How Pinterest Put Me in the ER | PSF
*warning: graphic pictures. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m not kidding!*
I found an awesome recipe for baked zucchini chips on pinterest. They looked and sounded divine.
I didn’t have any zucchini, but had some potatoes and sweet potatoes, so I carried the recipe over. I sliced up a sweet potato and two regular potatoes, baked them up, and even put up this yummy picture on instagram. They shrank up a lot, so I got the slicer out to do one more sweet potato.
This is where things go from good to bad in about 0.05 seconds. I was slicing, slicing, and then screaming. And cussing. A LOT. I called my mom (I was home alone with E…mom lives inTexas, not a big help, but that’s what you do, right? Call your mom?). Then called some neighbors with no luck. Then walked over to a neighbors…not home. Then texted a neighbor and his wife called back. She came over “it’s not that bad!” And, then I took off my make-shift tourniquet (btw, the triage nurse said never ever do this..whoops). “Oh, that’s bad.” Then, Mr. Serious got home with the older two. I quickly gave feeding directions (please take a bottle sweetheart), and the neighbor and I were off.
And, then, I got one of these.
Why? I went from cutting potatoes to cutting my thumb. I cut off the tip with a mandolin slicer. And, not just a little bit (here’s one more warning for nasty, gross, bloody pictures!). I went to triage and they wrapped me up and sent me back to the waiting room.
Then, back to a room where the NP (nurse practitioner, who I might have called mean) unwrapped it, looked at it and agreed with me that there wasn’t anything to stitch together (honestly, I was hoping they could…I knew it would heal faster!) Then, quickly recovered it because it was still bleeding! (shocking side note: I didn’t get any blood on anything except the burp rag I used!) Then, he put a shot in my hand at the base of my thumb to numb it. Yeah, that hurt!
Then I had to wait for this cellulose thing to stop the bleeding. And, that didn’t work. And, then he (the NP) tried another one. And, that still wasn’t completely successful. So, then, he brought out these silver nitrate sticks to cauterize it. Oh, yeah that hurt! And, looks like this (I warned you!)
And, success…that stopped the bleeding. So, it was wrapped up, Mr. Serious (aka rock-star husband and dad) packed up all three girls and came and picked me up.
And, you know you are a spouse of a blogger when your husband tells you they saved the chunk of your thumb from the cutting board. I’ll save you that picture (pretty sure I might puke if I see it!).
Oddly enough, the face recognition on the iPhone camera isn’t set out for thumbs. I tried (and, you’ll probably thank me), but this is day 2. Not much better, but thankfully, not bleeding!
And, now, I’m thinking that Pinterest really is dangerous and that maybe I should go back to boycotting.
Or, maybe I should a) find the handle for my mandolin slicer or b) throw the stupid thing away!
I should also add, I immediately put an ice pack on it to hopefully help with the pain and swelling. But, I was so distracted, I didn’t realize it was on some of my skin without a barrier, so now I have frost bite/freezer burn on my thumb. Yeah, it feels good, too.
You really don’t realize how important your thumb is until you can’t use it. Yeah, pretty much for everything.
Eek…the scary side of Pinterest. I hope that your thumb heals quickly.
No kidding. Well, it’s been 3.5 weeks and it’s still not back to normal!
Oh ouch! Mandolins are dangerous things… Jeff has sliced his thumb before. I hope you heal quickly.
Thanks..three weeks out and it’s still not healed and quite raw.
Ouch! I’m so glad you are okay, and heal quickly. I am so scared of a mandoline. I have one but have never taken it out of the packaging!
I would sell it!
Oh girl! OUCH!!! I agree with Jen, mandolins are evil. I’ve only used mine a couple of times and I believe I had minor cuts each time. It’s somewhere WAY back in the cupboard! Hope it heals up well.
I’ve decided I need to purchase a mesh/chain glove if I’m going to use it again!
Wow… that’s, um…. ow. When Pinterest attacks.
Not good to me at all!
ouch girl!!! i hope it is starting to get better, pinterest can definitely be dangerous!
A time suck and cost me about $100 in ER bills (after our insurance!)
I cringe ever time I think about this picture, yucky…
I hope you are feeling ten times better today and that using your one thumb is training for some awesome feats of motherhood in the near future 🙂
Oh my goodness…the one thumbed thing and changing diapers? Not a good mix.
ouch!
I love the photos. I was an EMT for awhile and wanted to be a physician, so I love trauma photos. Not that I love trauma, but am so intrigued at the photos.
My missed calling was a nurse…now I just don’t want to go back to school..but I’m always intrigued by all things medical.
However, it turns out my blood makes me feel a little woozy!
That look really bad. Feel better.No good adventure goes unpunished.
Yeah, its been over 3.5 weeks and it’s still not 100%!
okay.. totally have goosebumps over here! Glad it was just the tip.. I know that hurt bad.. I did the tip of my pointer finger in a cheese grater when Sammy was a baby and still don’t have any feeling in it 😛 I hope it heals quickly!
