Where is Thumbkin?

(prelude: This is kind of a long post. I can't really break it up, because it all goes together. But you have been warned. So don't look all:

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when you get to the middle)

It all started with band practice.

See, I'm on one of the praise teams at my church. It's me and a couple I will call Matt and Darlene. Since it's just the three of us and they have a daughter (Kara) I usually go over to their house for practice. We had a great practice on Wednesday night and I left feeling quite happy.

Until I got about halfway down the road away from their house. My car started making a horrendous noise. I stopped, got out and my fears were confirmed: I had a flat tire. Flat as flat.

Clean Funny Picture - Santa Got A Flat Tire
Bwa hahaha!

Fortunately I was really close to their house still and they live in a really quiet subdivision. So I turned on the flashers and headed up the sidewalk back to their house.

Enter important facts:

1. There are virtually no street lights in their subdivision.
2. Everything is extremely hilly and their house is at the top of the hilliest part of the subdivision.
3. The sidewalks are not properly put in on the hills.

I got about halfway up the hill when I hit a patch of sidewalk where the concrete slab had settled creating a steplike affect. Which I couldn't see.

FACEPLANT (except without the actual planting of my face. I think my face was the only thing that didn't hit.)

I went down, crashing onto my knees and then falling forward slamming both hands into the concrete.

Ouch.

As I stumbled up the last bit to their house, cradling my bleeding thumb and trying not to cry, I realized how ridiculous I was going to look. Kind of like a scene from some thriller movie or something. These are the things my brain does to keep me sane.

I will haunt your dreams tonight...

Kara opened the door and her eyes got really wide as she took me in. Matt quickly offered to put on my spare and Kara went with him to hold the flashlight. Darlene helped me clean and bandage my right thumb (which the sidewalk had taken a chunk out of) and my left palm that kind of looked like it had hit a cheese grater. Lovely images I know. Then she announced that she was going to give me ice cream because ice cream makes everything better!

See? Even looking at this makes you feel better, doesn't it!?

The tire was replaced without incident, I made it home safely, and my wonderful father spent most of Thursday morning getting my car new tires, a rear end alignment, and an oil change.

My thumb continued to throb.

Do you know how important your thumbs are?! Try doing pretty much anything without one.

Things that are hard to do without a thumb:

1. Write. I'm right handed and this is my right thumb!
2. Get dressed.
3. Put on deodorant (surprisingly more difficult than you would think)
4. Eat.
5. Read. (yes. Turning the pages, holding it open - thumbs are important)
6. Type. I always hit the space bar with my right thumb. My brain is really confused.
7. Start the car.
8. Open a bottle of juice.
9. Pick things up.

See! Thumbs ARE important!
I can't believe this was the first thing on the page when I went looking for something on the LOLcats site!
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When I took off the bandage I realized that it was more than just a gouge. The whole thing was swollen and purple and I immediately freaked out that it was broken.

So Friday morning Dad drove me to the doctors. They exclaimed over the thumb. They took x-rays. They determined that it probably wasn't broken. Only dislocated.

I have a picture of the x-ray, but didn't want to just post it here in case anyone is squeamish. so click on this LINK to see how ridiculously out of place my thumb was.

After a long wait during which we watched the news about the earthquakes and tsunami (you would have thought that would have helped put my pain in perspective. I was horrified and saddened, but by George, my thumb still HURT!), and the last five minutes of Finding Nemo. Then they told us they were waiting for another doctor who would be comfortable popping my thumb back into place. He was late because he was attending a funeral (I feel like such a whiner because even this failed to make my pain less. Callous woman that I am. I just wanted to feel better).

You know, when this feels like the worst thing in the world.
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So Dad took me out to lunch. And then ran some other errands. And then went back.

The doctor had arrived. He looked at my thumb, grabbed hold of it and POP! um... ow! Shifted it back into place. They took more x-rays. It's better, but still not completely right. They're also concerned about tendon and ligament damage. So I get to have an MRI on Wednesday! I have never had an MRI before. I am trying not to freak out.

So I still can't use my thumb but it feels a lot better than it did on Thursday and Friday morning.

People keep asking me, oh what did you do to your thumb? And then they don't understand how I could dislocate it by falling down.

I'm just talented that way :)