Finger amputation need a hand hold.

[jmh740]

My cat bit me in August when I was trying to medicate her. Ive been on antibiotics since 28.8 but it was still badly infected. On Tuesday they told me the bone was infected and the surgeon wouldnt know how much unti he opened it up. I went into surgery for it to be cleaned out (for the 4th time) on Thursday. They hand is well bandaged and it looks like they have amputated between the first and second knuckle.
It was a real sock and I'm struggling to cope with the pain. Does anyone know what the future looks like for me?

How long will it take to heal?
What will I still be able to do?
What wont I be able to do?
Any tips and hints to aid recovery?

Im having the dressing changed tomorrow and a bit nervous to see it.

Which image has AI content??

OP I am sorry this has happened.
I do 100% believe that discharge documentation can be inaccurate. Over the years I’ve had all sorts incorrectly documented. It could have been that a tip amputation was planned and that was in your notes somewhere prior to surgery and whoever has done your discharge paperwork hasn’t realised it was more extensive.

ultimately you can see with your own eyes how short your bandaged finger is. It can’t be any longer underneath the bandages! So if you’re saying it’s level with your little finger then that’s the max length the index finger can be and under the bandages than it’s probably a bit shorter than what you can currently see. Hopefully the pain will subside and I’m sure you’ll adapt.

The first one, it says it at the bottom left of the uploaded screenshot, so as its been altered its hard to advise as no one knows what the original looks like.

OP subsequently posted the original picture, including the bag of junk she'd used AI to remove

They should surely have told you after the surgery just how much they amputated? Yes, it will be painful but in the great scheme of things, and no disrespect intended, you’ve only lost part of a finger……you’ll adapt in time. Eventually, you will be able to do all the things you did before.

That's a polite way of saying RTFT! 😁

Wow aren’t you a treat!

Do you have a cat? They follow you everywhere!
I put the lid down to sit on it to take off my make up. The cat had followed me in there & in the way that cats do went from one side of the bathroom to the other, the lid went down, I sat on it, the cat yowled & bit my leg! It sounds comical & it probably was
At the time I was more worried about the cats tail.🙄 She was fine, I was not.

so I was bitten by a dog last October. I don't want my experience to scare you but I think the amputation was clearly the best option and will save you time and energy in the long run.

i have had 7/8 admittances to hospital (longest was a month), been on and off different antibiotics all year pretty much, had sepsis 3 times, had 12 operations under general surgery including skin graft and a btm both of which failed and I still have an open painful wound. Mine is upper thigh so they would not amputate unless absolutely medically required but having been so unwell for so long if it was an extremity I think that would have been the route taken.

im sorry you're in pain and worried but this was clearly the best option medically to keep you safe and avoid an experience like mine

Did you have a thread a while back, and were advised to insist on a wound assessment as you’d been poorly so long with no improvement? I’ve been wondering how you are, if so.

@jmh740 I crochet and knit, and can interchange index and middle finger. I do continental style knit, and have been trying different fingers for yarn and grip in the hope of finding a faster/smoother style. You’ll find a way.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a confusing time.

I’m also in Lancashire where the OP is, I had surgery last year and they removed my nail polish only off one toe (I was very confused when I woke up)
they also explained stuff to me just after I woke up which I didn’t take in because I had just been under GA for over 8hrs. I don’t remember any of the stuff they told me

What's weird about that? It's a completely normal sentence and makes complete sense in the context of a thread about having your finger surgically amputated.

I'm quite sure someone in a car crash wasn't in for day surgery, so of course the hospital had plenty of time to make sure they understood precisely what had happened.

I am sorry OP. As a doctor of many years, I see examples of wonderful and very poor communication. If they had amputated below a joint, they absolutely should have told you. I would expect a leaflet at least to explain how to adapt to life with an amputated finger. It’s a small joint, but it can affect function and you deserve an explanation.

OP has posted the original.

I am not sure why people are surprised that there has been no communication with OP from doctors - this is so normal unfortunately. I have had two children have operations under general this year and neither time did a doctor come and see us after. They want you gone, before the doctors do their rounds again (that night or next day).

Sadly cat bites can be very dangerous, I hadn't realised how much so until I had a relative in hospital for 3 weeks on IV drips due to a cat scratch, even a year later and it was still slowly getting better.

Sorry this happened to you, OP.

I’m appalled that you didn’t see the surgeon before discharge!! Dreadful patient care.

I hope all goes well for your follow up appointment.

They haven't been hysterical OP.

I think you have been remarkably calm and accepting.

I am so sorry to hear what you have been through, and this sounds really disconcerting and awful. I can't believe you would not have had better support around this from the team who performed the amputation.

That said, I think once the initial shock is over, if it is your left hand the impact will in fact be minimal, except perhaps for typing. As others have said, it won't be a hugely noticeable thing.

But it is still part of you and must be hard at this stage, and I'm so sorry you are in this situation. 💐

My child had an accident at school and lost the top of their finger,it couldn’t be reattached.
She recovered well and years later lots of people don’t notice and they’ve not even told their in-laws.
only issue there has been has that some of their nail bed grew back and she needed further surgery to remove that,

Yes, but <sigh> OP's entire POINT is that the notes read 'tip' (which as at least one previous poster has pointed out, is a fairly amorphous term and not a medical one. 'Tip' could be interpreted as nail, finger pad, both of those but not bone, the first joint of the finger...) and OP is looking at her bandaged hand and making the not unreasonable observation that her bandaged index finger is now SHORTER than her little finger! Which leads her to conclude that they may have taken more than the 'tip' and she's afraid of what she'll see when they change bandages. Bloody hell, I would be, too!

A lecture about keeping her diabetes under control is unnecessary here unless you're her doctor? (Did the notes specify Type 1 or Type 2? If the former, she's presumably very used to dealing with it as she may have had it most of her life.)

OP has NOT been fully informed if she's lost 2/3 of her finger, as seems likely from the photos of her bandaged hand. I share her shock that she was discharged with just a short set of very jargonised notes, clearly aimed at another HCP and not the patient, and that nobody who was at the operation was able to speak to her before discharge, given that it wasn't a dead cert that they'd have to amputate, and that they clearly have done. I think that's really bad practice.

I also posted the original. I had removed a bag from the top of the picture.

Sorry to hear you have been in that situation as well. It's a bit disgusting 😒

I had emergency surgery and both feet and finger nails were gel polished - they just worked round it and said they would before surgery

Good luck today.