Just an open flesh wound

Thanks for those of you who have called or texted out of concern of Lefty, I really appreciate it. Yesterday I cleaned it up myself with the help of my keychain swiss army knife scissors, which of course isn't the most surgically appropriate tool to use, and a shot of vodka, which I must stress that I didn't drink. I don't know why people don't believe me: what kind of alcoholic do you take me for?

The vodka was to sterilize the scissors, and of course the wound, as I attempted to extract the hardened andrographis that has formed a crust over the wound. Yes it protected it from the elements but I was quite concerned since I couldn't tell what was going on in there, so I decided to remove it, and its not pleasant trying to extract something your skin has already 'eaten' into.

Now that I've kind of removed it, well there is a bit still stuck at the nail that I can't remove coz it hurts like ((#@&&!(. So I just left it there. Now there's a buzzing sensation all day which I generally hate. The painkillers doesn't seem to work and I feel sedated all the time rendering me generally unable to maintain meaningful conversation or put my pants on properly. So here's a photo I took today, its not as fleshy as when I removed the crust and as you can see I don't think there should be much to worry about. I think some of you are concerned I lost more than this...but I jumped away from the machine, which in my experience saved me from much misery, this being the second time; first was a circular saw sans protective cover, flying across my face from kickback.

Funny thing is I want to continue working on this kitchen partition because I've been putting it off for ages but people are generally against the idea of me continuing work till I recover. But I think...its just a flesh wound, isn't it?

Meet lefty, my four fingered friend

A few years of not adhering to safety warnings does something to the psyche, it gradually convinces you something everyone believes in; it won't happen to me. Yesterday was a good day for woodworking, and since I had so many projects to complete but no space, I decided to work off the bed of my truck. Not having a proper space meant that generally you had to make do, and I do that best.

So after completing a broom holder, I had some time so I decided I should take a break. By then the sun was scorching hot, and I wasn't in the mood for my next project which was a kitchen partition, so I decided to make a walking stick, since its going to be a fun thing to do. I used my electric planer, set it to 10mm, and planed away. I hated the sound of the planer, coz it literally shaves off your preset depth in the wood, and once it comes into contact it emits a high pitched shriek as you feel the triple high speed blades cutting into the timber.

But of course I didn't have a table, or a vise to hold it in place. One hand on the planer, and one hand on the wood, I planed away and marvelled at the speed and precision of the cuts. But then thats when it happened, I ran it across and somehow slipped as I felt my forefinger run under the blades. I jumped as I saw spurts of crimson liquid flowing from my hand. I thought I reacted in time even as I looked at my finger, now bloodied with blood flowing into the palm of my hand. I decided then that it wasn't just a minor cut, it actually took part of my finger off.

My mom put some sort of herb on it to stop the bleeding, so after that I couldn't make out where or how much of my finger is missing. I think it took a chunk of meat, and probably a part of my nail. Its bandaged now, with a tingling pain every now and then, as I blog with nine of my fingers. I guess I'll know in a few weeks how bad is it, once I get it cleaned up, but its a real annoyance not to be able to hold on to something now. The doctor said I need to avoid eggs and meat, I wonder whats the medical relevance of that. I'm just craving a good steak right about now.