It has now been almost two weeks since I got home from the hospital, and life is starting to feel more normal, The stitches came out on April 22, and I can write, trim my fingernails, use dental floss, and sleep without holding my right hand in some special position.
I also started the rehab process this week. I'm still a long way from being able to make a fist, but the fingers are gradually becoming more flexible. Typing is going better. I still get slowed down on words containing the letter p, of course.
In the hospital we started collecting jokes that friends passed along to us. This week I posted a list of the 'top nine" consequences of the experience. (There were originally ten, but one had to be removed. That happens sometimes.)
9. Added a new term to my vocabulary: necrotizing fasciitis.
8..Offered a role in new movie ``Attack of the Flesh-Eating Bacteria''.
7. Turned down Adrian Monk's request that I remove my left pinkie to restore symmetry.
6. My infection has been officially declared the worst April Fool's prank of 2009.
5. I am no longer invited to tea parties because I cannot hold a teacup with pinkie extended.
4. My grading...
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Tags:
humor, necrotizing fasciitis
Posted at: 03:57 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
As it turned out, I didn't have to decide which lecture to attend on April 2.
On the night of March 31 I started having chills and went to bed early. I woke up on April 1 with a badly swollen right hand. I gave a lecture at noon using the 3 fingers that weren't swelled up. But as the day went along I felt worse and worse, and Sherry and Rebekah took me to the hospital at about 6 PM.
It turned out that I was being attacked by some very aggressive, fast-moving bacteria. Fortunately, the infection was stopped quickly. I lost my right pinkie, but considering how lethal flesh-eating bacteria tend to be, I got off really easy. I'm just thankful to be alive.
Tags:
necrotizing fasciitis
Posted at: 03:02 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
