An Accident and the Subsequent Middle Finger Diaries

Disclaimer: Before I get into this blog post: there will be some “graphic” images. If you’re eating something right now, or are a little baby, this post isn’t for you.

You have been warned

About 2 weeks ago on Sunday, I was at work when I had to use the slicer to cut some green peppers to stock up my station. There’s sort of an unspoken rule that if you’re using either the chopper or the slicer, you gotta wash out the blades yourself.

Having been on dish for the first month or so when I first started, I know that there’s nothing worse than having to drop everything else you’re doing to dismantle and then clean out each individual part of the machine mid-shift, especially during a rush.

image of the blades for context;
note ridged edge on the top side

<sink with pressure spray

So I was doing my due diligence, taking all the pins out of their housing, detaching the push plate, and removing the blades from their bed. I saw some little bits of pepper guts between the rows of blades, so I used the pressure sprayer to get them out as I had done many times before. Only this time I didn't know that I had the serrated edge facing my palm, and as I turned on the spray with my other hand the sudden sharp pain made me drop the plate of blade into the sink, along with part of my left middle finger.

To be honest, I didn't realize just how much blood circulates to our fingers. I mean I guess it's kind of obvious with how red and pink they are, but it was still kinda crazy, when I was still bleeding like 30 minutes and 4 changes of Band-Aid + paper towel later (sadly no images of this, I didn't feel like dyeing my phone red). Even within the 30 seconds that it took for me to open a new Band-Aid and slide off the old one each time, I had managed to get splotches of blood all over the first-aid box and back office.

The worst part was probably just the fact that I couldn't get any water on the cut, cause then it would start bleeding again and I would have to stumble back into the office holding my hand over my head like I was holding the Future King of Pride Rock.

Luckily Sandra (one of the other line cooks, and basically an older sister to me) came in like 2 hours later, and although she's in culinary school right now, she has some first aid training because she originally wanted to study to become a nurse.

She immediately took off my blood-caked Band-Aid and told me to wash my cut (which made it start bleeding again). She then made me stand over a trash can and took out this weird spray-on skin stuff from the first aid kit and then told me to hold my hand still while she used it. The thing is, she forgot to mention the fact THAT THAT STUFF STINGS LIKE A MF. She then showed me how to double wrap my finger in 2 Band-Aids so the bleeding would stop and the Band-Aids would be secured.

So yeah, that's how I got cut.

In anatomy we've been learning about epithelial tissues (linings in the body) and the integumentary system (the skin), and so I had the perfect visual aid during the test, which made the labeling section pretty easy.

Here's a little diary that's honestly a better review that the study guide that we got.

(Note, the epithelium is the outer layer of skin (mostly dead) and the dermis is the living, inner layer of skin)

Jan 23rd, Day 1 after the incident, bleeding has stopped, however some sebum and lymphatic fluid moistened my little Band-aid contraption, so I changed it out after swim practice (don't worry there's worse bodily fluid floating around in that pool anyway). Taken ~30 min after exiting the water before shower.

Jan 24th, Day 2. Everything's dried up a bit, and it doesn't feel as tender.

Same day, photo taken before (right) and after (left) a shower. Serous fluid still continues to pool on the surface of the cut. The yellowish-white discharge on the upper right part of the wound in the left image is sebum, which is why I suspected that area to contain sebaceous glands earlier. Some of the melanocytes (along the perimeter of the dermal wound) have replicated in the dermal layer, though this isn't very clear in this set of photos.

Jan 25th, Day 3. Since epidermal cells (simplified squamous epithelium) replicate more rapidly than dermal tissue, the wound appears smaller. Also like I mentioned before, the melanocytes along the outside of the wound came back, and so they've started producing melanin and returning the pigment on the perimeter of the cut back to normal. I'm still leaving the wound wrapped most of the time.

Also Day 3. After I showered, I unwrapped the wound to replace my bandages, but I noticed that some slough had formed on the wound. I carefully removed it and wrapped my finger back up.

Jan 26, Day 4. The dermal tissue has finally started to scab over. However, the scab turned an amber/honey color due to break down of hemoglobin proteins (accelerated due to the chlorine in the pool). Sadly the scab started to stick out and peel off, exposing the dermis underneath (Ignore the gray colored spots on my finger, I was painting something during the snow day).

Same day, after swimming the scab came off completely. The dermal papillae, which are ridges in the dermis responsible for fingerprints, seemed to be growing back. Fun fact: when your dermis is damaged, your dermal papillae regrow into a unique pattern to what they were previously. Since I haven't had a biometric test done recently, I could theoretically get away with committing a crime, as long as my left middle fingerprint was the only thing left on the scene. But then again the only crime you can commit with just a middle finger is a hate crime.

Jan 28th, Day 6. The wound healed some more, but due to the different rates at which epithelial layers regenerate, all 5 layers of thick epithelial skin are visible (not to scale).

Jan 29th Day 7. The scab that was covering the regenerating dermis fell off, You can see more serous fluid at the surface of the cut leaking from the wound. I stopped covering it after today.