I am finding that I need to learn to retype again. The left middle finger has no feeling in its tip (actually in the entire highlighted area) and my left hand isn’t letting it play in the typing games. That’s causing me to get cramps from the weird contortions that the hand is making to work around the finger.

So this four fingered typing isn’t a viable long term solution. I’m working on getting the hand to “trust” the finger again. It’s tremendously slowing down my WPM. I’m basically having to relearn how to touch type with one finger that doesn’t give a lot of feedback about it’s relative positioning.

It’s really strange to have to struggle at typing after so long. And it’s a lesson about how much we sub-consciously rely on senses, like touch, to orient us in the word. This is such a little injury but its taking me a while to adjust to. I can’t imagine what its like for people who suffer major trauma.

For those interested, there are more healing pictures of the finger after the jump. It’s not gory this time. I promise.

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Last Friday 13 sutures came out of my finger and thankfully everything remained attached — I had been haunted by a cartoon image of the top of my finger flipping open as soon as the stitches came out.The healing has progressed really well; better in fact than my surgeon expected (how’s that for confidence in your patients). Due to the loss of tissue, the finger will most likely have an uneven look, but all and all he thinks everything should be o.k.

What has been a bit strange is the “hard candy shell” (comprised of dead skin) that’s formed over the tip of the finger. I’m told that it will peel off one of these days (the shell, not the finger). For the moment though, I can’t feel anything through it, which leads me to wonder how much of my sense of touch that I’ll have.

Still, I feel really lucky.

Especially since I’m forced to keep my middle finger splinted and held up high. Which is strangely therapeutic:

Oh, and in response to LadyGoat’s comment from a few days ago, I did a hell of a job on the bushes before the accident! Check out this artistry:

Ok, so now onto the nc-17 part of this post, if you dare, you can see pictures of the finger carnage. For everyone’s sake, they’re after the jump…
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