The trouble all happened on September 23rd. I was in the crawlspace installing a pressure regulator in my water supply line. I had a tube of plumbing crap that I tried to open like this:
This was a suboptimal idea. And by suboptimal, I mean very, very bad. The knife slipped and plunged into my hand. My flesh spewed blood while my mouth spewed very naughty words.
And the worst part was that half my finger had no feeling. Had I severed a nerve?
Laying It Bare In Urgent Care
I wanted to put a band-aid on the wound and finish the f***ing plumbing job (clearly another suboptimal idea), but Mrs. 1500 insisted on a trip to urgent care. Judging by the blood that was everywhere, this was the correct course of action. Off we went.
We got to the treatment room and the nurse entered when I decided to have a little fun::
- Nurse: How are you?
- Me *staring longingly into the distance*: It looks like my dreams of being a concert pianist are now over.
The nurse’s face turned instantly dour, so I quickly told her I was kidding. Mrs. 1500 glared.
The nurse cleaned the cut, put some glue stuff in it. After that, she stuck me with a tetanus shot and a $75 bill.
As I write this almost two weeks later, my finger is still partially numb. The nurse told me that the feeling could take weeks to come back, but there is a chance it won’t. At least I’ll have an excuse now for my crappy writing…
Kettlebell Collects Dust
There is never a good time to plunge a razor into your hand. However, if I had to pick a time to do it, this was it. With FinCon at the end of September and a trip to Greece in October, I knew my strength training would take a hit. Now I had an excuse not to do it.
Yippee!
I mean:
This is bad…
However, I couldn’t just let my fitness go. What was I going to do?
I decided to pivot to calories. While lifting weights, I had been eating more. Now that I couldn’t lift, I’d revert to a time-restricted eating diet. This means that I’d eat whatever I wanted, but only between the hours of 10am and 6pm. This worked for me in the past and holy hell, it worked for me now:
At conferences, there is no shortage of junk to eat and drink. FinCon did not disappoint:
- Vanguard was handing out massive, frosting-covered sugar cookies. I may have had two.
- One day, a sponsor took me to a brunch buffet where I ate eggs, piles of hash-browns, some other potato concoction, bacon, french toast, and crepes. Many, many crepes.
- Another day, I went to a burger place. I ate a massive burger and a cup of fries.
- The next day, I went to the burger place again.
On and on. But, for the most part, I only ate in that 8-hour window. And now, I’m under 160 for the first time in a long time.
On most days, I’m hungry in the mornings. But, I push through it and end up eating two meals a day. It works.
Steps
At conferences, you do a lot of walking. However, when you walk 8 miles per day in the course of your normal life, you actually end up walking less at events like FinCon. So, my steps took a bit of a hit.
In 2018, I’ve now walked 5,031,438 steps for an average of 18,230 per day. This is down from my last fitness update when I was on pace to walk 18,305. With Chautauqua coming up, I expect that this number will decrease further before rebounding at the end of the month.
Two weeks from now, I’ll be in Greece, so I won’t be posting a fitness update. Look for another update in four weeks when life is back to normal. Hopefully my finger is back to normal too.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Not bad dude, I didn’t notice the bandage on your finger in Orlando. At least it wasn’t your middle finger, losing function of that would be very troubling 😉
Webster’s dictionary defines a utility knife as this: “A tool used by one hand to maim the other hand”. I feel your pain, my left hand has a couple of utility knife related scars.
Sorry about the piano dreams…it was sad to lose such a great artist before he began.
carl, my left hand (i’m right handed) has been brutalized over the years including the same type of maneuver you pulled off. i still have a little numb spot from one incident around 1991, but the feeling came back in the finger tip, which is nice.
greece sounds like a worthwhile trip for sure.
freddy smidlap recently posted…I’m a Proud FIRE Fringe Player
I applaud your determination in wanting to finish the job before tending to your wound.
Money Beagle recently posted…Will Red Tide Ruin Our April 2019 Vacation?
Sorry about your cut, you should blame it on the dinosaurs! My husband got a bad cut on one of his fingers that resulted in loss of feeling. The doctor told him nerves grow back at 1 inch per month. So it took over two months until he had feeling back in the tip of his finger. Hope yours heals well!
Interesting on the time-restricted eating… I’m not sure I could fit it into my work schedule, but it’s food for thought!
I stuck a fish hook deep into a finger many years ago. The entire finger tip, the last joint of my middle finger went totally numb and stayed that way for well over a year. One day I woke up and found the finger could feel things again. It was crazy that it took the nerve that long to regenerate and lucky that it ever did. With a little luck you’ll get the feeling back and if not, I did not find it created any problems once I got used to it. It totally freaks me out that Freddy Smidlap had the same thing happen, I think he might be my doppelganger.
Why did you mention all those carbs???
Now I really want pancakes for breakfast…
That DIY work can be a little dangerous. I’ve done similar things (or worse) to myself.
When it happened to me, I got a little nerve damage when I injured my finger, and it’s never quite felt the same. I can still feel everything, but it just feels a little ‘numb’.
Hope you get the feeling back in your finger.
Mr. Tako recently posted…Your Money Or Your Migraines
I’m a numbers guy, so I’m more fascinated by the fact that you’ve lost 4 pounds and more than 3 inches on your gut, while gaining a 1/4″ on your biceps. and maintaining your chest measurement That’s impressive! And as someone whose left hand pointer finger is 1/8″ longer than the one on his right hand, I can definitely relate to your pain…..And no doubt, intermittent fasting is the way to go, especially when physical activity is limited. However, it require more discipline than physical activity, so again, kudos!
JRobi recently posted…Nonprofit….
Feeling will probably come back. You weren’t even using a gas-powered blade.
I put my hand in a lawn mower in high school and everything’s returned to normal. I stuck a chainsaw into my leg in March and most of the feeling has come back.
I dislocate, jam, and break fingers all the time as an avid basketball player. Like you, I manage to keep a nightly exercise routine to shape. Betting on losing extra calories in this span went completely over my head. Great exercise tips and added motivation. Thanks!
Tips NBA recently posted…Pelicans to Sink Heat