The Needle

 

During the last week of June, I decided it was time to make a sock monkey for our new grandson who was due to arrive in August.  I have made dozens of these monkeys over the course of my life.  I know exactly how to do it.

Unfortunately, while in the final moments of making the clothes for the monkey, I got my thumb a little too close to the sewing machine needle.  With a single up-down motion of the needle, the piercing dagger was embedded in my thumb.

The needle broke off  from the machine.  When I jerked my hand back in response to the injury, half of the needle was sticking out of my nailbed along with two long, black strings.

Without thinking, I grabbed the needle with my teeth and pulled.  Most of the needle came out, but the sharp tip was still embedded in my thumb, and both long, black strings were still hanging out of the nailbed.

I found a pair of needle-nose pliers and began gently winding the threads around them hoping to finish pulling the needle out.  No such luck.  The threads broke and the needle, plus additional black thread, remained in my thumb.

There really wasn't any pain associated with the accident.  Mostly I was just frustrated.  So instead of doing anything about my thumb, I finished sewing the monkey clothes together on the machine.  The next day I did all of the hand sewing to finish the monkey.

About two weeks later, I finally allowed consort to take me to the doctor.  You can see what the physician on call found in the above x-rays.  What the doc told me was that he could do absolutely nothing to help me.  The needle appeared to be lodged in the bone.  He wrote a prescription for a high-dose antibiotic to avoid any infection.  He then advised I go immediately to the hospital for emergency surgery.  

Yeah, it's all fun and games until they tell you surgery is needed.

I'm not big on medical procedures.  And with something like this, I really thought the needle would work its way out eventually.  There was definitely trauma to the nail.  I could feel the needle just under the skin and behind my fingernail.  About once a week I would trim the nail back which seemed to relieve the buildup of pressure.   

Fast forward to October 8th of this year.  On that particular day my thumbnail kept getting caught whenever it brushed over fabric.  Not giving it much thought, I finally took the time to trim the nail back.  After the first clip, I could see the silver end of the needle protruding from under the edge of my nail.  I grabbed my hemostats (the same ones I use for pulling the hair out of D.O.G.'s ears) and, after sterilizing them, went to work on extracting the needle.  (I probably should have gone to see Dr. W,  the infamous surgeon who lives three doors down...)

But I digress.

Each time I grabbed the needle, it receded back into the nailbed.  After a few attempts, I knew it was time to man-up and, despite the discomfort, pull the needle out before it receded so far into the thumb I wouldn't be able to reach it.  

On the fifth attempt I was successful.  The tip of the needle covered in thread came out.  The above picture shows the size and shape of a brand-new needle on the right.  The small piece on the left is what came out of my thumb.  And now, six weeks later, my thumb is completely normal.  The nail is growing back beautifully and both the tingling and numbness at the end of my thumb have gone away.

I believe this means it's time to schedule manicures!

Quote of the day:  Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Author's disclaimer:  I am not condoning the abandonment of a physician's advice.