meh mk.2

So, it has been a week since I fell off my bike and I’m starting to heal nicely.  The most serious thing is the left hand, where I had the surgery.  They took off the whole-hand bandages on Friday and replaced them with a very funky shape-memory material sleeve which is just covering the offending finger.  The reduction in bandage size allows me to do things I wasn’t able to do a lot of last week… like washing for example.  I can fit both hands into disposable surgical gloves now and take a shower, which I have to tell you is sheer bliss. Try not being able to shower with your hands taped into rubbish sacks!  My right hand is almost healed too.  I have a couple of plasters on it now, and the stitches will come out on Friday.  Likewise with my lips and chin.  However, I wasn’t able to shave last week, so I have an eight day old beard now which doesn’t look as bad as I though it was going to.  I’m not sure if I’m going to have to shave to have the stitches out or not, but either way I kind of like this look.  My Dad has had a beard forever, and he looks good in it.  I personally haven’t ever been that enamoured with the idea, but Anna likes it so it very well might stay.

I don’t know what the schedule is like for taking the stitches and splint out of my finger yet. Two different doctors gave differing answers of six or eight weeks, but I guess it depends on how well it heals. The volar ligament is damaged at the proximal interphalangeal joint which could take a lot of time to fully heal. There’s a big titanium bar going from intermediate phalange through the distal phalange, then looping around outside the tip of the finger and going back in again.  When it comes out its going to be another surgery.  I’ll try to get some pictures of the work when the dressing is changed on Friday, but suffice to say its all pretty ugly. The crash caused a stone to slice into the ligament which makes the healing period a long one from all I’ve heard.