P90X - A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way Home From The Gym...

P90X – A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way Home From The Gym…

Today was an interesting day, to say the least. First, today was my 30^th P90X day. That’s right, my 1^st phase is done (30 down and 60 to go). My routine today had me doing Core Synergistics. For the most part, I kept up with my video instructor. There were some parts that were beyond my present skill level, but like they say on the DVD, you better try. I tried!

After the program was completed, I rested for a bit before heading to the gym. Yes, you guessed it; I did a 3 mile run.  Now here is where the story gets interesting…

A funny thing happened to me on the way home from the gym. As I parked my truck, I noticed Kerry out front doing some yard work. It looked like she needed a little help so off to the front yard I went, still sweating from my recent run. We have a cactus growing called Beaver Tail. They grow like weeds and so we have been trying to thin them. With saw in hand, after you cut through the branch, a pitch fork is used to pick up the piece and toss it into the garbage can. I was cutting and Kerry was lifting. All was going along as planned, that is until I switched things up a bit. There was one branch that was rather large. Kerry would not be able to lift it so I took the pitch fork and made short work of it. Done!

I saw another branch lying there waiting, teasing, provoking me. With pitch fork in hand I stabbed it hard and gave it a twist. It moved some, before the pitch fork slipped free. I needed to shove the pitch fork deeper into its fleshy side. So I jabbed the pitch fork with all I had, and it was at that moment my day would be changed, for the worse.

Right next to the Beaver Tail cactus stood a rather large Agave cactus. On the end of each leaf of the Agave is one LARGE 3-4 inch needle. As I thrust the pitch fork my hand made contact with the Agave needle. OUCH! I stabbed myself pretty good, right on the ring finger of my right hand.

I immediately went into the bathroom to rinse off the wound with cold water. The blood was starting to trickle, but didn't flow. Next I placed a triple antibiotic ointment on the hole in the side of my finger before placing a band aid over the wound. For some reason the band aide wouldn’t sit properly. As I looked closer, I noticed that the Agave needle actually broke off and was still in my finger, sticking out on the other side. Yupp, I was completely pierced, through and through. I went to the front door, opened it and asked Kerry, who was still working on the cactus, if she could give me a hand. She knew something was up by my demeanor.

Kerry tried using a tweezers on the part that was sticking out but couldn’t budge it. We decided to head over to Urgent Care and let the professionals handle it. On the way she called our primary care physician and they suggested the E.R. instead of Urgent Care. Not all Urgent Care facilities have x-ray equipment. Kerry dropped me off at the Northwest Medical Center E.R. entrance while she went to park. As I stood at the counter explaining my plight, they could tell I was in rough shape. I was still in soaking wet clothes from my run, but now the sweat running down my face was for a different reason…my injury. My color was somewhat ashen as I told the check in staff that I think I needed to sit down. I was immediately escorted back to the nurses station, yes I moved to the front of the line. By the time Kerry arrived I was already heading for a triage room. Now the story gets interesting.

Because of the anxiety I was experiencing, they gave me some Xanax to help me relax. While the E.R. doctor was numbing my hand I was looking at Kerry, with a broad smile upon my face. He latched on to the piece that was sticking out from the exit wound, pulling and twisting, with no luck. He even cut my finger open to give him a little more visibility. No luck. The next plan (plan B) was to do a few x-rays, just to see what was going on. The pictures confirmed that there was a foreign body speared through my finger, from one side to the other. Now it was time for them to find a hand specialist.  Being late on a Friday afternoon, the only available hand specialist they could find was actually a hand surgeon at University Medical Center (UMC), on the other side of town.

Kerry left for home to take care of her mom’s needs while I was loaded up into an ambulance.  She would come to UMC once she confirmed all was well at home. Seriously, an ambulance? It’s a SPLINTER!

This was my first ambulance ride…and it was horrible. Bouncy, cold, uncomfortable and LONG! I was never so glad to arrive at a destination as I was when the ambulance pulled up to the E.R. at UMC. It was now 6pm, 5 hours since the injury. Everybody and their mother stopped by wanting to know what had happened. By now, the Xanax and injections for pain had worn off. The throbbing began.

The moment I injured my hand numbness was immediate. Now, hours later, I no longer had any pain control. The idea of a doctor probing my open wound with needles and other implements made me feel light headed and nervous. With Kerry by my side, the hand surgeon came in (after reviewing the Northwest Medical Center x-rays), took a quick look at the injury site and said that I needed surgery because the cactus needle had penetrated my tendon and was leaning up against a nerve. It had to be carefully removed, cleaned and closed, in an O.R. environment. I was pleased to know that any probing would be done while I was knocked out.

Kerry headed home to put her mom to bed while I was being admitted. They were going to actually admit me and schedule the surgery for 7:30 the next morning. While the E.R. nurse was bringing me something to eat and drink (my last food was at 11:00am) the doctor came running in yelling, “Don’t eat. We have an O.R. room that opened up and we can get in tonight.” Within an hour I was wheeled up to the P.I.U. and prepared for surgery.

I remember the Anesthesiologist speaking with me in the P.I.U. asking me a bunch of questions, one of which was, “Do you feel any anxiety?” I said, “Why, are you going to give me some Versed?” She smiled as she pulled a syringe out of her pocket. I smiled as the bed I was on started to float in a very wonderful sort of way. Everything after that went fuzzy. I do remembering arriving in the O.R. and noticing that the ceiling looked rather dated. That was my last thought. Nighty night!

At midnight I woke up in recovery with my wife sitting by my side and my hand wrapped up like a big puffy Christmas gift.

I loved looking at my wife, sitting next to me, in prayer. Thinking about Jesus helped me get through the ordeal. Here is why; His body was pierced many times. In retrospect, my piercing was no more that an inconvenient Boo Boo.

By 1:30am Kerry and I were home.

How will this affect my P90X schedule? Well, now that Phase One is complete, I may have to take a few days off to allow my hand to heal. The surgeon says I should be back to normal in 2 weeks, unless an infection takes hold (this could add months to the healing process). It’s in God’s hands now.

I will continue to Blog daily, just to keep you updated. Oh, one more thing. As I was waking up in recovery, I asked the nurse if I could go running tomorrow. She laughed as she told me that since I left the O.R. and arrived in Recovery, I asked the same question over 9 times. “When can I start exercising again and will I be able to go running tomorrow?”

Today, it is rest and recovery. I will think about starting Phase Two tomorrow, or maybe the day after that.

       Close up view of an Agave needle, like the one that got me