Well, the finger still looks pretty rough but the pins will come out this Wednesday and then I will start physical therapy.
At the follow-up visit two weeks ago, the Doctor said that everything looked fine. In our brief discussion I mentioned some hard skin that was starting to peel on the palm side of the middle knuckle. He mentioned that he would take it off and he proceeded to give it a good tug. It was at this point that I decided that watching was not a good idea and I very effectively shielded myself from the good Doctor's work. He then proceeded to pull a section of skin off my finger that extended from below the middle knuckle to the initial cut just below the end knuckle. It all came off in pretty much one piece with no resistance. He explained it was the callused skin being pushed off by the new skin growing underneath. I guess since the normal sloughing process was stopped by the bandage, the skin held together in one piece until it was tugged at which point it gave up the ghost and came off.
When I felt it was safe to look, I saw the old skin on the table and the shiny bright pink new skin on my finger. The new skin was very sensitive at first but has become more tolerable as the days have progressed. Cherri remarked later that she was amazed that I didn't save it to take back to work to impress the people I work with. Trust me, I thought of it but I have become less gross in my old age.
The tip of my finger has the same dead skin on it and I have been gently starting to work it loose without messing with the pins. There is still a lot of dried blood (scabs) along the -self inflicted- incision site and I suspect the Doctor will remove all of the scanky leftovers when he pulls the pins this week.
And no, I will not watch.
So all in all things are going well and I am as pleased as I can be considering the damage that I have inflicted to myself. I feel confident that the flexibility of the finger will come with time and practice. My hope is that the feeling will return to the places that are numb and that I can move past this temporary setback quickly.
Does anyone know if it hurts to have the pins pulled?
