Just got off the phone with mom and dad, and he seems in good spirits. Since the thumb went through the wood chipper, there was nothing to reattach, so he just had plastic surgery to fix the rest of the thumb. They couldn’t save the knuckle (and I guess what use would a knuckle be with no thumb on the other side), so he now has a nub. They have him pretty medicated, so I doubt he will be in pain for a couple of days.
The good news is that his heart has to be ok and completely recovered from his mild heart attack in January, because if anything would give me a heart attack it would be losing my thumb in a wood chipper. I just refuse to have power tools like that or circular saws or chainsaws within 100 yards of me, for obvious reasons.
Thanks for all the nice thoughts in the previous thread.
gogol's wife
Thank God. I hope his pain is minimal.
Antonius
Holy cow! Take one day off from the site and see what happens! Very sorry to hear the news John. My best to your Dad and the family.
ABL
Give your dad a hug for me.
daveNYC
Glad he’s OK. For a given value of OK, I guess.
Did he inquire about the possibility of having a hook attached in place of the thumb? Not sure what you’d do with it, but come on, it’d be a freaking hook.
Peregrinus
I’m glad to hear he’s doing all right, but my thoughts are with y’all. Hope he recovers quickly.
Elizabelle
Excellent blogpost title.
Glad your dad is on the mend.
Think how well Jerry Garcia did without all ten tips.
Hope your dad is not addicted to texting.
daize
Thanks for the update, John. Keeping you, your Dad and your whole family in my thoughts.
David in NY
His dominant hand? Hope not, but fear that would be the one a person would most likely stick in the chipper.
Anyway, hope he heals soon and learns to use the hand nearly as well as ever.
trollhattan
JC, thanks for the update. Sorry it wasn’t a better outcome but glad your dad got good help, quickly. Powertools are a love/hate thing; luckily I have more stories than first-hand [no pun intended] misadventures. That said, I’ve mangled, stabbed, cut, scraped, smashed and shredded myself plenty with simple hand tools. Did you know your skin gets thinner with age? I do, now.
JWL
The other good news is that next time he finds himself in a knock down, drag out fight, he can jam that nub into an eyeball a lot easier than he could with his other, full-formed thumb.
arguingwithsignposts
Glad your dad is doing well, JC. You and your family are in my thoughts.
trollhattan
@JWL:
“Deadwwod” reference?
Carnacki
There goes his who has two thumbs and a blogging son routine
WereBear
I’m glad he’s in good spirits. Still very upsetting, but I guess this is about as happy an ending as we’ll get.
R-Jud
He can tell people that Gollum bit it off, along with the Ring of Power.
Punchy
My wife has nubs. Theyre attached to her chest, but nubs nonetheless. Good company your ole man is in.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Don’t let your father watch The Pope of Greenwich Village any time soon.
Bobby Thomson
Damn. I hope his nub is enough to give him an opposable thumb and that the phantom pain eventually eases.
Thoughtcrime
Hoping a speedy recover for you dad, John.
And tell him not to despair about the hitching – he can still do the next best thing: pick up strangers on the road:
trbimg.com/img-4fbaa1ba/turbine/bal-married-couple-picks-up-hitchhiking-john-w-001/600
SiubhanDuinne
Awesome title, John! That’s very funny.
I’m glad Papa Cole is in good spirits, and so very glad it wasn’t much, much worse.
Now be nice to your mom for a while.
:: waves :: Hi, Mrs. Cole!!
gnomedad
Wonder if he could get a prosthetic like Oscar the Cat? It would extend his reach if not his articulation.
“Hey, kid! Watch, I’ll unscrew my thumb!”
LT
Fucking hell. Missed that other post. Good to hear he’s doing well, John.
raven
The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture
Good read, the author talks, among many other things, about artists who lose the use of their dominant hand and learn to use the other one.
tulip
John, I missed the post down below so I’ll just say I’m happy that your dad seems to have come through okay. I hope you’re okay too. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Big hug to you and yours from a DFH out in Cali. :)
gbear
He’ll never be able to host a movie review program either.
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: Or Fargo.
