Frostbite Update and More

Two weeks ago (Friday, January 3rd) I suffered a case of frostbite on my left hand. The tip of the middle finger developed huge blisters and, when the fluid got reabsorbed, a lovely rainbow of colors on thick, dead tissue.

After visits to the ER and my primary car physician, I got to see a specialist up in Corning, yesterday. He pronounced it frostbite and confirmed that there's lots of dead tissue particularly on the pad of the middle finger. (Duh!) I may lose the nail. He may have to debraid the dead tissue and possibly snip off the tip of the bone. He would then have to do a skin graft to cover the tip of the finger. There was lots of speculation but little hard decision making. He wants to wait a couple of weeks to see how things develop and if there's any improvement.

He did say there was no need of a bandage anymore. The dead tissue ("mummified finger") provides all the protection I need. And it's all natural! Without the bandage I can bend the finger more and that increases circulation which may increase the chance of some healing.

So, its' a wait and see game. I go back on February 3rd for a further evaluation.

Only one thing is sure: I'm going to need some better mittens.

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So as to ensure that the trip up to Corning wasn't a complete bust, Terry and I also went over to Red Lobster for dinner before stopping at Michael's and Barnes & Noble. Dinner was good, Michael's had some of what Terry was looking for, and B & N is still a fun place to browse even if we only bought a couple of Sudoko puzzle books. (I'm way behind in reading what I've already got at home. Same for Terry.)

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We've swung back into the colder weather. From a couple of days in the 40s we're back to just about freezing. What little snow we got three nights ago, has melted and the rabbits and deer are taking advantage of the lawn. A red fox has been hanging around--probably looking for those rabbits. Never heard one barking before. I thought, maybe, someone had lost a hunting dog until I saw the fox moving back and forth in the woods. We even had a couple of young raccoons come up on the deck a few nights ago to raid the bird feeders. They spooked when I went out of the deck and took off with a little encouragement. 

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Terry is off on another stitching weekend. This one's only a short trip to western PA.

When she gets back, weather permitting, she may be heading to NJ to see what's up with the forensic study of the "oil spill" from the old tank that was in Mom's yard. No idea yet on how serious the "spill" is but it can't be too bad or they would have been jumping up and down and rushing to "mitigate the disaster" if it was. Mom had the tank drained and sand filled under the watchful eye of the town inspector a number of years ago. Can't imagine there was more than a quart of oil coating the innards of the tank when they got done. No oil sheen in the sump pump a short distance away also indicates there was little let loose into the ground water.

The house is sold and we are only awaiting the conclusion of The Great Oil Leak to be cleaned up so the closing can take place. (Since this is in freakin' LINDEN, New Jersey, home of some of the largest oil tank farms on the east coast, I find the concern over a few drops of home heating oil somewhat off putting.) Purchasers wanted to have it prior to January 30th but that now seems like a remote possibility.

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We're still waiting to hear of a closing date for our purchase of the 4 acres adjacent to our property. Should be soon.