Injured hand piece
How I landed on the 15 day DL
Wednesday 18 February 2009 at 1:57 pm.I was down in San Diego a couple weekends ago visting my sister. We were having some good San Diego / Pacific Beach times together. We'd just returned from going to a concert in Oceanside (North County). It was a good show, my friends brother was playing in it. They're called Strike Twelve and were opening for the lead singer of Unwritten Law, Scott Russo. In an ominous sign, Scott's house completely burned down two days prior. It was crazy he was even playing the show. So, it was about 1:30 am, and I was hungry. My sister made me a delicious sandwich which I was planning on consuming with a tall glass of diet coke. As I reached to grab the glass, it began to fall. My instincts kick in and I use my ninja like ability to try to catch the glass. As the glass is falling, my left hand is trailing it... I might be a little too slow to catch it in time. Next thing I know, there's an explosion of glass. The pint glass had hit the counter top. I yank my hand away immediately. As the glass shatters I feel it touch my hand. As I turn my hand over to see the damage, then blood begins pouring out of the left index and middle fingers.
I think to myself, this is not good. I call out, "Shelley, come in here". I grab a paper towel, which I immediately realize is not going to be sufficient. As my sister comes to my aid I ask her to grab me a towel, one that she doesn't really care about. I firmly press the towel against the cut and survey the scene. It's pretty bloody, all over the counter-top and in the sink. I was trying to minimize the mess. I lift up the towel to get a better look and as I do I feel my pulse and blood kinda squirts out. I say to myself, not doing that again, put the towel back in place and inform my sister that we need to go to the ER.
About 2 am we arrive at the ER in La Jolla. I'd been there before because I took my buddy Joel there about a year ago while visiting my sister and following Barry Bond's historic chase of 756. (We saw 755!) The ER gets all my information, as I'm holding my bloody hand and towel. They couldn't do this after they stop the bleeding? I see the nurse and she properly bandages my hand, then I see the ER doctor. He tells me that I have a pretty decent cut and that I also managed to severe the tendon in my left middle finger. He calls hand surgeon to come in and repair the tendon, but the guy doesn't want to come in. It was about 4 am at this time. The ER doc says he'll stitch me up, but that I'll need surgery to repair my tendon. So, after two incredibly painful shots, I get 5 stitches in each and finger and am on my way.
The next day we slept in and didn't do too much as my finger was all messed up and such. I decided to stay in SD to get surgery early in the week. I got to see the surgeon (who'd rather sleep at 4 am!) on Monday and he scheduled me for surgery on Tuesday morning. However, by about 6pm that day I figure out the my surgery won't be covered, and that it would cost me about $1,200 or more. Thinking I have a major deadline to fix my finger, the ER doctor said I had about a week to repair the tendon or it's done, I hop on a plane and fly home to SB.
Back in SB I see a specialist that says I don't need surgery, which could be considered good news,but I was kinda shocked because I was supposed to be having surgery that morning! I request a second opinion and get one for the next day. On Wednesday, I see another surgeon and he also says while he can't be totally sure without seeing the tendon, that he doesn't think I'll need surgery and that it'll heal on its own. He tells me that the book says in the tendon is 40% attached then you dont do surgery.
A week has passed since I saw the second surgeon and today I got the stitches out! My hand is healing nicely and while not 100%, it's feeling pretty good. I'd say, I'm at about 85%, and plan to take it easy for another 4 weeks before resuming working out with that hand. And that's pretty much how I landed on the 15 day DL during the offseason. Thanks for reading and not poking fun at my Franken-Fingers!
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