If you want medical advice, or something resembling it, start a fresh thread, preferrably in GQ.
My mother has 8 stitches between her index and middle fingers on her left hand. She was attempting to remove a stuck on slice of pie from a pie plate with a spatula with a serrated edge. Suddenly the spatula jumped, and next thing she knew she was in pain. She looked at the cut, decided it was deep enough, and long enough, she needed to go to a doctor, so I got my keys and shoes and drover her to the Urgent Treatment Center(UTC).
UTC receptionist folk had fit about blood on counter, etc. Got her to a private room quickly. Doctor decided it was bleeding profusely enough that they cleaned it, wrapped it up good and told me to drive her to the ER (and told me which hospital’s ER to go to). They were afraid she’d nicked an artery or a tendon.
Drove on across town. We sat, and sat, and sat in the ER. Left messages galore for Dad on the answering machine and his cell phone. Eventually, he got home, listened to the messages on his cell phone–which he had inexplicably forgotton to take with him to work that day–and called me back.
Finally, 2 hours or so after Mom cut herself, she was stitched up, wrapped up, and sent home, with a prescription for pain, one for antibiotics, and a recommendation of a hand surgeon to call the next day. This doctor said she had too good of movement to have nicked a tendon, and too little blood loss to have nicked an artery.
Hand surgeon checked her out the next day, decided she had good sensation, and good movement, but rewrapped her “just in case” she nicked a ligament. The two fingers on either side of the stitches are wrapped together. Doctor didn’t think ligament damage was likely, but wasn’t about to unstitch her to find out. He’ll take the stitches out this week.
Mom is getting heartily sick of not being able to use her left hand “normally”.
