Accident Update - Phase III ( 26th March to 20th June 2007 )

Phase III : The Groin Flap Surgery

This particular phase (May 5th to June 15th) was, to put it simply, the most difficult phase I’ve had to go through in my entire life, and this includes the period immediately after the accident. The surgery was scheduled in early May, which meant it had been nearly three months since the accident, and the bravado and backs against the wall attitude I had managed to adopt was rapidly beginning to lose steam.

My skin graft was gradually beginning to take hold and the Physiotherapy was also improving the general state of my hand, even though progress could only be discerned after weeks of treatment. With a settled schedule to life, I was beginning to enter into a phase that can only be described as “Comfortably Numb”. The thin skin around my thumb stub though was continually breaking up, and this forced the doctor’s hand. He asked me to get admitted on the 4th of May, and I had to head to hospital for a surgery I wasn’t mentally prepared for.

A summary of the Groin Flap surgery is as follows; the thumb (in my case) is “plugged” into abdominal skin tissue. In other words, the doctors spent almost 6 hours making my thumb a part of the abdominal section of the body. This in effect meant that I wouldn’t be able to move an inch for 5 days or so, and that for an additional 16 days, the hand would remain fixed to my body.

It would be an understatement to mention that, in this state, I was counting the minutes going by. This would change eventually to hours, but it was like living life in slow motion. I cannot mention in words how indebted I am to my parents during this phase, when every simple action I did or had to do needed their active participation. I used to call them three times every night for some reason or the other, and without their patience and support during this phase, I would never have made it through. My memories of this period are beginning to fade, so I’m putting this down in words to remind myself never to forget what they’ve been through.

The toughest night during this Ordeal was the fifth night, when out of sheer desperation due to the heat and humidity, I asked my mother to use some powder on my back. A few seconds later, this powder, and a medicine I was having, combined to give me the worst attack of wheezing I’ve had in my life. Some emergency treatment by the nurse ensured I was able to breathe again after a few minutes, but my body swelled up to some pretty astonishing levels. This would completely leave me only after a week or so. I’ve been petrified of powder since. The coughing during the night also served to worsen the state of the wound round my abdomen.

Day 7 after the surgery saw the doctor coming into the room at 8 AM, and asking me to sit up and take a few steps. Only someone who’s been forced to lie motionless for a week can understand the extent of giddiness and tiredness that assailed me. But the sense of exhilaration at the change in status ensured the worst was behind me. After another five days of Hospital stay and physiotherapy (for walking), the doctor gave me the green signal to come home for a few days.

My time at home was largely uneventful except for the fact that I had to come and return by ambulance, and that my dressings were messy affairs conducted at home. My father had a weakness towards blood – he used to feel faint whenever he saw any. This surgery completely eliminated that particular weakness of his. Nearly five pillows adorned my bed, and I found myself regularly waking up at 6 in the morning, mostly because of a stiff back. After around two weeks after the surgery, I was able to sit up on an elevated seat (Television!) and a few days later, I could sit in front of the computer, an achievement that ensured the remaining days sped by.

The final two procedures of this phase meant I was admitted on the 29th of May and had surgeries on the 30th and the 2nd. My awkward position for the whole of May meant I had an extremely stiff right arm – something which still hasn’t let go completely. The surgery though was a success, and I have a rather weird looking bulbous enclosure over my thumb. This should become a little less weird over a period of three months. I have a huge scar near my abdomen, and this is unlikely to heal any time soon. Sigh, all this for one thirds of a thumb.

To conclude, I’ve begun to return to my older schedule of Physiotherapy and dressing every alternate day. The hand has very minimal dressing and anyone who comes around to meet me gets to see more or less the entire result of five months of treatment. It isn’t pretty but it looks a hell of a lot better than it did on the 1st of February. Also, I’m looking to get back to work at McAfee on the 2nd of July. It’s time to see whether my brain can compensate for the lack of one hand and whether I can contribute something meaningful immediately after a rusting period of five months. The next surgery is not scheduled for the near future, and after 9 visits to the Operating Theatre in a little over four months, I’m not too sorry about that.

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