EFFED up my thumb... maybe warning... gory picture

[jfowl31]

leave it to me to put a damper on a happy time (see thread "soooo......" for explanation of happy time)... while redoing the trim in my house, i all of a sudden turned into a rookie carpenter and got a thumb into the tablesaw!!!!!

dont scroll down if you are squeamish..... pretty gnarly stuff.











































http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0107.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/0002.jpg

[TENFEATHERS]

Did same thing on my Delta table saw, my left thumb is 1/8" narrower than the other one. At least i didn't loose my nail.
I know it hurts like hell get well

[jfowl31]

the worst is that it got the bone... missed the tendons by a mm or 2 though. Going to hand surgeon on Mon or Tues to get it stitched up nicely. no surgery necessary they say.

That is awesome seeing as I'm uninsured.................

[Buelligan]

DAG, I feel for ya Bro. Stay on the meds untill its all better. Or else the pain is going to hit you like a ton of BRICKs.:thumbup:

[HoseDragger]

I thought that messing up my left hand on Friday at work was bad! I just got sliced up by the bracket that I was holding while using the drill press. Of course it was the last hole I had to drill!

[jdowney]

Damn, sorry to hear it! No surgery is good though, all that will heal - nerves don't!

Worst I ever did was tangle a couple fingers in a biscuit joiner as it wound down. The finger nails took most of it, and the skin around them. Hurt like hell, but healed up ok. I managed to do that when both the boss and the wife were out of town, so I didn't even get chewed out!

[okie shooter]

Ouch, big ouch!!!!

Back in the day, when I worked with my hands, I had a sheet of marble fall on my hand, that was painful and surgery was involved.

[Smokehouse69]

Oh SHEEEEEEEEEP Dip! That was bound to hurt! You're young, you'll heal fast. :thumbup:

[jbruney]

You're fortunate to still have your thumb....I had the distal phalange of my right middle finger smashed off by a sledge hammer and put back together....kinda crooked now, but I still have it with feeling in it also....nothing like a good shot of demerol to make it okay...I also got to watch the surgeon drill holes through the bone fragments as he rebuilt it. Amazing how they do these things. Heal well and soon.

[19Charlie_84]

Yeeouch! Hope that heals fast and well for you.

My dad got in an altercation with his table saw a few years back. The saw won, his right 4th distal phalnge lost...clean off. Had his whole arm in a sling for a week or better.

[machineguneddie]

damn, that looks painful

[Nazgul]

Ouch! but not as bad as my nephew who got his hand crushed by his boss on Christmas eve in a log splitter. Saw my buddy Marvin Rudd get his thumb in a saw once...it was bad, almost lost his thumb.

[Cavalryman]

Painful! However, if you missed the tendons, you'll likely retain full function in the thumb when it's fully healed. :thumbup: That's a pretty big deal.

[pidaster]

Nice job rookie!

Hope you heal fast and get to feeling better faster.

[turbothis]

wow
i have about 10 years as a carpenter and no saw accidents.:rockon:

[Jagman]

That must hurt !!!!
Get well soon :thumbup:
Jagman

[brewskzilla]

OOOOH! I did something similar to my ring finger on my right hand many years ago, but not as bad... I know that hurt! Get well, dude!

[BadGnus]

" I feel your pain" Get loopy...errr better.

[LRRP-87]

Damn bro; like others have said, it must hurt like a mother. Be glad you didn't lose a digit or part of a digit in that accident. You'll heal with time, and I'm sure there won't be a next time.:icon_wink:

[jorjohn11]

Looks better than mine did when I got it tangled up in a biscuit cutter. Hope you don't end up with the same nerve damage. Wait til you try to button up your shirt, I couldn't for over a year.

[Grasshopper]

Ya, I've been lucky over the years. Get well and let the chips fly as soon as you can.

[drine]

Dang, just read this. Must be Karma. Things get weird when big news hits. I don't need to say, be careful next time. Heal quick my friend, lots more work to do!

[jfowl31]

back from the surgeon... he pulled off the dressing and then did nothing. He said everything looks good and its already starting to grow new skin over the wounds. Said Stitches would be ready to come out in a week and I couldwash it in soapy water..... Didn't restitch it, didn't open it back up...

