Thumbs Up

Last night I had a big blonde moment. Everything was fine, Andy had just gone to work, the kids were eating dinner, and I had just changed into my pajamas so I could relax for the night. I went outside to chop kindling so I could start a fire. I do this almost every night unless Andy does it for me. So there I was, chopping kindling, when my thumb must have decided it was suicidal. I set the piece of wood down, left my hand on the wood, raised up the hatchett, and chop. I severed a piece of my thumb off. I don't exactly know why I never moved my hand, I just didn't. It wasn't like I moved too slow or anything, I just didn't move my hand. Silly me. I ran in the house and literally ran my thumb under water for five minutes! Do you realize how long 5 min. is when you are bleeding? I didn't I was too in shock. I kept thinking it would stop bleeding, but it never did. Sydney panicked and rushed and got the band-aids. When we tried 4 different band-aids and not one stopped the bleeding either, she got me paper towels and I just wrapped my thumb up, and applied pressure. Now, like I said, Andy had just gone to work, so I didn't want to call him because I didn't want him to rush home if it wasn't a big deal. At this point, since it was bleeding so much, I didn't even know I had chopped a piece off. I thought I had just sliced it. I tried to call my mom, since she lives just down the street. No answer. I wasn't in my right mind. I was so in shock, and I was just trying to calm myself down and my girls down, since they witnessed the whole thing. I really cared more about them at that point then myself, which I think was the reason I was not panicking like they were. So, I paced back and forth for a bit, and finally gave in and called Andy at work. He rushed home as fast as he could and took me to the hospital. At the hospital, I was asked several times what I had done. Everyone looked at me like I was the "dumbest blonde" (sorry for the stereotype) they had ever seen. I guess they missed the fact that I am a redhead. :) Oh well, I didn't care. I was too in shock, I was literally laughing the whole time at the hospital. Yep, I am convinced they thought I was crazy. Anyway, the doctor's last name was Dahlgren. That probably means nothing to you, but being in the state of mind I was in, that was so cool to me. You see, when I was a kid, I lived in Dahlgren, VA. So I proceeded to inform him of this, and ask him if he was related to the Civil War Rear Admiral John Dahlgren, the guy the town was named after. He had to have know I was out of my mind by then. I had severed my thumb, and I was asking about his last name. Anyway, he told me a story about it, and so on. Turns out, he is not related. Wierd, because that is not a common last name. But anyways, back to my thumb. He said not to worry, that it will grow back. But, I needed a Tetnus shot, and he was gonna have to scrub the wound. The word "scrub" freaked Andy out. He asked the doctor if he was going to numb it. The doc said only if I wanted him to. So Andy, as hard as he could, tried to convince me, who is completely gone at this point, that I needed this. Sure, whatever, he must know what his is talking about right? So, I said ok. The nurse came in and gave me my tetnus shot, which didn't really hurt, but I am a chicken when it comes to needles, so I was a little more scared about it then I should have been. We waited a bit longer, then the doc comes in with an even bigger needle, to give me the shot of novocaine. Uh, uh, I was not having that! I freaked out. He told me I could scream if I wanted to, and Andy held my hand. Now, the door to my room was still open, and I had just seen a cute little 4-ish year old boy in the hallway. I turned my head and looked at Andy, while he poked my finger, I am not kidding you, like 7 or 8 times with the needle. IN THE WOUND!!! After the 7th-ish time I couldn't feel it anymore, but I did take his advice and I screamed my head off, because it HURT! While I was being a baby by screaming, all I could think about was that little boy out in the hallway, hoping I wasn't freaking him out. So after that ordeal was all over, the nurse came in and scrubbed, I mean really scrubbed, the wound with bristled sponge. Thank God I actually listened to my husband. He really does love me, because I would have been screaming louder and harder if I hadn't! After that, he wrapped my finger up and told me I could go home, and to just change the bandages every couple days or so. What an interesting day, I tell you. I have never been so grateful to have a thumb before in my life, and now I would really like to keep the ones I have! As you can tell, it was my left thumb. I posted the pics below, but since they are gross, I made them real small, so just click on them if you want to see the bloodiness that was my thumb last night. Thank goodness it wasn't my bowling hand!