Angela
Inspired blogpost title. Glad your dad came through surgery and hurrah for pain meds. My high school algebra teacher had a thumb nub from a blasting cap accident. He used to use it to rap on the black board when he thought we weren’t paying attention. I trust your dad will come up something equally as useful. Please give him another BJ mostly lurkers wishes for a painfree recovery.
Comrade Mary
I’ve been away all day and am scrolling to catch up. Your dad is kickass, John. I’m glad to hear he’s doing well after all that. Hope he gets the reeeeeally good meds, too. He’s earned them.
General Stuck
You can still hitchhike with one thumb. But only in one direction.
22over7
Glad to hear your dad’s on the mend. It’ll take a while, though, and he’ll have to go through some occupational therapy (either formally or with self-training). My brother, who currently holds the prize for clumsiest member of the family (and that’s saying something) for running his thumb through the circular saw, had to learn how to do all sorts of things differently. You just don’t realize all the things you do with your thumbs.
The worst was buttons, especially collar buttons. He had to get a button-puller from an old folks catalog. Says it works like a charm.
TaMara (BHF)
I’m glad he’s doing ok. Really sorry about the thumb. What no big toe transplant? That could lead to all kinds of hilarity around here, I’m sure.
dp
Glad it wasn’t worse.
And Another Thing...
Sometimes life is freaking scary & dangerous. Be extra good to your mom.. This is really hard on her.
Oh, & John, you rock.
Fnarf
My grandpa lived a very happy and productive twenty years after lopping off the tops of two fingers on his hand. Of course, he wasn’t much of a typist before then, either. Your dad’ll be fine. Annoyed at times (“hold this *%$# screwdriver, will ya?”), but fine.
PurpleGirl
Like everyone else, I’m glad to hear the surgery went well and that the healing has started. Give your mother an extra hug, to keep up her spirits. I’ll keep the Cole family in my thoughts. (You should have a drink or two tonight and hug all the pets.)
aimai
Your whole family seems to be made of iron–maybe not the extremties but the basic components. I figure it would take a Rasputin level attack to put any one of the Cole’s down for the count though, of course, one of the dogs does it fairly regularly. All my hugest hugs to your mom and dad. That must have been just a horrible day. But I know he will bounce back.
aimai
Mnemosyne
As people were saying in the other thread, there’s quite a lot they can do now to help his hand be as functional as possible, but, still, not the kind of news you want to get when your phone has been off all day.
trollhattan
@General Stuck:
An ironic recovery book would be “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.”
donnah
My uncle lost one of his thumbs in a coal crusher many years ago when he worked in the mine in West Virginia. When he came home from the clinic and explained to his little girl that Daddy lost a thumb, she patted his leg and said, “That’s okay, Daddy, Santa will bring you a new fumb”.
So tell your dad to ask Santa for a new fumb.
Get well soon, Papa Cole!
FlipYrWhig
Son of a bitch. Godspeed to Cole The Elder.
Betsy
Jeepers. Best wishes to your dad for his recovery — and to you and the rest of your family, for your peace of mind as you look after and worry over him. That’s a tough guy, your dad.
Reklam
“What has one and a half thumbs and mega-strong heart?….
This guy right here!”
Says my imaginary conception of Père de JC.
max
Since the thumb went through the wood chipper, there was nothing to reattach, so he just had plastic surgery to fix the rest of the thumb.
Yeah. That’s what I was thinkin’ – OW. My exciting destroyed thumb funtime wasn’t that bad (I still have the digit). Hope it heals quick, it’s a real bitch.
gbear: He’ll never be able to host a movie review program either.
Sure he will. It’s a ‘thumb and a nub up’. No Sweat.
max
[‘And if he needs to hitchhike, he can just wear a miniskirt, because who wouldn’t stop for an old guy in a miniskirt?’]
Tony J
Lose a thumb, gain an anecdote. Always a fair trade.
After all, you never – did – specify who or what he was stuffing into the woodchipper when the struggle occured, did you?
Garbo
My dad’s 90 and is gradually being replaced with bionic parts…hearing aid, knee replacement. Not sure I agree with the hook suggestion up thread. How about a real thumb drive?
Seriously, glad he’s okay and best wishes for a quick and painless recovery.
taylormattd
@gbear: LMAO.
