So I beat J home from work today. G and E from next door came running over and G wanted to see the boat that J is building in the cellar. (In case I didn't mention it, he's building a 13-1/2' cedar strip canoe.) I took the boys into the house and headed for the basement stairs. When I opened the door, I thought it quite odd that J had left tools and extension cords and wrapping stuff all over the stairs but thought perhaps time had gotten away from him and he had to rush off to work... I picked up the stuff so the stairs were clear and we went to look at the canoe.
The boys left and I went and changed out of my work clothes. Then I went outside, put the sprinkler on and sat on the swing to read. When J got home, he came in apologizing for what he did to my kitchen. I was a bit baffled and followed him inside.
It turns out his project d'jour was to remove the basement staircase window and replace it with a new window that has a screen. Apparently he removed the old window, inserted the new replacement window, and proceeded to unlatch the new window so he could open it and screw it into place.
WARNING: NO PHOTOS BUT RATHER GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF HIS INJURY FOLLOWS. Skip the next two paragraphs if you have a weak stomach!
The upper window dropped down onto his right thumb with such force that it, and I quote the Immedicenter doctor: "It blew out his finger."
There was no sharp edge to cut the finger; the force of the upper pane falling down onto his finger actually popped his finger open, like a balloon.
He was rather adamant that he wasn't going to the emergency room or the Immedicenter, but I played the good wife card: after begging that he go, saying "please" several times, I reminded him that I rarely if ever ask him for anything but I was asking him to go and get his finger checked out. He spends his days with his hands in oil, or in gasoline, or in the dirt, or sanding his canoe... Imagine any of that getting into an open wound. We're talking an immediate infection.
He agreed to go so we spent a good hour, hour-and-a-half in the Immedicenter. When the nurse and the doctor looked at it, their immediate reaction was that he definitely needed stitches.
So, four stitches and a tetanus shot later... His right thumb is wrapped up in what the nurse called a "fancy" bandage: which in layman's terms means that it's a bandage with gauze wrapped around his full thumb, rather than just a small bandaid on the tip of his finger... He's a bit annoyed but admitted I was right to make him go. We have to go back on Sunday morning for them to check it, and the stitches are to be removed in 10 days. It was a very deep cut. No I-told-you-sos, but I'll enjoy telling the story... Now that I know he's okay. ;-D