I’m thinking it might be permanently numb, too. It still just feels “off” (okay, not off like opposite of on, but like not right!)
Eeek! I’m glad you’re okay! That’s one big wrap on your thumb!
It’s still not great and it’s been 3.5 weeks. But, I finally don’t have to have anything on it.
Oh no! I hope it gets better soon.
It’s taking quite a while, but on the mend.
That is why I make the Big Man grate the cheese in our house. Because what you just went through? Is my biggest kitchen fear!
I’ve found a glove that is supposed to prevent this..I’m thinking about getting it. Mr. Serious isn’t usually home in time to help with dinner prep.
ohhhh nooooo!!! oh you poor thing!! darn those kitchen tools and all their sharpness!!
hope your thumb is back to all its old jobs soon!!
OH KRYSTYN!! Oh my goodness!! I cannot imagine the pain you were in! This is awful. I hope it heals well 🙁
It’s getting there. But, I think I was taking ibuprofen for a week…it throbbed and throbbed!
My goodness, girly! That looks awful! Hope you’ll have a fully-functioning thumb here again soon! 😉
Here’s hoping..not quite there yet!
Oh goodness! You are not the first blogger I have read that documented almost severing one or several digits on a mandolin slicer. We have got to remember to use the guard! I wont touch my mandoline without one. If I did, with the kind of luck I have, I would definitely be next up with my story. Glad everything is ok now though.
I still don’t know where that guard is!
I did something similar last year with my rotary cutter while cutting fabric. It happened to quickly. No fun spending Easter Sunday at urgent care.
Uli
Oh, no fun at all!
Mine still hurts and isn’t completely healed!
OMG! As I read your story I feel the pain in my thumb all over again. Last Thanksgiving I was cutting sweet potatoes when I got the bright idea to use my mandoline slicer for a quicker process and as you stated – slice, slice, slice, PAIN! I cut the whole side of my thumb off, just a huge chunk of skin stuck in the blade of the slicer. I thought I could stop the bleeding but after 30 minutes of gushing blood, I knew the ER was the only option and I too was met with my very own bracelet and set of silver nitarte sticks. Not to be a downer, but it took about 3 months for me to heal completely and i still have such thick scar tissue that it hurts if I press it too hard. Keep it clean with antibiotic ointment and once the wound closes use a scar ointment or vitamin E. I hope you heal faster than I did (or by now have healed completely) and know that someone out there literally feels your pain – and has the same set of photos LOL
Those silver nitrate sticks are brutal, too, aren’t they? Well, after the numbing medicine wore off!
I’m at about 2.5 months and the skin still hasn’t healed all the way (it’s closed, but there is still like a scab). And, yes, a hunk of scar tissue and when I bang it wrong, OUCH! I still jump up and down and hold it like it’s wounded all over again!
That looks AWFUL! Totally like something I would do. My husband claims I burn and cut myself on a monthly basis. Given that I live in my kitchen on weekends, it isn’t surprising. I am probably going to give away my hand spiralizer if the machine I bought works. Hope it arrives before we head out on vacation!
Here we are two years later and it’s still funky, too. It constantly has a layer of skin that peels off and just looks funky. Toss the spiralizer…well, the hand one!
Thank you for posting. I am 5 days into my sliced finger journey. Your story is exactly like mines so far. I honestly wonder if I would be in less pain if they had not cauterized it. They really didn’t give me any care instructions past 24 hours. I am on Motrin and antibiotics. Did you see a real decrease in pain by the second week?
Hi Elaine. I’m so sorry this happened to you. These slicers should come with chainmail gloves.
Yes, the cauterization hurt. I also think it hurt because it’s the end of the thumb. It hurt and was tender for a really long time. In fact, this was over three years ago and the scar is still really funky texture and if I hit it just right, it still hurts.
That’s not helpful at all, is it? They didn’t give me antibiotics or medicine, so I just kept it covered and but antibiotic ointment on it until it healed a lot. It probably took a month for it to not be an open wound.
I know this is so many years old but this gave me SUCH great encouragement! I literally did the same thing 2 weeks ago…it was a bit bigger of a hunk or nail and nailbed….and I was pretty sure something was wrong with me that it has not healed yet. Good to know I have a ways to go! The Silver Nitrate has worn off and it just looks so gross! I feel like my thumb is gonna look horrific for my life!
Oh no. I’m so sorry this happened to you, too! (I now have a metal glove I wear when I use this thing or even to grate cheese!).
To be honest, 9 years later the part of my thumb is still tender if I hit it just right and the skin isn’t the same, especially under my fingernail. Almost like it has a callus or blister that peels every once and a while.
I hope you continue to heal…and yeah it will look gross for a long time, but now you can’t tell unless you know what to look for.