Bob h
As someone who got his hand caught in a snowblower, a wood chipper doesn’t seem that big a deal. In time, he won’t even miss what is gone.
Betsy
PS Looking at all the responses on here, and wagging my head at how many of us can well expect to be differently abled at some point in our lives. (My own dad only has the full use of one hand after a cancer-ectomy mangled the nerves in his arm.)
Here’s to the ADA, and other things that help us carry on. Here’s to your dad’s welfare and recovery, and his carrying on.
JPL
Not sure if it’s been mentioned but the mulch now has a little something extra.
I’m glad he’s doing okay.
Sad_Dem
I’m glad to hear your father is doing OK. I wish him the best in his recovery.
Gravenstone
Glad to hear he’s doing as well as circumstances allow. Hopefully he heals quickly and with a minimum of pain.
trollhattan
@Tony J:
Am guessing there will be a followup story. Am wondering whether dad’s response was the same “Oh my God” that wet Jack Russell terriers on the furniture, get?
Bizono
Really good to hear this news about your dad. My neighbor did something similar almost 20 years ago, and he recovered quite well.
Also, this is probably the finest blog post title you’ve written here, John.
joes527
First – glad he is OK.
Now – maybe your dad’s chipper is different than mine, but I have a hard time picturing how a thumb (and only a thumb) could end up in trouble. You would have to reach way the heck into my chipper to get chipped. The angle involved in chipping a thumb w/o taking at least part of the index, bird, and ring finger seem unlikely.
Ask your mom — Did he hand someone his beer and say “Hey! watch this!” just before it happened?
wrb
Tom Toles has written a concession speech for Romney:
“My fellow, Americans, it has been a hard-fought campaign, but the people have spoken, and we shall go forward together as one nation under our re-elected president. I guess some of the things I said about him aren’t really true, like how ALL his policies were wrong, including the ones I agreed with. And yes I eagerly climbed atop a party that has tried for four years to de-legitimize a sitting president with a collection of tactics and fabrications and I was only to happy to ride it. Suffice it to say that my position now has changed, again, to ‘never mind’. Let’s support the president, NOW. Yes I helped to widen the terrible political chasm that has opened in this country. Damage done. But I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because that would be an apology tour.”
Genine
I’m sorry to hear about the thumb but I’m glad your dad made it through okay. Sending good thoughts for his recovery and to the whole family.
El Cid
Reall sorry for your dad going through this, I too am paranoid about such power tools, but I’m glad he’s doing as well as could be expected in such awful circumstances.
Violet
Glad your dad is okay, even if his thumb isn’t. Good news about his heart. Give him a hug and your mom too.
tBone
Glad your dad is doing well. That is some scary shit.
Probably the smartest thing you’ve ever said. But I’d “mops” to the list, just to be on the safe side.
Josie
I’m glad to hear he is mending and in good spirits. I feel for your Mom, between your mishaps and his. Having raised three boys, one of whom was a total kamikaze, I can relate to what she has experienced. Give them both a hug.
passerby
Ohh, what a nasty accident. Glad to hear things are stable.
I live next door to my 86 y.o. dad and how I hate worrying about his well being. He gets around fine (drives to 7am Mass everyday) but I can’t help but be haunted by the various declines that old age brings.
Hopefully, your dad will be cheered by the Ravens recent face plant and Big Ben’s ability to hang in there. A good season for your team is a nice distraction.
Oh, and John, don’t forget to just breathe.
OzarkHillbilly
WTF, John? As one who has nearly amputated several limbs, (exaggeration)Tell him “Morphine…”
It does not make the pain go away, but the world has this strange warm golden glow that makes even the pain…. Beautiful. You are in pain… but it is a beautiful pain…
If I was ever to get addicted to a drug, I would pick morphine… Or heroine, which I hear is even better.
Oscarbob
Glad everything is (relatively) well. Like you, I am severely allergic to power tools of all kinds, and just graduated to a battery powered screw driver.
'Niques
Glad to hear he’s doing well, and that you haven’t lost your sense of humor. And SELL the wood chipper, now that it’s had a taste of blood!
