Everything was going along so nicely that we wondered what would happen to put a fly in the ointment. Well, last night Dan ripped off a substantial part of the tip of his middle finger (left hand), including the nail, squashing the bone) in the garage door. So much for the hopes I’d entertained of his whistle progress! Geez. We spent the night in the ER, having the thing (which I removed from the garage door with jeweler’s tweezers) sewn back on (there’s a 30-40% chance it’ll take, so a 60-70% chance it won’t because it was so squashed). Eeeew.
I cut off 3 mm or so of the tip/pad of my ring finger about 4 years ago. It was bandaged for probably 2 weeks (a new use for panty liners), but hurt like hell and had a big dent in it for another month or so. It was probably 2 months before I could play much, but it did make a full recovery. Hang in there, it’ll take awhile, but he’ll be playing again.
I didn’t go to a doctor, because my brother had done the EXACT same thing, cut off the end of his finger making salad, a few years earlier. All they did was bandage him up.
The percentages might not look good but I’ve seen some surprising successes and been one myself. One of my best friends, a brilliant keyboard and sax player, nearly list a finger in a guillotine accident a few years back. Sliced clean through and hanging only by a piece of skin. His finger recovered and he plays as well as ever. I came within a hairs breadth of losing all feeling in my left pinkie many years ago. Goodbye over a dozen instruments had that happened. Either that or learn to be Django Reinhardt. As it happened I was playing again as soon as the skin graft had taken.
So sorry to hear about that. Take good care of Dan.
About 10 years ago, I crushed the end of my thumb by, uh, closing a heavy metal door on it. It’s a long and humiliating story and, of course, it is the humiliating part that will keep me from telling it here.
The most striking thing about the experience is that the second I did it, I felt something like an electrical shock in my hand. Then, for about 5 or 10 seconds, I felt no pain whatsoever. In fact, I felt like I had been injected with morphine. Then I felt this wave of pain which made my knees buckle and I ended up on the floor. It was a pretty interesting sequence. I gather my brain was willing to spare me the initial phase of the pain. For which I’m grateful.
Anyway, tell Dan to hang in there. He’s going to need that finger.
I cringe with a sickening feeling in my stomach every time I hear of finger accidents, even for non musicians. I had a half inch of my left thumb taken off by a missfiring punch press machine, playing the recorder is out…But whistles are in!
Only time will tell and a lot of our prayers are offered for your Dan.
By the way I use my left thumb for hitchhiking short trips.
Dang and Rowrbazzle! Keep him comfy w/ lots of love and pain-killer! I crushed a thumb end once stacking fire logs when the stack collapsed. The thumb is still wider than the other, but makes a better support also for the south end of a flute. Dale’s right-he will need that finger.
To wit: A road rager once passed me hastily and flipped me off for having had the audacity to follow the speed limit. -His digit had been lost at the first knuckle, and I was so convulsed with laughter at its symbolic implication that he had a tantrum in his seat, pounded on it, windows and ceiling maniacally, then drove away slump-shouldered & deflated. -Not that Dan would use his so regrettably, but a full finger-set is very nice to have. -Ask any with a half-set.
Oh, poor Dan! Owie! Painkillers! Yes! I managed to slice off the tip of my finger the first night I worked in the Chicago Tribune Composing Room in the eighties. My blade in my Exato knife was new, so it didn’t hurt, but it did bleed like crazy. The scariest thing was these huge security guards in uniform that came swifty into the composing room and carried me away to medical in the Freedom Center printing plant a few miles away! It all happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to breath! What really got to me the next day, is medical called the next day to see if I was OK…ticked me off, I was finally asleep!
My left thing got crushed when a horse bit it! I think I may have hurt the horse more than he hurt me! I punched him, then ran home crying!
Owie! My fingers hurt just thinking about it. cringes Some nasty kids slammed a door on my finger around the knuckle in middle school, I know how much that kind of crap can hurt. My finger was crooked for over a year after that. Dale - I know how the weird 10 second numb thing goes. After the initial squashing, I didn’t feel anything either until I’d walked about halfway down the hall, then I started screaming (I was 11, give me a break). My peers, of course, found the situation absolutely hilarious.
Time for a piper’s grip, methinks. Well, once he’s healed up anyhow.
Ow! That’s a flutist’s nightmare. That’s what pipers’ grip was invented for… and the mouth harmonica. And in extreme cases, the bodhran (God forbid!).
I sliced the tip of my middle finger once, right before i was supposed to play. Fortunately it was just a superficial cut, i just flipped it back on and played like that. Talk about “feeling the music”!
My feelings and prayers go to Dan. Hopefully it will work out.
Tough luck Dan. I will only tell everyone this if no one laughs. I cut the end of my left thumb off with a cheese plane. It didn’t take much but it couldn’t be sewed on. It bled forever and could only be stopped by cauterizing it. I didn’t even want to tell the nurse in the ER how I had done it. It was about 2 years ago and the end of my thumb is still numb. He needs TLC now Jessie.
Tell Dan he can’t get out of it that easy! A Family friend lost half a finger to a metal milling machine and they took his second biggest toe as a graft/replacement. Works like a charm and you can’t even tell the difference. If the tip dies, will it be like the horror movie “The Hand” and chase you around the house? Mini “thing”!(ergo mini me?)
Kidding aside, I hope Dan’s finger “takes”. It will be some time before all the nerve tissue repairs itself though. Tell him to drink LOTS of whiskey to repair the damage and keep us posted.
My thoughts go out to him.
Sara
My fingers hurt just thinking about it. cringes Some nasty kids slammed a door on my finger around the knuckle in middle school, I know how much that kind of crap can hurt. My finger was crooked for over a year after that. 
Dale - I know how the weird 10 second numb thing goes. After the initial squashing, I didn’t feel anything either until I’d walked about halfway down the hall, then I started screaming (I was 11, give me a break). My peers, of course, found the situation absolutely hilarious.