Lost my fingertip - in tons of pain :( **Warning: graphic content (title edited by MNHQ**

[MinchyP]

More than month ago (1/11/2021) I sustained a horrific injury to my right index finger.

My husband traveled for 14 day intership and I stayed at home with my 30 month old daughter alone. I was going to prepare the dough for the carrot cakes and needed to add blended carrot into the mixture. I used my immersion blender for that. The device obviously jammed and stopped working as the carrot stuck into it. I dont know why but I started to prick it out with my right index finger while still not unplugged it. My left hand held the device and as I pushed stronger inside it and stronger held the device my left hand hit the turbo button accidentaly.

I clearly remember the feeling when the blades went through my bone. The rest I have in mist. I dont know how but I succeeded to unplug the blender and to pull my hand out of the gadget. I knew it is rely not good but did not expect a damage in such extant. If you are squeemish dont read further.

Blood gushing and squeezing everywhere, parts of my finger chopped completely off, my distal phallanx hanging just on skin, shattered bone sticking out of the stump used to be my finger. I was going to faint, terrible horror, pure gore.

I felt cold, my bodily hair stood up, my heart was beating frantically. As a nurse I knew pretty well the shock had been starting. I wrapped my hand into towels, phoned 9-1-1 and one my friend to take care about my little princess while I would be receiving medical assistance. The paramedics got to the place quickly. She also to be here for my sleeping little daughter.

I was transported to the emmergency room. The doctor there immediately recognized it will be serious and sent me further to the specialists in hand surgery and traumatology. It was while transporting to the traumatologist, some hour and something after the injury, when the pain finaly stroke me with all its strength. I was in tears, crying like a baby. extremely painful,9 of the 10 on the scale as i told the doctor when he asked me. I heard something about amputation and started to cry even more out of fear I was losing my finger.

The surgery to save my finger took more than 4 hours. As a result, I lost cca 1cm of my right index finger, including the fingertip, fingerpad and the whole nail. The rest was reattached. I had an multiple displaced open fracture of my distal phalanx (which was broken in 4 places), chipped my middle phallany bone off and crushed my distal joint, severed both the tendons, the artery and the nerves. I got two pins in the shattered bones, 26 external stitches and plenty, i dont realy now how many stitches inside.

Next day I woke up in excrutiating nagging pain. Like striking your finger with a hammer constantly again and again. My hand was all bandaged up in extant I did not know whether I have my finger at all. They released me from the hospital bcs of covid regulatory code.

The first weeks after the pain was realy crazy unbearable. The throbbing was killing me. I existed somehow holding my heavily bandaged hand above my heart (because of the extreme pain) i was not able to sleep, to eat with spoon, to put the cloths on or off or to use my injured hand at all. every movement of the hand caused horrible pain (not speaking about touching the finger). the worst was changing the bandages every day or later every second day. ouch ouch ouch.

I am still wearing a gigantic, bulky bandage on my finger and hand and a splint. I didn't get cast because my finger is still very swollen. I underwent another surgery for the DIP joint and the oedema release. My finger is infected actually and the amputation is still threatening. I am suffering in tons of pain. The bone is not healing properly yet. I am about to undergone third surgery for tendons. But the damage is permanent and my finger will never be the same again. Last but not least I am unable to function as a mum and housewife.

Please is there someone who went through something similar? What to do for pain relief? How to help the healing? I dont want to lose my finger ...
Write me and share your stories or advices. Thank you a lot.

Yours Emina P.

So sorry to read about your injury ! It's a shock, of course, and taking care of a toddler while in extreme pain must be horrendous.

One though I had (but I'm not a doctor) was also that amputation may not be such a bad thing as not only would it heal faster, it would make it easier to use your middle finger instead of the index, if you're not comfortable using your left hand. But perhaps this is not, or no longer an option.

Either way it'll get better with time so hang on tight !

How I ended ...

In April-May I was in hard cast, hoping it would end soon as far bad memories. it was not . there was still infection which returned and sort of blood cloth in one of the little veins in the finger. one day while being in a cast the finger started hurting so terribly i vomited and fainted .

the finger was swelling and because it had no space it sort of exploded from inside . the infection hit the bone so i undergone another surgery to get small part of the bone removed and ended for several days in the hospital with drain in my wound and a gigantic bandage on my hand. I was ready to lose my index finger .

In the end of May I undergone another surgery for severed tendons. I wore weird plastic splint for aproximatedly one month while my finger was hanging on something similar to a rubber band to make it straight. My finger is one big scar, bend and deformed.

Up to July, I was in progress to lesser and lesser bandages and finally started my physio. I am still in the process, did not finished yet

I am now some 9 months and something after the injury. The impairment appears to be permanent I have very limited movement in my pip joint on that finger, the second joint is fused because of the bone damage they were not able to save it. I cannot make a fist. I have no feeling in the nub and it is hurting when under pressure.

Taking care about a toddler with bandaged, splinted or casted right hand was a real life experience. But otherwise I am ok .

Happy to have the finger and not get it amputated even it is ugly disfigured, quite crippled and sometimes painful even now when I touch something with it. Anyway I have nine fingers more I hope I regain some of its function more with the time, the therapist says it can take months, the recovery is very slow but there is certain little progress

Op, I had to have surgery a few months ago to re attach my right index finger after my dog bit it off. Doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as yours though.

Luckily it was all very straightforward and although they first said they wouldn't be able to save it luckily they did manage to reattach it. The bone was completely broken in the end. I spent three days in hospital and had three weeks off work. After that I just had to try and manage with one less finger for a while until it fully healed. My fingernail has luckily nearly fully grown back although I have a chunk out of the side of my finger and I have hardly any feeling in the end (probably never will have).

I work all day on a keyboard and have now started using the finger again (even though it's quite painful), I just drive through it. I do have difficulty using it for things like doing up small buttons and so on though. Just something I've got to live with now. Hand therapy has helped.