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
I used to work with a guy who had lost half of his right hand in a trash compactor. Eddie was his name. Eddie insisted that we move a 7′ tall commercial freezer through a short doorway alone. I suggested ropes, horses and lifting tackle. Eddie won. I spent 6 months recovering from a torn rotator cuff, which is a real bastard.
So loss of digits isn’t a complete deal killer, but it ought to make the people around him cautious.
Meg
Your dad is really tough. I never have a heart attack before. But I know if this had happened to me, I would have had fainted and died on the spot because I am such a wimp.
The Bearded Blogger
Sorry about your dad losing his thumb. I hope his recovery goes well.
Birthmarker
My FIL is 88 and the toughest sumbitch God ever made. Your Mom is the
second toughest. Love to them all.
scav
i somehow think this only somehow adds to the legend, although entirely being scarey for a solid bit and a bore once in a while. But these are exactly the sorts of stories I most heard my Dad, great-uncle Partner and cohorts recite down at the community center. Dead easy to have an entire evening of topping each other’s When I fell off a roof stories. I also remember remnents of dynomite stories and one involving a very large Navy fan (I mean near hanger sized). Good Compny rules exchused only a limited amount of exageration before the You tell such whoppers from first grade sub-routine kicked in.
The Bobs
I had a serious hand injury a number of years ago. A lot of pain, as you might imagine. I used this herbal product for the pain and it was incredibly effective. Miraculous even. It was like the injury was gone.
shep
At least now you know it wasn’t the Milkman.
Well-wishes.
ErinSiobhan
He’s going to be so frustrated by the loss of that thumb when the pain subsides. Glad to here that his heart held up through the trauma. Hope the recovery is quick and the pain is minimal.
The Other Bob
My thumb hurts for him.
CZHA
I’m grateful for pain relievers and antibiotics. Here’s to your father’s speedy and uneventful recovery.
maryQ
Hey John,
Good thoughts to your family and you.
Phoenix_rising
Oh, dear. That apple didn’t fall far from the tree, did it? Aren’t you the blogger who crippled himself with a cleaning implement?
So here’s what I learned about pain: It is. Oxy can dull pain, for most people; morphine makes you not care about the pain, and thank the FSM I never been hurt bad enough to be able to report on Fentanyl. But I’d say he’s earned anything his cardiologist permits.
And so has your mom. The closest I have come yet to being served with divorce papers was the end of the 4th week of having 14 stitches (squeamish people log off here) in my eyeball. The only reason she didn’t leave me was that I literally couldn’t feed myself. Bring Mom Cole lots of very special drinks so she doesn’t have to drive home.
Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.)
Damn, I hope it was the thumb from his off hand. If I had to choose between losing my left thumb or my right one, I wouldn’t give any thought at all, I’d just pony up my unappreciated left thumb to the woodchipper. On the whole, though, I’d rather not lose either thumb. As Rigby says, “I really enjoy my thumbs!“
J.
If he had only hired a bunch of Mexicans, like Romney, this would have never happened.
Woodrowfan
glad he’s going to be OK. You can just tell people Tunch did it…
HRA
Good news, John. Glad to read your Dad and Mom are in good spirits. It counts a lot towards healing.
Origuy
A friend of mine got the end of her thumb bitten off by a dog a few years ago. Since she was in rural Russia, there was no way of reattaching it. She had to get rabies shots, too, of course. Fortunately for her, the dog didn’t get the knuckle. She had horror stories about bribing the doctors for pain meds (she is Russian-American.)
Best wishes to your father.
RedKitten
Aw, I’m so sorry they weren’t able to do much with the thumb. All things considered, though, it could have been a HELL of a lot worse. I hope he has a speedy and uncomplicated recovery with minimal pain.
And do something nice for your mother. Between your dad and you, the poor woman deserves some relaxation. Send her to a spa or something.
Rosie Outlook
I had to change names because I noticed another Linda. I am the Linda who was dissing the Klingons the other day.
I am very glad to hear that Mr. Cole is recovering.
Yutsano
@Phoenix_rising: The NYD had that from shrapnel in his eyeball. He says he was so doped up he didn’t feel a thing. I yelled at him for two weeks to keep him from doing anything stupid. Needless to say that wasn’t effecctive.
