she saw another dog, charged at it...
jerking on the lead...
which was wrapped around my left hand...
it pulled free & off she charged...
me hollering at her to stop...
the poor lady & her dog, assuming a defensive position...
fortunately, Molly got to them...
and started wagging her tale & sniffing...
if that dog had charged back, it would have been bad...
the dogs sniffed each other...the lady was gracious...
they moved on...
as I was becoming very aware that the third finger on my left hand...
was numb & wouldn't move...
it had been "sideways"...
and I had instinctively "reset" it...
before chasing Molly...
[seeing a body part at a ridiculous angle...
will do spur me to new heights...]
by the time we walked home...
it was so swollen that my ring wouldn't budge...
it was still numb...unless I tried pulling on the ring..
so I knocked on Unkle Phil's door..
he advised an "Urgent Care" or ER...
I went looking for the one he found in the phone book...
it no longer exists... & the other "Urgent Care" place...
wouldn't take my insurance...
they told me,"go to an ER, you need xrays"...
so, about 1 hour after the injury...
[fortunately, I had an ice pack...]
I signed-in at St J's ER...no line....
I just walked up & signed-in...
though there were lots of folks in the waiting room...
they took one look at my rapidly swelling & bruising hand...
and the ring becoming buried under the swelling...
and took me in back to wait...
I'm not going to recount every moment and movement...
let's just say I got home around 4PM...
while I was there... I "moved"about 15 times...
observed that now, there was a huge waiting line to sign-in...
had my favorite ring "cut-off"...
had xrays done...twice, before & after...
the "after" would be after the phys.asst....
tried to reset my top joint[it took 3 tries]...
I had reset the middle joint myself...
before all the swelling...
while it was numb & without thinking...
but he had to firmly grab the middle joint...
to pull on the dislocated top joint...
he offered to numb it...
but I told him to just do it...
if they had given me those kinds of drugs...
I'd still be there...
they can't let you leave for 4 hours...
if you're on your own...
did it hurt ? you betcha ! [all 3 times...]
but I'll live...
they wrapped it to the surrounding fingers with gauze...
gave me some Tylenol...
[I turned down Vicodin, etc...]
and my xrays, etc...
& told me to see my Dr. early next week...
the gauze was wrapped too tight... so I re-wrapped it at home...
taking these pictures...
I really can't straighten it much more than this..
I think the top joint still looks crooked...
but if a tendon is ruptured... further "setting"...
will NOT aid healing...
here you can see some of the bruising...
and this is the "high tech" bandaging job I got...
as I said, it's splinted to the surrounding fingers...
and I was SO hoping for a bright & colorful cast...
we'll have to see what we can do here...
and the best part...my insurance has only a $50 deductible...
in two weeks, an ER visit could cost me $500.00...
perfect timing...Thank you, Jesus...
2 comments:
Oh, I'm hurting just looking at you! If it's only a dislocation it will take time and physical therapy but everything will go back to normal. From my mother' experience with a dislocated elbow, I know that if your physical therapist recommends you take an Advil or such before the sessions, be sure and do it because by the time you're done there, the anti-inflammatory will have time to kick in and you won't be so sore.
I learned from my fox terrier from 25 years ago to never wrap the leash around your hand. (He was small but wiry, and extremely strong for his size, and he could get VERY EXCITED.) He never injured me but often felt like he could pull my hand right off. Molly might need some dog socialization so she doesn't get so worked up seeing another dog. Are there dog parks in town? If she got some romping and playing time with other dogs maybe she will be calmer on her walks. And an episode of "It's Me or the Dog" on "Animal Planet" network recommended if your dog spies another dog and gives any signs of excitement, starting to bark or pull, you about-face and go the other way pronto. After repetitions of this, Molly will figure out if she kicks up a ruckus she won't be allowed to get anywhere near the other dog. If Molly just wants to be friendly, she may learn to calm down so she will be allowed to greet the newcomer.
...actually been doing the about face...but this was sudden...& I was preoccupied with my camera...
Molly was so afraid of other dogs, she's overly aggressive...this dog didn't react & was smaller, so she calmed down...if it had also been aggressive or bigger...there might have been a very different outcome...
she needs dog socialization...but I haven't figured-out just how yet...
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