Happy New Year!

How did you celebrate New Year's?

 

I was making food for our party when I got a call, "Kez, I just smashed the gate guard's finger in the door."

 

"OK," I answer calmly. "It is bleeding?"

 

A pause. "Umm, there's a piece of finger on the floor." 

 

 

New Year's day in Haiti means that none of the local hospitals would be adequately staffed so we had to go all the way to Port-au-Prince. "Couldn't you take care of this yourself, Keziah?" you wonder, but the truth is that while I would care for this in a catastrophe situation like an earthquake, I have no qualms about using a more qualified caregiver when possible.

 

Our truck was already in Port, so we took two taptaps and eventually met the truck and drove the rest of the way, all the while carrying a ziploc bag full of ice and a piece of finger. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.

 

 

Almost 7 hours after the injury, a doctor started sewing the finger tip back on. I argued against it; since when is a severed limb still viable after 7 hours? I wanted a decent amputation but there was no orthopedist on hand, so an attachment was what we got instead.

 

We got home at 10:30pm. The whole endeavor had taken 10 hours, 8 of which were spent in transit. 

 

 

Amazingly, the finger looks relatively good today. There is a dime-sized section on the very top by the nail that looks dead, but the rest seems OK. It may be that the severed part will miraculously revive instead of infecting and falling off as I fear.

 

 

We'll see what it looks like tomorrow, but I am cautiously optimistic. And for those who were sad on my behalf about missing the New Year's party, don't worry. My friends postponed til the next day so that I could be there!