Rich was working in his shop a week ago while talking with me on speaker phone. Suddenly I heard weird noises and the phone went silent. No big deal, I thought Rich must have dropped the phone. I tried to call back a few times but he did not answer. Then I began to worry slightly. He may have just been cleaning up a spill or something which had happened before, but I did not know. He finally answered the phone and proceeded to tell me that he cut his hand badly with an X-acto knife while cutting plastic. Thank goodness I was driving home only a few minutes away. He was waiting on the front porch with a towel wrapped around his hand. We spent the next 4 hours in the Emergency Room. Rich had cut through the tendon on his left index finger over the first knuckle down to the bone and across the top of his 3rd and 4th fingers. The image is similar to his injury, but his tendon was cut not torn. The ER doctor was unabled to reattach the tendon and just sutured the wound closed. The doctor applied Dermabond (super glue) to the cuts on his middle fingers. He received a big dose of antibiotics and a referral to a hand surgeon.
So now we have to wait and see how it heals. The surgeon recommended splinting the joint for 6 weeks, instead of surgery, to allow the tenden to reattach. The doctor said that he sees this type of injury only a few times a year and that Rich was lucky the cuts were not deeper on his middle fingers or it would have been more severe. He goes back to the surgeon on Tuesday to have the sutures removed and a new splint to be made. Rich can't return to work for at least 6 weeks because of lifting and mobility restrictions to his left hand.
Rich applied for short-term disability which he should be able to get. His manager told him that she wanted to keep him, but can't guarantee his job is safe, because he is not eligible for Medical Leave since he has been employeed for less than 6 months. She stated that she has very been impressed by Rich and will try to everything that she can to keep him. So we hope and pray that all with work out.
