Follow-up Dr. visit

[William Steinfeldt]

It is Monday morning. I just got back to the Dr. as I expected. Good news, bad news. Let us do the bad news first, the first joint in both the middle finger and the ring finger are destroyed. The doctor is hoping the finger will fuse together at that point. Ring finger the worst, the bone at the tip of the finger is almost completely gone, as is the adjoining first joint. I have lost feeling from the second joint to the tips of fingers on ring finger and middle finger, the first finger looks like it may be numb from the first joint to the fingertip, mainly around the nail bed. Good news, all the fingers are still there, although somewhat damaged, there is no infection, and at this time. The doctor is satisfied with its progress.

 

My other area of concern is the fact that I may have lost the gripping power in my right hand. With two fingers completely unable to grasp objects, safety becomes an issue. I guess we will just have to see how it goes. I am debating on whether to post some photos of my hand, I do not want to gross anyone out, but I would like to give visual impact to the safety issues I discuss. I am torn over this issue, please tell me if you think this would be good to post them or not.

 

One last item, to all of you, drop me a kind word and set a prayer you will never know how much that meant to me. Strangers brought together by drilling jig and an activity that we all have a passion for. May God Bless You all, Thank You, God Bless You. William Steinfeldt

[Jay Boutwell]

William, first I must say that there is that wonderful thing called "Hope and Faith".  Things always improve as time goes on we all learn to find our own ways of still doing what the heart and the mind wants us to do.  We just except and adapt and still accomplish our goals in life.  I know that when there is the will to do this we soon forget the hard times and marvel at the things we accomplish and forget that we just do it in a different way.  The fact that you still have all your fingers is a blessing in it self. Your strength and grip will improve over time as injuries always try to put doubts in our minds.  In the mean time just remember that you have a big support group of wonderful people out here who understand.  Woodworking is in your life and will still be in your life long after all these hard times pass.   

[ron gagnon]

i agree with jay  words and thinking he has expressed them very well what i was thinking

i keep u in my prayers and keep the hope and faith alive u have all support from us together.

[ray vile]

William , I guess that's the best news you could have expected. with all the advances in medicine over the last couple of years who knows what all you will be able to accomplish, i thought about posting pictures of my finger after I had my accident and decided against it mostly because my wife thought it would be too gross, maybe just pictures off everthing all bandaged up is enough to do the trick. with the medical teatment and therapy that's available today everthing will turn out much better then you expect., good luck

Ray

[Geoff Simpson]

I'm happy for you bruther. 

 

Keep on keepin' on William...guys like you are hard to hold down.  Don't let this mishap keep you from doing something that you enjoy and that god himself has gifted you with the ability to do. 

[justin waldron]

William,

     I am very sorry for what you are going through.  My family and I will be praying for a speedy recovery.

 

Justin

[steve kidd]

glad to hear the good news, hopefully you will get the use of all your fingers in the near future. about the pics, i say post them, if someone is worried about the gross factor they dont have to look at the pics, just post a warning of the pics so as not to freak some one out. again good luck with your progress. take care

[Steven Croney]

The pictures are kind of gnarly... I had to bypass them real quick!

[Keith Griffin]

Bill:

Just reading about your accident tonight, don't know how I missed it before. Hope it all works out for you and you do not have to give up a loved hobby. Definetely a situation we all aware of, but unless you have it happen it's hard to believe how quickly it happens. I have had 2 incidents that could have been so much worse.

The first, I was cutting some dadoes on a radial arm saw. One of those dadoes that wabble. I was afraid it would hit the gaurd on my new saw, I'm careful I can do this without the guard. The wood kicked, my had went up to protect myself and right into the blade. My middle finger looked like a piece of hamburg, but it didn't hurt. I remember thinking that's not my hand that should hurt like hell. When I got to the hospital there was nothing to sew back together. The skin was gone to the bone. That night the hurt set in big time.

The second, I was cutting 1/8" of a cabinet door. No problem, set the fence and run the door through. Know how you put your thumb on the end of the board when pushing it through. Yep right through the thumb. This one hurt right away.

I like to think of myself as a safe worker but boy it happens so fast. If the rest of us can learn from incidents like this it would be great. Keep those gaurds in place, your mind on the task. Work safely always, much better to err on the side of safety.

Wish you a quick and full recovery.

 

[William Steinfeldt]

Steve I took your advice and posted the pictures, I know there are little disturbing that is what meant do. I wanted to show everyone just how quick it happened and just what damage can be done that whole accident the last the half of a second. To me it seemed like 2 min. You look down and you see the carnage but it takes a while for the brain to connect your hand to your head. At this point you feel very little, but as the seconds tick away the pain become worse and worse. You grab whatever you can find to wrap your hand in the help stop the bleeding. Your brain plays tricks on you. It does not believe that that hand is attached to your body, then this searing pain starts. Now it is for real. The pain continues to build as you search for help, if you are lucky, you reach help. I was lucky my family was home. They called 911. I went out and waited for the ambulance to arrive. They took me to the hospital with matter of a few minute's. Maybe 30 to 45 minutes and I was with the surgery. This all happened because I lost concentration for less than a sec., less than a sec. So I hope the growth factor helps some of you guys. I was a supervisor in injection molding and environment for 35 years I taught safety I was a guy who ordered the safety equipment. I was I was the guy doing the safety training, I did accident investigations, and I wrote this a few regulations for the plant. So do not think it will not happen to you. That is what I used to think, so if nothing else boys and girls do not take your attention off the saw blade. It will take your hand off, and will not think twice about it. So please everybody be safe. I do not want have to be writing to some poor person who did what I did. I will end this by saying Thanks, I wish I could come and shake everybody's hand in person.

glad to hear the good news, hopefully you will get the use of all your fingers in the near future. about the pics, i say post them, if someone is worried about the gross factor they dont have to look at the pics, just post a warning of the pics so as not to freak some one out. again good luck with your progress. Qake care

also take a

[Ralph Sarc]

Wow William!! Just saw the pictures and my thoughts and prayers are with you. I give my saws total respect and never get near the blades. I sometimes buy pre-cut lumber just to stay away from the saw!

Take care.

Ralph.

[William Steinfeldt]

Thank You for the kind words. The recovery is going well, I will loose a lot of feeling in the ends of the fingers and the first joint on the middle and ring fingers. The first finger looks as though it will completely loose the nail. Thank the Lord I do not have any complications so far. This is something I havent shared. Eighteen months ago we lost my brother Gary to a very prolonged battle to a MERSA infection. It started with a knee replacement. By the time he passed, he had been in a coma off and on for six months. He had 12 inches of his spine removed, they amputated his left leg at the knee. I am scared to death of that bug. I have had it twice in the past and was able to kill it off. I am watching this very very very closely. Knock wood, Isn't that a good one. Again Thank You Bill

Ralph Sarc said:

Wow William!! Just saw the pictures and my thoughts and prayers are with you. I give my saws total respect and never get near the blades. I sometimes buy pre-cut lumber just to stay away from the saw!

Take care.

Ralph.

[jason morgan]

I would continue to post pictures and let others know how your progress is coming

and I would like to know how this happened so I can be more careful as I continue

to build.

 

Thanks,

Jason Morgan