WaterGirl
Man, you Coles are made of some tough stuff. Big hugs to your mom, she can probably use them!
The Fat Kate Middleton
Exact same thing happened to my brother-in-law three months ago. Exact. He’s fine today. So glad Dad is doing well. And yes, it’s going to be hard on Mom for a long time. I speak from experience – the experience of my husband hitting himself on the top of his head with an axe while cutting wood (forgot there was a clothesline behind him, and the ax caught in it – and on his head).
Crusty Dem
Amazed reading comments that anyone here has enough digits to type..
My great uncle taught me to play pool as a kid, he owned a scoreboard company and was missing parts of 2-3 fingers, including half his right thumb. That nub gave him the best natural bridge and he was a total shark. He’d also play the missing finger trick with little kids (it’s here – left hand – its gone – right hand – now its back – left hand – Magic!). Great guy.
Crusty Dem
Oh, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
cbear
Aw shit, John, just read the posts—really sorry to hear about your Pops. I went thru similar stuff with my Dad and it’s a fucked up and hellish experience for the whole family.
Hoping the best for your Dad, and the Cole family.
geg6
My best to your dad, your mom, your siblings and you. What a day!
My dad worked in a steel mill and saw many a gruesome accident. And once, the steel tubes he inspected shifted and a couple rolled over his leg and broke it in 3 places. I also have a friend who lost a leg in a steel mill. That leg had to be amputated on the factory floor as it was essential to get him out from under the pile of steel he was under very quickly. The ER doctor who came out to do the surgery at the mill is also a friend of mine who I’ve known since I was about 10. Another friend worked in the mill during summers to make money for college and he lost the tips of three of his fingers. My dad knew lots of guys who got killed there. Steel mills were dangerous places and still are.
Nina-the-first
So very sorry about the accident with the %*^% woodchipper. Hugs to your dad and family.
It is great your dad got surgery so quickly. Now the goal is recovery and maximum function.
So there will be a bit of pain, & there are of course meds to help manage it, but be mindful of the classic “phantom limb” pain, it happens frequently.
Persistent pain may be secondary to nerves irritated by scarring (neuroma), very local. The area may be hypersensitive to slight temperature changes. (Sometimes a bit of pain is helpful info.)
Movement as soon as possible to avoid contracture.
So yes, just spoil the man, he needs it now!
trollhattan
@geg6:
One of my during-college jobs was a steel mill melt shop and holy shit were there a lot of exotic ways to be killed or maimed there. Only time I belonged to a union and boy was I ever glad to have them at my back.
Barry
@daveNYC: “Did he inquire about the possibility of having a hook attached in place of the thumb? Not sure what you’d do with it, but come on, it’d be a freaking hook.”
A leatherman?
My sympathies go with you, John.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
One of my co-workers lost an eye in a light bulb accident* last year. If I was wearing a patch for the rest of my life I’d have some story about Somali pirates, babies in burning buildings or other heroic acts. Nobody wants to hear wood chipper or light bulb. He deserves to punch it up a bit if that suits him.
*don’t ask.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
@Barry:
I’d go with a bottle opener or a cork screw myself.
Captain Goto
OMG. If anything would drag me out of my long-term lurker status, that would be it.
May your dad and the rest of the family get through this trauma with a minimum of additional pain, physical or otherwise.
asiangrrlMN
Glad Cole Sr. came through surgery OK. More positive vibes whizzing his way and to the rest of the Cole family.
Poopyman
Ow!Ow!Ow!Ow!
What a thing to find as I checked in. Give my best wishes to your dad as well as to your mom. That’s gotta be a life altering experience in a lot of small ways, and it’ll probably try his patience.
But right now I hope the next couple of days go well for him. That’s gotta hurt, and it’ll probably get worse before it gets better.
Best to all of you.
Poopyman
@RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist:
Wiping would be problematic.
Poopyman
@geg6: Remember when the guy lost his leg on the top of the Brady Street Bridge? I always wondered about the surgeon who went up there to do the amputation.
