so here is my hand post accident, pre surgery, post surgery

What happened? I see the results but did you slip. Did the band jump? Just moved right when you should have moved left?
I have seen people try to catch 1 ton crates and lose fingers in a second.. It was not viable either.

a reply to: Night Star

A quick search and 18 hours awake is equivalent to serious drink driving here . Add to that the short break ( probably 4 hours down time) and it was probably only 10 hours to get to the same stage .

originally posted by: staple
What happened? I see the results but did you slip. Did the band jump? Just moved right when you should have moved left?
I have seen people try to catch 1 ton crates and lose fingers in a second.. It was not viable either.

Just a perfect storm of things with this as the result. I didnt have proper shims so i cut some. They were not holding my parts in properly and they were walking away. I was constantly having to adjust the part as well as the speed of the downfeed. Constantly having to back off as blade dulled and started to bow while it was cutting. Just a mix of all that plus running 2 other saws and the cnc and the tinsile machine in between. Then the accumulated hours from that day and the day before. It just came crashing down...
in a normal situation i would have had the feed slow and cut through but i had to find a defect that was only going to be on 2 of my sliced parts. 2 out of about 900. You can see all the things i already cut. They had to be perfect 15mm cuts with no stops or speed changes during the cut. If i would have stutter cut on a piece where the defect was and missed it, it would have been a major deal. We could have lost the account and i would have missed the defect thus missing a quality and safety issue.
i cant explain how big of an issue that would have been.
had i been able to finish when i found the defect i would need to get the piur sheet for that ladle to see what elements if any were added. I was going to go after the pour time as well as cool time. I had to make sure it went to shake out on time. Then i polish a sample and run it through spectro to verify whats in the metal. Then i polish with diamond flakes and look at the physical properties under a scope. Have to verify good nodules and hopefully not flakes......then i write the report and the correct changes are made.....lotsa # involved

a reply to: Grovit

Was thinking of trying to go back there to the lab. My boss is retiring next year and he is the one that said i should run the lab..not sure if that would fly after all this. They are going to need someone that knows how to run the gear. Id have a guy working for me. Him being there would free me up to fix quality issues.
If not there is a metal lab not to far away. All they do is tinsile test and charpys. I can handle that

Pretty nasty looking. I feel for you and after 23 major surgeries after being shot with a 12ga. 00 Mag buckshot in the neck and chest and several other broken bones and rebuilt I know the pain and recovery period and afterward. Trust me it gets better in the long term, however I also am a mechanic and know you need those fingers all the time. I wish you the best of luck getting used to doing things with what you got left. I have done lots of things in my life and had to leave law enforcement/intelligence after the fact because of not being able to continue without pain meds. No matter how hard I tried. I had broke my back in a multiple roll over vehicle accident as well. I was offered a sniper position afterward, but I could not take any medication at all. Fortunately I had other credentials that allowed me to switch careers. Sometimes it seems like you never will get back up to where you were, but keep a positive attitude. Whenever I get down, I think of all those so much worse off than me and it corrects my mind state pretty quick.'

I will put a pic below 2 weeks after being shot and 4 surgeries already done. 2 Trauma Surgeries the first day. I was pretty much kept out of it for the first two weeks. I spent 2 years in surgeries and spent 2 Christmas and New Year's days in the local trauma center.



I have a DVD that the doctors gave me after the 2 years a load of photos. They had been taking pics all along. They and the police will not show me the original crime scene photos however. I gave up after awhile. No one thought I was going to live. In this above photo they had done a lot of surgery and they have a large sponge (black) in the hole draining the neck wound. My entire right side has been rebuilt literally from the ankle, tibia, femur, pelvis, and GSW neck and chest.

a reply to: spirit_horse

# man. Thats rough. I think i will be fine really. With getting work at least. Pain is a different issue. Ive got a skill set. Not too worried about that. Im pretty confident that if i cant get into a metal lab i can walk onto a quality position with any number of local plants.
Im sure i could still run the cnc.
When its all over and nothing i do can effect my settlement im gonna go back and talk to the big boss. Once i know the settlement is in my account and cant be withdrawn im going to go talk to them.
Im a worker and they know it. If not its no big. Ive got money to live on for some time

The reason it took a while to get to be seen (but not the pain meds and IV which is good and easy enough to do) is because that injury requires a hand surgeon and there's not that many of them even in a big city; it's a super-specialty more complicated than even orthopedic surgeon.