We did discover that I've ripped out all the nerves though, so I'll never have feeling in my thumb unless I do some major nerve transplant procedure that he, I swear to God, offered to do for free in the future for practice! So, I go back in a week to get the stitches out and discuss other options for the future.

Oh...here's some more pics of what it looks like now... dont scroll down if you dont like the gore...






































http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0110.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0109.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0108.jpg

[jfowl31]

the white stuff is a cream I put on it then wiped off so it wouldnt smother it and not let it breathe... not nasty stuff in other words.

[AZPhil]

OOOOOOOOOO
Man O Man that made my A hole pucker
Glad to see its still attached. I hope you heal up fast!!!!!

[jfowl31]

yeah meeeeee tooooo.... (the Ahole puckering thing) I'm still pissed at myself for it!

[pgp888se]

just something to keep in mind for the future......

no nerves means you may have trouble knowing how cold your thumb is, meaning you wont know when its too cold, probably wont be much of a problem in Tx but still something to keep in the back of your mind.

on the upside, if he done nothing, at least you dont have to worry about it being infected.

[automick]

The good thing is ...you can justify buying yourself a nice get better present.!
any thing that goes bang should do the trick.
heal up soon.
ATB...auto.

[zeek]

holy crap that looks bad. i did something similar to that with a press, takes your breath away whan the bed sheet falls on it. that thumb looks pretty gnarly but could have been worse.
what if........ it .....was .............................your TRIGGER finger :eek:
get well soon man.

[jfowl31]

The fun part of not having feeling is that I can scrub and clean it well without being in pain.

Its looking better and better now. Doc says in a few days it will be mostly healed over.

Its a tough sensation to not have feeling there though. Something I've always taken for granted I guess. Hopefully SOME of the feeling will come back, but I'm doubtful.

[jfowl31]

this is going to take some serious getting used to... no feeling in the thumb is gonna be tougher then I thought.

I'm not enjoying it right now. I'm having serious trouble just grabbing onto things, then when I do grab it, I squeeze it harder than I think because I can't feel the pressure.

I realize its completely unhealed and everything, but I think this is going to be a bad lifetime problem unless I come up with $$ to pay for a nerve transplant.

[jdowney]

D@mn! Sucks loosing the nerve! At least its not your trigger finger though! Good luck with it, keep us informed.

[DAA1]

ouch, get better soon.

[RandyCOG3]

I think this is going to be a bad lifetime problem unless I come up with $$ to pay for a nerve transplant.

Not to worry, TurboThis can CNC you a whole, metal, bionic HAND for a lot less than THAT.

RandyCOG3

[Noskov]

:eek: I was watching Mythbusters a few nights ago and they were discussing an internet myth/photo about a hunter's thumb being blown off by holding his revolver the wrong.

Needless to say they didn't show the gory picture that had caught their attention to the myth but they did test it to see if it was true.

No surprise that it did, odd thing was they didn't mentioned the revolver's name but it looked like the S&W 500.

[robocop10mm]

Damn Fowler! I just noticed this thread. That sucks, bit time. Trust me when I say you won't be whole for many years. After I blew my hand up nearly two years ago, I still have numbness. I guess you are lucky in one way, that is if you do not have the constant throbbing pain like I did.

[jfowl31]

The trhobbing really just started. Up until a couple days ago, I couldn't feel a thing... now some of the feeling is comingback in certain places, and I wish it would go back away for a month or so. I'm definitely realizing how "unwhole" I will be... just turning the key on the truck is impossible. Yesterday I spent a good 2 minutes just trying to pick up a screw I needed putting handles back on doors... I was determined to pick it up with my thumb and first finger! Its gonna be a long road......

To top it all off, I've got about $3K in medical bills to fight over now. They already offered me a 50% discount... I'm being told by close friends who negotiate these bills for a living I can get far more than that.

[Nazgul]

Not to worry, TurboThis can CNC you a whole, metal, bionic HAND for a lot less than THAT.

