Eleanor's Finger

A word of caution: if you get queezy at the sight of blood, do not look at the following pictures.

If you ask Eleanor what happened, you will probably hear, " Da door got Eleanor tinger" in a kind of remorseful wimper, which it indeed did. It all happened when we were at a fireside hosted by the bishop for the youth. When it was time to leave it was all a bustle with people going in and out of the door, which, by the way, Eleanor loves to open and close for people. Our time to venture out was upon us as we rallied the kids together and struggled to get coats on. When all of a sudden, a piercing scream broke through the chaos. Bishop released her from the jaws of the mighty oak and I sped her to the sink to rinse the blood that was leaving a trail from the door to the kichen. Calmly, I thought, I told Zach that we needed to leave now to go to emergency.

"Well, now calm down Sara."

"I am calm! I see bone. We need to go now!"

With her finger wrapped in a towel and an ice cube on it, we rushed to the hospital and left Ivan in the care of the Bishop and his wife. Poor Eleanor kept jerking her finger away from the ice and towel which made me nervous thinking she was going to rip the remainder of the attached fingertip off. Needless to say, we were put on the fast track of the ER. Three of us held her down with our body weight, so numbing shots could be administered. After some pain medication was also given, she fell asleep. Thankfully she stayed asleep while ten sticthes were sewn, putting her back together. X-rays showed that the tippy top of her bone also broke. So currently we are seeing an orthopedist to make sure it heals well. So far so good. The major concern now is whether her nail will grow back as the cut went right along her nail bed. She lost her fingernail about a month ago and I haven't seen anything yet. The accident happened Nov. 8th, our six year anniversary.

There was a brace on her finger which only lasted about the car trip home.

Day 2, a follow up visit to the ER and removal of the bandage. They said it looked really good. I took their word for it.

Day 10, removal of the stitches from the orthopedist. She was a champ, as they did not use the dissolving kind of thread, each piece had to be cut and yanked out.

The bone is starting to heal, but she tends to avoid using that finger to write or draw. So if it looks like she is flipping you off, she is more than likely just showing favor to the "tinger that got hurt in da door."

Day 60