Weekly Recap: With the stitches

There was no school last week because we had spring break instead! That means we worked on the fence a lot. We have been putting new posts in next to where the old ones were because that's easier than digging out the deep holes full of cement. But there was one corner of our yard that we could not move the post, so we had to remove all the cement in that spot. E was determined to empty that hole, and she made A LOT of progress by digging around the cement with a crowbar and then chipping pieces of cement out. You can imagine that it was tiring work though, especially deep down to the last few inches in the hole.

So I decided to help. And by help, I got bigger tools... I added a large sledge hammer to hit the crowbar with. It was working well, until I moved my hand at the same time that I brought the sledge hammer down. I was wearing a garden glove and E quickly noticed a spot of blood forming on the glove. The pain was so intense. I ran inside and carefully took the glove off and ran cold water over my finger. When I worked up enough courage to look, I noticed an ugly tear right across the second joint of my index finger. After keeping my finger in the water until my hand felt numb, I put some blue yarrow essential oil on it and M helped me bandage it. I could tell that if I attempted to bend the finger it would bleed, but it was fine if it was straight. Because I could bend it, I wasn't as worried about it being broken. M put some gauze and Miracle Salve on it, and taped a popsicle stick to it to keep it straight. At this point I thought maybe stitches were necessary, but I wanted to avoid the cost and finish the work outside! I texted my husband and he immediately called back, saying I was going to get it looked at... no questions. I walked back outside to start working again, with my finger throbbing and held on top of my head.

My husband left work and came to take me to InstaCare. Did you know you have to check in on a computer before the people at the desk will talk to you? Not so easy to do when your finger is not working! I was stubborn and wouldn't let my husband do it for me. The x-ray technician noticed the blue spots on my finger and asked if I had used yarrow on it. Even though I knew the gash was too big for yarrow to make a difference closing it, it helped to cleanse the wound. I also had a DTaP vaccine..I felt it was logical, all things considered. The doctor was gentle and thorough as he cleaned out the wound and stitched it up. He answered all my questions... such as, "Is that a tendon or ligament that I can see in there?" I ended up with five stitches, and the gash was about 23 mm long. I received a finger brace and had to keep it wrapped because of the danger of ripping it open again if I bent the finger.

That little bone on my thumb.. it's called a sesamoid bone. 

Later we went to Target to pick up my antibiotic prescription. Those antibiotics were the second worst part of the whole experience. Over the next 10 days I checked the stitches twice a day, used arnica, helichrysum, and Miracle Salve on the finger, and bentonite clay at times. I also put clay on the vax injection site, hoping to draw out some of the junk. And, I cut apart an old garden glove and used the thumb on my fat, bandaged finger with the finger cut off so I could wear it still. Then I worked on the fence more! I even moved around and fixed the paving stones by one of our gates. It looks a lot nicer now, and will look even better when I get some new grass to grow around them.

By the way, my husband went out two days later to finish taking the cement out of that hole. He said, "It was easy, it came right out!" Hmmm. You're welcome.

Other events:

I finished studying the book of Isaiah. We went to the new playground, which was SO busy because everyone was out of school. My sister came to teach my girls quilling. And I was asked to be the secretary for the women's organization in our church congregation.