Well, it has been better than a month since I posted. My finger tissue did not take and I have had two surgeries in that time, the last one just a week ago. What they did in my case is called a cross-finger flip. It evidently is quite uncommon. My doctor’s assistant who has been with him for 5 years now, said my surgery was the second time she had seen him do it. His nurse who does his surgery scheduling has been with him a year and she had never seen it-until mine.
This is what they did-if you can imagine it. They cut out the skin on top of the middle joint of my middle finger on three sides, leaving the the side closest to the ring finger uncut or some of it uncut. They then slice it down to the tendon and take it out and flip it so the top of the middle finger can now be used for the pad of the ring finger. It is sewn to the finger on 3 sides and left attached at the “twist” for the blood flow. I was in a splint for 15 days with the last three fingers immobilized. Last Friday I went in and they cut the two apart and I now have 5 fingers instead of 4. They are wrapped so I have no idea of what they look like. There was a skin graft taken from my inner forearm to cover my middle finger joint, which I was told would fill in with whatever. This is my understanding of the whole procedure, but I could have it wrong.
I have been finishing up my room, it just needs a few things found a place for and I have a shelf to paint, as well as two boards to strip, which will have to wait until much later. It will never be a showplace-too much stuff and not enough room. But it’s mine.
I have also been doing a little appliqué. I think it is helping with the stiffness in my fingers. I will post a picture when I get it done, which should be soon. It’s an old block not many will recognize, done in red, white and blue, far different from the usual red, green and yellow. And I will also post a few pictures of my room too. Then maybe I will start talking quilts.
Sew Having Fun,
Sarah