TheMightyTrowel
OT: I just got a paycheck, so I’ll match all donations to the BJ Act Blue for Obama up to $250 from now (11am Aus time) to the end of the work day (so 6 hours from now, my 5pm)
Maude
I’m glad the dad is okay.
mtraven
Any Young Adults fans out there? This song is highly relevant.
charles pierce
Once upon a time, there was a great lunatic basketball player at Marquette named Gary (Goose) Brell. He had a friend who had only one thumb. The friend announced one day that he was “going to hitchike across the country with my one thumb.” Goose was not impressed.
“How you gonna get back?” he asked.
Jane2
Due to the quick action, he’ll be fine once it’s all healed. My brother had a carcinogenic lump on an index finger…they took it off, and his other fingers compensate very well. Here’s to a speedy recovery and good pain meds!
Diana
very glad to hear he’s OK…except that if he doesn’t have an opposable thumb, HE IS OFFICIALLY A CAT since they don’t have opposable thumbs either.
Just sayin’
General Stuck
@charles pierce:
It’s a conthumbdrum.
Poopyman
@Diana: I think technically that would only make him half-cat. I doubt he wants to go full-cat after today.
honus
Here’s the bright side: your dad has at least one grandkid, right? My grandfather used to tell us great stories about the scar from his gall bladder operation. (For instance, how he got it in a swordfight with a Turk) Your dad can tell the grandkids how the thumb got bit off in a scuffle with an alligator. Or a Pittsburgh Panther.
Bighorn Ordovician Dolomite
I am a little late, but first off please accept my sympathies for yiur father. Second, yiur post title is just GOLD?
Lower Podunk
Hi John,
Best wishes to your dad for a speedy recovery, and general best wishes to you, your mom, and the fam.
I’m checked out and comfortable with the home improvement tools I use, but I avoid chainsaws and chippers like the plague.
Many moons ago I was dating a guy here in CT who lived about three miles from the site of “the wood chipper bridge”
We rented a wood chipper (iirc, from the same place that
Richard Crafts had rented from) to dispose of a bunch of brush along the sides of my BF’s property. When we returned the chipper at the end of the day, the old guy at the rental place looked at us and said, “Glad to see you brought the missus with you.” Good for a laugh on the way home.
ETA: obviously I need to work on the linky thing.
Tomolitics
Wow, hadn’t seen this earlier. Very sorry to hear about your dad’s accident, John, but hopefully his pain is well treated and he won’t be too depressed about losing a digit.
If I could recommend one movie to help him get through it, to would be The Big Sky by Howard Hawks. There is a scene where a very drunk Kirk Douglas has to scramble to find an amputated digit around a campfire that is subtly hilarious. But maybe it’s too soon… Although hard to tell that by your post title here. LOL.
Anyway, wishing your pop a speedy recovery and minimal PTS from his unfortunate accident.
Narcissus
Wow this makes me kind of queasy
Glad he’s doing ok though
CaseyL
Holy shit. Love and hugs to the family, John, and esp. to your Dad, who has had one hell of a year.
I remembered that he had the heart attack, but not that it was back in January. Losing a thumb in October makes for one helluva bookend to the year.
On a brighter note, he won’t have to do yard work anymore…
phoebes-in-santa fe
Good to hear, Cole. He wouldn’t want to hitchhike anyway. He might get picked up by a Republican axe murderer.
I'd
I read you often but never comment except now. Hope your dad continues to do well and your mom also as this is a shock for her too
geg6
@Poopyman:
Same guy. He was a nationally recognized ER surgeon after his death defying surgical feats. He doesn’t do that any more, though. He’s still a doctor, but no more crazy stuff. He’s getting too old for it.
jayboat
Wishing your dad a speedy recovery, John.
Since we’re on the subject of lost thumbs here, got a good (depending on perspective) story. A buddy I once worked with told me about the time he was working to help build a large stage set. The director was a bit of a hothead and one day he spied a worker using a radial arm saw in a manner with which he did not agree. He dashed over, shoved the guy out of the way, grabbed the work piece and promptly cut off his thumb while demonstrating the proper use of the saw.
/felt like sharing
A Humble Lurker
Glad your dad’s okay. Hope the recovery is as quick and painless as possible.
Splitting Image
Give your dad a thumbs-up for me, John.
