I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words of support after my 'accident' with the saw, it really did mean a lot to me.  I realized last night that of all the friends I have, after my family, this crew of 'virtual friends' was the first I told!  Kind of amazing just looking back 5 years ago to when I made my first FM post asking what intake I should run on my 351W to where I now probably talk to y'all more than my college and high school buddies.  (Keep in mind i'm jacked up on percoset so don't let it go to your heads).

Of course it also helped that you were the only ones who knew what i was talking about when I said an angle grinder with a carbon fiber blade bound and kicked.  I'm pretty sure everyone else is still picturing a hacksaw.

Surgery went well yesterday but it was worse than expected.  All told i severed 7 tendons, 2 nerves, numerous veins, and nicked the radial artery.  They were able to repair 4 tendons completely and 3 minor ones partially, and expect me to regain 100% of the use of the hand!!!  Apparently I'll always have some numbness on part of the back of my hand, but it's only sensory and won't affect my (drill?)motor skills at all.

Thank god for my sweet and stubborn Jersey girl Lisa for being there, both when it happened and in the ER that first night.  The surgeon on call was a resident and wanted to repair everthing himself right there in the ER.  She didn't like the sound off that so she marched out and found someone in charge to ask if that sounded right to them.  He came in with the red-faced resident in tow and said "Dr. Curtis is good at locating tendons, better than I was at his age, but there's no way we're going to let him do this here.  I've already contacted the head of the hand surgery unit and he'll get you in right away and to this right."  If she hadn't done that for me he would have missed 5 of the tendons, and who knows what my outcomes would have been!

Anyway, working from home until monday with a stack of DVDs a high as a toaster - should be enough to keep my mind off things!

Hey Eric, sorry to hear about your accident. It will only get better from here. Ever since a guy I use to work with lost his fingers in a lawnmore incident, I have total respect for machines. Please be careful out there.

Glad to hear that it went well.Good luck on a speedy recovery.As I am sure you have been told,just dont try to do to much to soon.Just give it it's time to heal properly so as not to mess anything worse and unrepairable.

Tough to beat having a really good woman on board

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And the Lord said unto John; Come forth and receive eternal life. But John came fifth and won a toaster.

so how long does it take to type with one hand

Well, Im glad to hear it went fairly well. So what do you do all day, besides mess up the house for Lisa to cleanup when she gets home from work.

Percoset is good stuff... Glad to hear the surgery was a sucess. Do your rehab therapy BY THE LETTER!! Tell the Jersey girl we're pullin' for her, too.

I am glad you are better, but it sucks that it was worse than originally thought. If you are like me, you are about to go batty even with the DVDs to watch. Just watch out for the grinder. It has had a taste of blood and may now be possesed of Satan or worse, Chuck.

That's great news! Feels good to be with the crew you told first!

Have a quick recovery!

And Don't let Chuck come up with any dirty jokes about the back of your hand being numb.....

Great to hear the good news. I'm glad your motor skills won't be affected. I would hate to see what the next accident would be if they got any worse.

You do understand that Lisa can now hold the use of your hand over your head for the rest of your life, right?

good call on delaying the surgery. they call it practice for a reason. those nerves will take a looonnng time to heal. I knicked my left median nerve 6 years ago and still have numbness. don't wait for the pain before you take the meds. good luck.

Just glad you're not losing that hand, Eric. That could be downright unpleasant and a pain in the arse. Give Lisa a hug for me for taking charge so well!.

BTW Doug, isn't Percocet one of the 7 major food groups like Vicodin, Valium and such?....

 

Jan
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My lifelong goal has been to tear down a mall and build a race track!

Stephane, the one handed typing thing is brutal, and i'm left-handed to boot so i'm hunting and pecking with the wrong hand!  I had to write a letter for work yesterday and it took me about 2 hours 

Lisa has continued to be a trooper, but boy do I owe her big . . .

Quote Eric:
"Lisa has continued to be a trooper, but boy do I owe her big . . . "

Hmmmm, maybe you should bring her to Woodward............

On second thought,that might be a good idea