If you're in a medium to small town, there may be none. With that level of mangling, salvaging it was probably not an option, but they probably frantically called around trying to locate someone who wasn't either asleep if it was nighttime, or in surgery.

It's a long shot this long after the injury and healing process, but you might try very high dose B vitamin multiples (all the Bs, in other words); you want to take a good brand, and with high enough doses so it's saying '%RDA 13,000%) and those kind of numbers for at least some of the Bs. The rest will be balanced out according to how they interact in the body. They will turn your pee fluorescent yellow, that's not a problem, and the only way you'll know it's too much and to back off is if you get yellow diarrhea.

Now for the reason: B vitamins can *sometimes* calm injured nerves down and help them regrow, which might get rid of the phantom pain or just plain the pain. It may be worth a shot; they shouldn't cost more than a few bucks a month. Give it time to see if it works, three months at least.

Source of information - many years working for an orthopedic hand surgeon, typing the dictations. He was one of the best.

a reply to: Grovit
S. FL Doctor Uses New Technology To “Re-Grow” Man’s Finger
Source

I know this has been in research and was done some time ago. It uses cells from the insode of a pig bladder. I always thought about it in case something happened like you had. I have heard it called pixie dust, but it was used and this guy regrew the finger with nail and all. Your genetics have the map, but humans lack a particular type of cell that creatures like lizzards have. There are several sites with information. You may want to look into it. If you can get into a research group, you might be able to get it to grow back. Only thing is you would have to have another clean cut.

ETA: I live in Florida which is how I originally heard about this. If it worked for one person, it should work for all.

a reply to: Grovit
Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. I thought it might have been in the states.
Glad that you were doing your part by wearing the PPE etc, which would have helped your case no doubt.
Sorry you had to go through the psychological trauma of being scrutinized etc, not fair when you are trying to recover. Intimidation, plain and simple.

I agree with Hutch's comment re fatigue management. Most of the transport and mining companies here are still trying to a) make it work, or b) work around it!

Anyways, best of luck, and its times like these that

a reply to: Grovit

I am so sorry for your loss. Hard to hear you have been out of work also. I hope in time this will cease to define you and you will be able to move on. You are not alone, I wish you the best.

a reply to: Grovit

I had to fight them every step of the way. From just about the very start they were sending me to doctors of their choice trying to refute what my doc and the independent docs were saying. They made me get prior authorization for certain meds and just wouldnt cover others.
[/quote

is this how american companies normally operate? i mean is it standard for them to just push workers off a cliff in a time of need?
I live in europe, and recently i had a bad week of Sciatica, a pain that starts in you lower back and at least in my case, ran down my right butt check. could barely sit still and it took me ages to get up and stand straight...and my boss took notice and i was taken to the hospital just for a checkup.
Why would they make it so hard after such a serious injury for you? that's insane.
I wish you a fast recovery!

a reply to: Grovit

I'm really sorry that you had that accident. Even sorrier that you have to fight for your disability and benefits.
Stay tough and don't give up.

I don't know all about the problems and pain you are in but you might try walking if you can. It's helpful for recovery.

If you can take long walks on a regular basis it will help prepare you for the long hours of a new job.
It might help you relax and sleep too.

Good luck.

originally posted by: signalfire
The reason it took a while to get to be seen (but not the pain meds and IV which is good and easy enough to do) is because that injury requires a hand surgeon and there's not that many of them even in a big city; it's a super-specialty more complicated than even orthopedic surgeon.

If you're in a medium to small town, there may be none. With that level of mangling, salvaging it was probably not an option, but they probably frantically called around trying to locate someone who wasn't either asleep if it was nighttime, or in surgery.

i figured thats why it took time to actually get into surgery...i walked in on my own and from what i remember i was in a bed and pumped with meds in minutes.....it just threw me off that my severed finger was still on my lap after an hour...
other than that i dont remember much of it.....i know my wife and my mom got there pretty fast and my wife tells me that i kind of started to freak out...
i know i was mellow to that point but i knew i had to get to the hospital and fast....once i got on the bed and he meds started, it really started to kick in that my hand was mangled.....the pain really kicked in and then the worry started....
my wife said i started bugging out about the surgery and if my job was going to pay for it....if i was going to be able to go back to work and when...
i mean at that point my daughter was 5 month old......there i was in the hospital with a mangled hand.....i was in a lot of pain and i was scared

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse

is this how american companies normally operate? i mean is it standard for them to just push workers off a cliff in a time of need?

