What a Weekend!

What a weekend this was. I'm all about 3 or 4 day weekends, but I don't want to spend it in the hospital with my husband.

Tony had an accident on Thurs. afternoon around 5:30. He was working on a fence and trying to finish. He only had about 10 ft. left and this was to be his last fence until next summer. He was splitting a picket with a table saw and in a split second something went wrong and his hand got cut by the saw. The saw took off his middle finger at the knuckle and damaged the other 3. His thumb was spared. The guy helping him with the fence, Travoy, saw what happened and immediately drove him to the ER. He called me from the ER and said he had Tony there and that he had lost a couple of fingers. I'm thinking he's just kidding around, but he said he was dead serious. So I get Erynn to call her Mom, Lynsi, who is a nurse at the clinic and told her to go see about her Dad and that I would be right there. Erynn told Lynsi that T-pa had cut his hand, so when Lynsi got there, she was expecting a cut, but he pulled out his hand and she saw the missing fingers and was shocked!

Dr. Henderson and Kate took good care of him and Lynsi helped them out. Of course Tony was still making jokes in the ER. He takes things pretty well. They called Lubbock and told them he was coming and then Jake and Zach put him in the ambulance and took him to the airport to be put on a plane and sent to Lubbock. When they got to Lubbock, they rode on the ambulance with him from the airport to the hospital. They didn't have to do that and he appreciated it. When he got to the hospital, Randal and James, Tony's bosses, along with Randal's wife Kelly were waiting on him. They stayed until I got there.

I was trying to get things together and I had Tony's phone and my phone and they were both ringing and I couldn't even think about what I was doing. Erynn packed my bag for me and Lynsi came in and started answering the phones. Travoy got my car ready and went to feed the animals. Joe, Erika and Bailey went with me to Lubbock so I wouldn't have to drive by myself. There are lots of deer on that road and it was dark. I do not know my way around Lubbock, so I had Randal on the phone trying to get me to the hospital. We finally got there right after they had taken him to surgery. Tony's brother Rickey and their Mom got there a few minutes after we did.

The surgery took about 2 hours. This young Dr. came out and explained everything they did to each finger. He was very nice and friendly. He made a joke and said, I hope he's a Longhorn fan because he'll have a permanent 'hook-em Horns' sign. Tony has yet to see the main surgeon. Apparently he is an important and great surgeon so he just does the surgery and his assistants talk to the family and make the rounds at the hospital.

The middle finger was gone at the site. They couldn't save the ring finger. It was too damaged. The index finger had some nerve damage and they think they fixed it ok so that he will be able to grip. The pinky is iffy. It had a lot of damage, but they think they repaired it good enough so that he will be able to use it. They will just have to wait and see on that one.

When he got to the hospital, he didn't have anything with him so he didn't have his insurance card. I guess since they didn't have any insurance information, they assumed he didn't have any and put him in a double room. We thought we were going to get out the next day, so didn't think about asking for a private room, but we ended up staying 3 nights there. It was horrible with someone else in the room. Tony couldn't get much sleep because of all the visitors the other guy had, plus this guy was in a band, so he brought his guitar and played it right in the room. We were both so ready to get out of there! I got a motel room each night, so I did get sleep, but poor Tony had to put up with this guy. I'm so thankful we are home now.

We got to come home on Sunday afternoon. The ride was a little rough on him, but he made it ok. He has had so many visitors, calls, emails, and comments, it's unreal. He has had people all over asking about him. Word travels fast these days with the internet and cell phones.

He is suppose to leave on Thurs to go to NM on a hunting trip. He has had this planned for a year now and it was all paid for. He is really upset about not getting to go and he was thinking that he would not get any money back, but luckily someone is taking his place and came over yesterday and gave him the money. So at least he is not out that much money and there will always be other hunting trips.

I don't know how long he will be out of work, but he works for the best company and I know they will support him every step of the way. It will be a long road ahead, but he will make it. He has always had a good attitude and he has a lot of support from family and many, many friends!