.
.
Too soon?
Okay, just give him my wishes for a speedy recovery. Like a few other people have said, it’s disturbing how close all of us are to being differently-abled, and I share your devoted love of power tools. My granddad lost a finger at work one time, and I knew someone at my last job who lost part of a finger in an accident.
Lyrebird
Continued good thoughts/ prayers/ etc — and so glad he’s coming through fine!
Andre
Robot thumb!
khead
Missed the earlier thread. Best wishes for your Dad.
dance around in your bones
Maybe your Dad could still Hitchhike across the Galaxy using his middle finger and holding up a sign that says “42”?
I remember coming to visit my 90 yr old mother-in-law and finding her out in a tree in the backyard using a chainsaw to cut off some dead limbs.
I about had a heart attack, but SHE was fine – she was from what she described as ‘the hills and hollers of Tennessee’. Tough old broad – she died at 102 years old.
yopd1
As my family has been saying for the past two weeks, you have to be grateful it wasn’t worse (e.g. his whole hand). Glad he is ok and hope recovery goes well. Make sure he gets an Occupational Therapist to assess him as soon as possible so he can start getting as much use out of his hand as soon as possible.
YellowJournalism
@Woodrowfan: I can picture it. A new friend of John’s is sitting on the couch next to Papa Cole, trying not to stare at the nub and working up the courage to ask how he lost it. Papa Cole turns to the person, nods at his thumbless hand, motions to Tunch sleeping on the couch, and says, “I told John that was the last time I’d feed his cat for him while he’s away.”
Here’s to a quick and healthy recovery!
Brantl
Jesus, Cole, I’m so sorry. The best to/for your dad. Damn, that’s a bitch.
Brantl
Jesus, Cole, I’m so sorry. The best to/for your dad. Damn, that’s a bitch.
General Stuck
OT
I got yer Mittmentum right here.
General Stuck
I got yer Mittmentum right here.
BigHank53
Holy crap. Best wishes to your dad. My dad ran a machine shop when I was growing up, and he instilled a profound respect for powered machinery. Something capable of drilling a 3/4″ hole through 2″ of cast iron won’t even slow down when it hits your arm.
Good luck and a speedy recovery.
Bago
He should wear gloves next time he’s watching “Predator”. Then his digits won’t be influenced the next time Arnie screams “GET TO DAH CHOPPAH!”.
Chris Whitehead
Glad he’s doing OK. I have a table saw and hate the thing, it scares me anytime I have to use it (which ain’t much!). My grandfather lost part of a finger to one. Peaceful hand-tool thoughts to all.
wasabi gasp
I can’t believe your pops lost his thumb. What the fuck, woodchipper? It’s like Fargo over there.
Ruckus
@honus:
I tell people that the big scar on my back is from a knife that some guy pulled on me.
I don’t tell them it was a scalpel, the guy was a doctor and he had my permission. It sounds so much better my way.
I also knew a man who lost his thumb but that was OK because the docs used a toe to replace it. Looked a little strange but not enough that if you didn’t know the story you would notice. And it worked!
sherparick
Best wishes to your Dad and hope he has speedy recovery and rehabilitation. One of my best friends growing up was a family of do it yourselfers and carpenters. About half of them were missing various fingers and parts of their hands.
P.S.Now your Dad will know how Tunch feels being thumbless!
Lex
Good news. Great title. And awesome suggestion from daveNYC @4.
ursine
Well, he could use his other hand. After watching the scene in “The Hustler” with my stoned college buddies where Paul Newman got his thumbs broken I made one of those comments about opposeable thumbs being necessary for human development that led first to stunned silence and then to about four weeks of non-stop abuse. (“Thumbs!”)But it will be hard, especially if it is his dominant hand, and I wish your Dad all the best for a speedy recovery.
LanceThruster
Last time I drove myself to the emergency room to get stitches around my eye-socket because I ran into some pull-down stairs I told the doctor I should have done this, seen this, avoided this, etc., and he just said no, accidents happen, mistakes are made, and people sometimes hurt themselves. I don’t know why but it made me feel better. Here’s hoping for a swift recovery for your dad and the future safety of his remaining digits.