RandyCOG3

Randy is right Jfowl...if TurboThis can make you one of these it would be great! Oh and keep healing up.

[jfowl31]

THAT would be sweet. I was thinking just making my thumb into a multitool... Or just an electric drill would be nice as well.

[kevin]

i had an accident with a chainsaw and my leg once, i was cutting a tree and a huge dead limb started to fall in the top of the tree causing the tree to start coming down sooner than it should have, the blade was going to pinch bad in the huge tree so i pulled it back towards me quick, fell back and the blade came down on my leg, cut a gash a little more than 1/8 inch deep but managed to cut a bunch of nerves. I couldnt feel that part of my leg for about 2 years but feeling did somehow come back. i also had major surgery once and lost all feeling in my belly from my belt line just up a few inches above my belly button, that feeling came back after a few years.

the chainsaw was one i borrowed and i didnt want the saw to get smashed and pinched in the tree

[jfowl31]

Well, I am discovering more and more problems with not having a fully working/feeling thumb anymore. The latest discovery is that I can't work the slide release on my semi-auto's... not even the P22!

I'm completely healed up, but have ZERO feeling past the knuckle, and the range of motion of that joint is virtually nothing. Then there is just no strength there for gripping and grabbing stuff.

Already started bowling again (don't use my thumb) and playing basketball, and went back to work a couple days after the accident....... I think I'm just gonna have to trade in my Glock on a revolver........... HELLO SP101!

[jdowney]

Sorry to hear that man, it just sucks.

I know a lot of guys with screwed up fingers - most of them I play cards with, so if they can learn to shuffle, maybe you can get the hang of a mag button, or come up with an alternate hand method.

[k98k792]

I have bad arthritis in my right thumb. So I have learned to use the thumb on my left, support hand.

[Player]

Don't worry about the medical bill, Obama has your back apparently.

[jfowl31]

Don't worry about the medical bill, Obama has your back apparently.

Just a few months too late...

[M1 Tanker]

Jfowl, I once stuck a knife completely through my left index finger. I had almost complete use after the accident, but no feeling. The feeling came back, but it took a few years. Its not what it used to be, but its better. Did they have a orthopedic surgeon look at it?

[brewskzilla]

It'll take a few years, but the nerves... Well, they dont repair themselves, but the smaller ones will branch out again and you'll get SOME feeling back... Of course, the hyde on your thumb will be thick and calloused... HEY time to take up guitar lessons!

[hunter_la5]

Damn dude, sorry to hear that. Hopefully the feeling and movement will return eventually. The human body's a funny thing, it's amazing how it can manage to heal itself.

A few years back I almost completely destroyed my right eardrum in a stupid accident, and long story short, it rendered me completely deaf in my right ear. If anyone ever approached me from the right and tried to talk to me, I had no idea they were even there. The doctor said it was unlikely that my hearing would ever return. Fortunately, my ear managed to repair itself and my hearing came back (somewhat), though it will never be as good as it used to be, and I still have a real hard time hearing people at times.

[rifleman]

Hey J I got some advice for stuff like this.....Don't do it.

Oh and heal up soon. That looks painful.

[jfowl31]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0135.jpg (http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/?action=view&current=IMAG0135.jpg)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/IMAG0133.jpg (http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/?action=view&current=IMAG0133.jpg)

[brewskzilla]

Looking pretty good, there... Eat lots of spicy food... Good for the nervous system...

[jfowl31]

Looking pretty good, there... Eat lots of spicy food... Good for the nervous system...

That's good news because I'm a spicy food FIEND! I have a small collection of some of the spiciest extracts to add to my food... Dave's Private Reserve, Da Bomb Final Answer, 357 Mad Dog, among others.

Now I have an excuse for it.

[Evilblackgunsrfun]

That Dave's insanity sauce is some pretty damn hot stuff,i like spicy things to, i put alittle on a teaspoon ONCE and it felt like i got my tongue slammed in a door for about 3 minutes then was hot for 5 more, so lesson learned, just use a drop lol

[jfowl31]

The private reserve from Dave is his insanity sauce suped up to a whole nother level. The bottle comes packed in a coffin!