Life Update: Severed Pinky Tendon

I severed the tendon in my left hand pinky finger (should an adult still call it a pinky? 😂) by dropping a big glass jar on it at work (cafe), also damaging the nerves and arteries, with a big piece of glass stabbing the bone but thankfully not breaking it. After it happened and I was running it under water, I couldn’t move it at all, the top part of the pinky just felt like it was hanging off my finger 😂
I went to Maroondah Hospital to take care of it, and it actually went really smoothly. There was barely any annoyingly long waiting time at all between the different doctors and nurses I had to see.

The triage nurse bandaged it up, then another nurse took me to a bed straight away, shortly after a doctor started looking at it and took pictures of it to send to the plastics surgeon. Naturally I asked, “Can I also take pictures of it on my phone?”, surprised at how comfortable I was with the glistening white of the tendon and the ruby red puddle of the blood in the gash, he helped me take not one but two photos of my pinky. Clearly aware of how much I cared for the closeness and the angles of the gash.

Then they were saying that I probably wouldn’t get into surgery because of how full their surgery list was that day, and that I would have to come in the next morning at 7am for surgery. But as they were giving me a tetanus shot and giving me antibiotics through a cannula, they said they could squeeze me in ASAP! I was flooded with sweet, sweet relief and excitement for surgery.

As I was wheeled into the operating room ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder was being played over the speakers, I knew I was in safe hands. As they say, a plastics surgeon with good music taste knows how to repair a tendon.
I woke up a few hours later to a smiling doctor scribbling down secret pinky notes, with ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’ by the Supremes on constant repeat in my head.

All is repaired, hand is in a cast for 6 weeks and I have 3 months recovery ahead with some hand therapy.
But with this friendly bedside buddy, time should fly. I hope this monkey can dance or do something cool, like a magic trick.

Originally I thought that this post would be easier than typing a lot of messages to you guys, although this has turned out to be a longer right hand typed post than expected!

Hope you and your tendons are well. xo