My Quest to Become Frodo

It still feels funky to type with my one gimpy finger, but I miss being able to talk about myself at length, so here goes. ;)

I was leaving the mall a few weeks ago, and was exiting through one of those big old glass doors, the kind with the metal rectangle handle. As I pushed through and then started to let go, I realized too late that my wedding rings had caught on the corner of said rectangle. The door, being one of those big old glass variety, YANKED shut behind me. The pain was unbelievable and I immediately felt myself cover with sweat, as I wondered if I was going to faint. I thought for sure I was going to see bone. I looked at my hand, only to see my ring finger bloody and swelling up pretty quickly. I staggered to the car, grabbed a tube of lotion and attempted to get my rings off before the swelling got any worse. Unfortunately - *those who are weak of stomach should skip this part* - my wedding band had dug into my finger at an angle, and any attempt to push the rings off would just lift up the huge flap of flesh. I'm not squeamish about blood and such, but I really thought I was going to faint or chuck at this point. I drove straight to my doctor's office, who couldn't get it off either, but who assured me that my pulse-ox in the finger was still good. I could still turn my rings with no trouble, as the swollen part was in front of where they normally rest. He gave me a slip for an x-ray, but I knew if I went to get that done, they would want to cut my rings off to get a clear shot at the bone. I wasn't willing to do that as long as my rings weren't interfering with blood flow, so I waited.

And waited. And waited just a bit more, until two weeks later I could finally, with the help of baby oil and much gritting of teeth, twist and pull my rings off. It hurt so bad that I nearly gave up a few times, but I just felt mentally taxed having them on there. Now that they're off, the wound is healing better. The swelling is going down, but very slowly, and the underside of my finger is numb all down one side. It's an odd tingly kind of numbness, and I'm thinking I'll be back at the doctor soon to see what he thinks.

In the meantime, I'm trying to be careful with it, since it aches if I do much with that hand. My engagement ring wasn't damaged, but as you can see above, my wedding band is a nice dented oval shape. I'm glad I held out though, and the ring is fixable. I know it's just a symbol of my marriage, but it means a lot to me to keep my original rings, so I'm happy. :)