally say that I have broken a bone. This past Thursday night I was playing volleyball as usual. A low serve was coming towards me and I instinctively put up my hand to stop it from hitting me. All the force of the ball landed on the tip of my right pinkie finger. It hurt immediately and I ran off the court to put it under cold water.
I wasn't too worried at first, because I had injured my right thumb a few weeks ago playing volleyball, but it had only hurt the joint. I thought this injury was similar, but didn't realize the injury was serious until one of my friends asked me if the tip of my pinkie was normally bent like that. She predicted that it was dislocated, and I immediately started crying harder. (Have you ever noticed that it is more painful only after you know how bad you're hurt?)
At this point, there were several people gathered around me discussing whether I should go to the doctor or try to pop the joint back into place. By telling me it would hurt more the longer I waited to pop it back in, they had almost convinced me to let one of the girls try it. At the last moment another friend suggested that it may be broken, so Jeff and I decided to let a doctor look at it.
When we were checking in at the ER, they asked me to rate my pain on a scale from 1 to 10. Well, I have never been seriously ill or injured before, so I didn't really have anything to compare it to. The poor guy at the desk kept trying to come up with painful experiences to compare it to, but I hadn't had any of them. I finally settled on a 5 or 6, cuz I really didn't know.
After waiting (in pain) for what seemed like hours, we learned that the middle bone in my pinkie was broken. They put my hand in a splint that goes halfway to my elbow, because my hand was slightly swollen, and they wanted to protect it until I was able to see a hand surgeon. I am kind of amused that I have this huge splint just for my pinkie.
I have an appointment to see the hand surgeon on Monday afternoon, and he will determine whether I need to keep a splint on for a few weeks, or if I need pins put in my finger. Either way, I hope they give me a smaller splint/cast.
It's been interesting trying to do everything with my left hand. Of course, it HAD to be my dominant hand that was injured. For example, I took a few notes at the Relief Society broadcast last night (see picture), and I felt like I was 5 years old again, painfully and painstakingly working on each letter. I was worried about General Conference next week, since I can't live through it without taking notes, but Jeff has offered to take them for me as I dictate them to him.
He has been really sweet these past few days. He's always willing and ready to help me, and I'm really grateful. In fact, the night that I was injured, he said that this was an opportunity for him to serve me.
I will keep you updated on my one-handed adventures these next few weeks. One thing is for sure - teaching is going to be interesting.
4 comments:
if you have seen Brian Regan, you know that you are supposed to "say eight!" at the hospital. If you haven't seen it, you need to come over for a Brian Regan night.
ps - good luck tomorrow. I hope you don't have to do surgery!
How is teaching going with the broken figure?
Teaching is going pretty well. I've actually been able to manage writing on the board better than I thought I would.
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