Why would they make it so hard after such a serious injury for you? that's insane.
I wish you a fast recovery!

i dont know about any other companies.....in the few years i worked there i had heard of and talked to others about their injuries and it was pretty much the same....
when i first got hurt it seemed like they were going to be cool. a couple days after surgery i went in to talk to them an they gave me a wage extension until comp kicked in...they didnt have to do that so that was awesome.
from there it kind of went down hill....
they swore up and down that my job would be waiting for me...legally i was not allowed to be terminated....about 6 months in they called me and said they had no place for me to return too. apparently they worked around the law because there were a lot of lay offs happening at the company and i was rolled into that...im not sure.....
i have not talked to anyone up there since then....
from there i dont know how much of it was the company or their lawyers but they tried to block everything...numerous hearings and appeals just to get to this point.

a lot of this i actually kinda of pushed aside from my memory....talking about it now is bringing a lot of it back...all the reasons i DONT want to go back to work there.....i doubt they would have me anyway.....i fought them pretty hard....
probably be dumb of me to even try to go back.

a reply to: Grovit

During and right out of highschool I worked in woodshops/cnc doing very similar work, almost lost an eye, and nailed my hand to a board(nail shot through a top board and into a bottom one/into my hand). It was then that I decided I was taking a desk job from that point on. Seeing your pictures and reading your story remind me of the way your brain goes analytical when something traumatic happens. I didn't even feel the nail while it was in my hand, it was numb and as I waved to my foreman he got very excited yelling for me to pull it out before I regained feeling. Sorry for the bad luck.

The most disturbing part about your story is the lack of urgency shown by both your foreman and medical staff. Someone should have went to bat for you and tried to save the finger. Now I'm just getting ticked off thinking about. B@st@rds.

Well at least it was the ring finger, that's the one to lose if you've gotta lose a finger.

originally posted by: QuietSpeech
a reply to: Grovit


The most disturbing part about your story is the lack of urgency shown by both your foreman and medical staff. Someone should have went to bat for you and tried to save the finger. Now I'm just getting ticked off thinking about. B@st@rds.

i couldnt believe when he told me to come fill out an accident report. i was standing there bleeding holding my finger in my hand...
maybe the medical staff had their reasons but they didnt even try to save my finger.....i would think only the surgeon could make the call as to if it was viable.....
i mean i was on a hospital bed with my wife and mother in the room with me and my severed finger was just sitting on my lap...for like an hour....
then when they did take it they put it right into the ice....i always thought tissue was supposed to go in plastic and then the ice....i dont know....

i tried to keep it though....after they took it and put it in the ice i asked for a bottle for it....they gave me one of the urine sample bottles with saline and i put it in there.....i told my wife to put it in her purse but someone else came in and said they had to take it cause it was medical waste.
i was in too much pain to argue....

dont get me wrong, when it happened it was extreme pain....i had enough sense about me to go to the foreman and call my wife while i was on the way to the hospital....once i got in there and sat down though the pain really started to kick in.....

the first week or so after surgery was the worst.....i cant even describe how much pain....

the other issue along with pain that i have been dealing with is the dependence on the pain meds....
of course i have to take meds for pain but last week when we signed the papers my comp stopped. that means no more meds...at least not what i was on...

so, after almost 2 years of opiates and other things i had to come off just like that...no titrating down...
i guess i could have got 1 more script but it was almost $300 for one...so, i took the few pills i had left and cut them up and tried to titrate down that way...
along with the increased pain, i went through dt's for a couple days...

that was a completely different animal....

i substituted the pain meds with kratom....it helped a bit.

so now i have been through the dt's and i get to start the opiates again....i get them filled in a couple days.....its not as strong as what ii was on but its still $84 for 1 months worth...

