Dan Update

It’s been a tough couple of weeks since Dan’s accident. Nearly sawing off a finger is pretty traumatic, but even so, we thought healing was progressing fairly well. At the ER we’d been told there was a dislocation, a little bone loss, and extensive tissue damage. Dan had hoped they could fix it then and there, but the ER doctor said they were too busy for the time it would take. So he talked to a hand specialist and set up an appointment at another hospital. When the specialist didn’t keep the appointment, nor call to let us know he wouldn’t be there, we figured maybe it wasn’t as bad as we thought. The ER report described it just as I did above and indicated that a follow-up should take place within a week of the injury.

We’d been flushing it with betadine, applying an herbal salve, and changing dressings twice a day. The worst wound is still weeping and both fingers are very sensitive and painful to touch. Improvement is slow, and Dan had an inner concern that something wasn’t right. We made an appointment with my daughter’s GP, because she really liked him plus he doesn’t accept insurance. That means his fees are much lower than most physicians. (Nor did they become instantly unfriendly when they learned we have no insurance. We’ve been getting quite a bit of that lately.)

Dr. K took another x-ray and showed it to us. Dan had had x-rays taken at both ERs, but no one had shown them to us or even talked about them with us to explain what they indicated. Based on what we’d been told, we had assumed the bone loss was at the tip of the finger. Dr. K’s x-ray showed that the loss was actually in the knuckle itself. That’s where the saw hit, which explained the dislocation, but also where the most bone had been lost – below the first knuckle.

The ends of the bones that form that joint have been destroyed. They should be flat on the ends, but the lower bone had been chiseled almost to a point. In other words, there is no knuckle. Dr. K sent us to his own hand surgeon to discuss options.

Surgery? That would entail a fusion, but with the end of the bones gone, there is nothing to fuse to. Letting it heal as is, is an option. The end of the finger is still very much alive and Dan has feeling and blood flow to the tip. Without a functioning joint, however, there would be limitations. The last option is amputating the end of the finger where the joint used to be. Since losing the finger was Dan’s primary concern in the first place, this option is something of a blow. Fortunately no decision had to be made on the spot, so we opted take some time to consider what to do. Dan has a follow-up appointment in three weeks.

The first of the ER bills has arrived – $3554.42. This is from our local hospital and I have to say it is significantly more than the “average” emergency room costs I’ve researched. The hospital will discount $1000 because we are self-pay. The second bill is yet to arrive.

At the encouragement of several of you, I have set up a “GoFundMe” account for Dan to help with these costs.

I know most of you are probably in the same financial boat as we are, but two things would be a great help.

1. Your continued prayers. It is your prayers that are keeping us from being overwhelmed with discouragement. 
2. To share Dan’s link (https://www.gofundme.com/DanielTate) or a link to this post on social media. The GoFundMe folks say this is the best way to meet goals. Since I’m not a social media person, this would be a tremendous help. I will say that we’ve contributed to similar campaigns in the past, because we always think, “what if it was us.” Well, now it is us and it’s hard to ask for help!

 
The goal is estimated and I’m hoping it works out that we will need a less. I pray it isn’t more! I’ll update it after we hear from the other hospital and find out how much both hospitals are willing to lower their bills.