Hello all. Well it has finally happened. The machine has gotten the better of me. Not for long to be sure, but for now, It has beaten me. What machine could do this? The mighty table saw. It is cliche and fills the world of sitcoms about guys cutting their thumbs on a table saw. But I did it. And it wasn’t funny. Or pretty.
The spinning blade of a table saw cutting wood at an angle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This happened way back in October the 21st while I was cutting some pine to make magic wands for party favors for our Halloween party. One second of inattention, $1700 ER bill and now a thumb that is still not right. Yes it is finally healed over, but much is still numb or funky right over the scar.
I know, I know you are all laughing right now, and some are saying, “You should use a push stick dummy.” Well, I was using a push stick. Only problem, for some dumb reason, I reached over the top of the blade to catch a falling piece. I don’t usually reach for anything like that. I usually let them fall. But I didn’t.
Now, I sit here almost 4 months later, still trimming dead skin from the scar and wondering when this thing will finally be healed. It still hurts sometimes, the cold is not good on it. parts are still numb, and may always be.
So, what did I learn from all of this and why should you care about it? You can’t be too careful. When things get comfortable and routine you get careless. I got careless.
Well now here is an update. For some reason this has been a hard post to finish and hit the publish button on. It has now been 7 months. The thumb is healed pretty well. The scar tissue is there but not annoying. my fingernail has grown out and is finally normal. It got a little funky for a couple of months. Parts of my thumb are still a little numb, but I don’t notice it most of the time.
