On the morning of New Year's eve, while trying to pit a stubbornly unripe avocado, I accidentally stabbed myself in the palm of my left hand with the business end of a kitchen knife. It hurt like hell, and I ran to the Urgent Care clinic at my regular hospital, where the doctor took one look at it and advised me to get to an actual E.R., stat.
At the second hospital, the doctor numbed the wound, looked around inside, and concluded that I hadn't cut any tendons, and he also didn't think I'd cut a nerve, but due to the fact that I'm a musician, he figured it would be a good idea to refer me to a hand specialist just in case.
That doctor then gave me three stitches, wrapped my hand in a splint so that I wouldn't be able to move my fingers for the intervening eight days, and sent me on my not-so-merry way.
Fast-forward to this morning, when I got to see that hand-specialist. He confirmed that there are two nerves that I likely severed in my hand, one of which sends signals to the skin between my index and middle fingers, and one of which is responsible for the whole index finger.
I'm going to need surgery, which is going to take place sometime in the next few weeks. After the surgery, it'll take about six months for the nerve paths to rebuild, and up to another two years before I'm back to the level of sensation I had before the accident. He took off the splint and took out the stitches. I can move my fingers, kinda, but most of the things that have been difficult for me in the last week remain difficult for now.
I'm not sure what this means for my music. I'm pretty sure that stringed instruments are out of the question for the time being, but I'm going to make frequent attempts at playing the piano for the duration of my recovery. I'll be sure to keep you guys up to date on my progress.
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