4 Stitches

When I was younger, I was quite accident prone..."an accident waiting to happen" as my parents often said.  I remember referring to people and places as "remember... that's where you did such and such and ended up in the emergency room for stitches". 

I broke my toe at the beach in Florida. I got my knee stuck in a fence at an amusement park. I jumped at a friend's house and landed on a plastic chicken. I got hit with a can of silly spray at youth group. I ran into a wall and broke my nose. I managed to step between a door and a snow shovel and got a front tooth knocked out. I broke my ankle at an orchestra weekend. 

I think you get the idea.

I feel like I've been better and less accident prone as an adult, but this week I managed to end up needing 4 stitches in my finger. 

I was cutting veggies for dinner and was very careful and mindful. I even silently congratulated myself when I was done for not chopping off a finger tip. But I was in a hurry to get the dishes washed and get out the door to a violin/art lesson (I teach a violin lesson to a 7 yr old girl while my girls get art lessons from the other mom).

Anyway...the knife...the kitchen sponge...soap and water...in a rush. The sponge (or was it the knife) slipped and I ended up with a pretty bad cut on my left, middle finger.

I knew it was bad, but I was in denial so I bandaged it up and headed out to the lesson. I couldn't play the violin and after the lesson, the girl's dad (who happens to be a paramedic) took a look at it and affirmed that I would need stitches.

He offered to call his friend who lived 2 miles away and runs a medical practice out of his house. My other options were to drive to Portland or go to the Hood River hospital. Dr. Neal was available immediately, so I chose to go to him.

During our conversation I discovered his family homeschools through the local CC, so we knew several of the same people. His family attends the same church as us AND he happens to know Andrew White in Gresham...Andrew and Tabby are very good friends of ours. He's encouraging Andrew to practice with him if and when Andrew and Tabby move here.

I'm so grateful it was my right hand and not my left. I can still play the violin - although my finger gets stiff quickly and I don't have great bow control. But if it had been the left hand, I wouldn't be able to play at all.

I'm hoping it heals quickly and completely - I have to return to orchestra rehearsal next week and we have 2 gigs on St. Patty's day!