I was taking Daisy to the vet for some blood tests (CAE, CL and Johnes) so I can take her to a farm where she will meet her stud and hopefully get pregnant so we can start getting our milk. As I was getting her ready, I had her on a leash and was not really paying attention, dropped something that made a loud sound and she took off and took my pinkie with her.
I managed to get her to the vet, bring her back home and go to work. My co-workers convinced me I should go to urgent care because my finger was quite swollen and bruised. I grudgingly went and was told I had a pretty bad break. This was a Thursday and I was scheduled to go away for work Sunday through Tuesday. The urgent care doctor got me in to see an orthopedist on Friday. He said that he was pretty sure he could reset the bone and just cast it, but the break was at the joint and he would consult with a hand specialist. I thought I would be good to go with just the cast, but he called back and said that I needed to see the hand specialist. I made that appointment for Tuesday and I was able to go on my work trip. The specialists gave me three options, 1) let it heal in just a cast and likely have pain, stiffness and arthritis, 2) have surgery and get screws which may still leave me stiff and sometimes the screws need to be taken out, which would mean a second surgery, or 3) get a pin in it and a crazy contraption with a rubber-bands attached to the pin that allowed me to keep the finger in constant traction and move the joint so it would not freeze. He was clearly selling me on option three and like a fool I went along and got the pin put in Thursday, one week after the break. I had the crazy contraption pictured above (I guess it's called a dynamic traction splint)on for about two and a half weeks. I thought that I was going to be up and running Friday, the day after I got the pin, but it turns out that having a piece of metal stuck through your bone really hurts, even when it is just a pinkie.
I guess I was lucky to only have it on for two and half weeks. My occupational therapist (oh yeah, I get to have therapy once a week -it's just a pinkie!) said that they are often on for six weeks. The pin was taken out last Monday and I just have to "buddy wrap" my pinkie and ring finger together for a few more weeks now. My doctor said that he only does about one of these a year by the way. I was the lucky one this year. I'm thinking that he just does it for kicks to see who he can convince this is a good idea,
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