its been a rocky, terrible ride this past 18 months or so.....

i will be on some form of pain medication forever im sure......at least i will have something to show for my lost finger....
the settlement that came through is pretty decent.....its going to allow me to do a lot of things that i have been needing to do as well as a few things i have always wanted to do....

the up side to all of this is i got to see my baby girl do a lot of things for the 1st time....when i got hurt she was 5 months old...if i would have been there still i would have missed everything working 50-70 hour weeks...

so in the end, although i would not have voluntarily traded my finger for the money/time off, it gave me a lot of time with my family.....
better than nothing.....

it was a battle though....

the employer was real cool about it the 1st month or so but once my doc started ordering tests, like triple phase bone scans and such, they tried to block all of it.....

i also know that i would not have received the care i did had i not hired a lawyer.....
there are so many rules and regulations reguarding everything from the checks to the medicine.....i would never have been able to advocate for myself properly....

in the states, at least in my state there are all sorts of things that you are entitled to i you have an open case but its next to impossible to find out what they are....
i tried to educate myself about it by reading online but it was no substitute for a lawyer...

he requested things(and i got them) that i had no idea was even available.....

originally posted by: Grovit

originally posted by: signalfire
The reason it took a while to get to be seen (but not the pain meds and IV which is good and easy enough to do) is because that injury requires a hand surgeon and there's not that many of them even in a big city; it's a super-specialty more complicated than even orthopedic surgeon.

If you're in a medium to small town, there may be none. With that level of mangling, salvaging it was probably not an option, but they probably frantically called around trying to locate someone who wasn't either asleep if it was nighttime, or in surgery.

i figured thats why it took time to actually get into surgery...i walked in on my own and from what i remember i was in a bed and pumped with meds in minutes.....it just threw me off that my severed finger was still on my lap after an hour...
other than that i dont remember much of it.....i know my wife and my mom got there pretty fast and my wife tells me that i kind of started to freak out...
i know i was mellow to that point but i knew i had to get to the hospital and fast....once i got on the bed and he meds started, it really started to kick in that my hand was mangled.....the pain really kicked in and then the worry started....

That odd calmness right after a major injury is an adrenaline rush (immediate) followed by an endorphin flood as a counter-action. It allows injured people the time to think clearly to cope with an extreme and lifethreatening situation. The true pain comes later when the endorphins run low. Oddly, my reaction to endorphins has always been to crack jokes; I get high on them and find everything hilarious. Odd when you're lying on the xray table with a broken leg.

It's too bad the finger wasn't immediately put on ice; I'm not sure if it was salvageable anyways (hard to tell from the pics how much damage to tendons and nerves); some surgeons would try but most would not, it's hours of meticulous surgery while simply cleaning up a traumatic amputation is Surgery 101, but for possibly little benefit; the finger would have been there, but not moving well, and the pain levels wouldn't necessarily have been less; if you haven't yet you should talk to a Pain Specialist; there's no reason you couldn't get nerve blocks every so often to kill off the nerves that are firing back pain messages to your brain. ***More info about pain killing options that may be mod-deleted sent in a PM.*** Since you're new here, to get a PM, go to the top right-ish of the screen, click on the Down Arrow and from there to Messages on the left;

a reply to: signalfire

im in pain management now....
i was just about to go to a consult about a spinal cord stimulator...since i signed papers that is not going to happen now...
my doc said ganglia nerve blocks wont help....

my options are/were the spinal cord stimulator and pain meds......
apparently that is the joy of having crps....

of course off an on i have been using other means of pain relief....not just kratom.
you know what i mean




btw, not new.....just changed my name a couple days ago.....see my sig

Keep in mind that you can't go on disability if you are working. I would hold off looking for a job. Once you are on disability, you can then work so many hours a week plus collect your disability, if you still choose to work. My husband was like you and worked tons of hours and sometimes 7 days a week for many years. It's great while you are bringing the money in, but you can lose it all in a heartbeat. Companies, even well established ones that have been here for years end up closing or relocating. Unexpected health problems even with medical coverage, if there is a high deductible or percentage you have to pay out of pocket can leave you thousands of dollars in debt. He has nothing to show for all the years of hard work and all those hours he spent his life working. Just saying...think long and hard before making decisions.