The Hammond Fam: June 2010

As most of you know, Kyle had a pretty big oops at the beginning of June. He was in Utah doing an externship at a veterinary clinic, and they were trying to ultrasound a horse that was not cooperating. Kyle was trying to lead the horse into the stall and it panicked. Typically you are supposed to just let the horse go, but there were some other people in the stall and the clinic's ultrasound machine was on the ground, so instinctively Kyle tried to steer the horse away. The rope wrapped around Kyle's hand/thumb, the horse pinned his hand between the rope and some metal in the stall and then jerked forward, pulling all of the tissue off of his thumb. No bones were broken (thank goodness) and all of the tendons were in place, but it destroyed all of the tissue, nail bed, skin and blood supply to the thumb. After a 7 hour surgery, the hand surgeon reattached the tissue to his thumb, but was skeptical of the outcome. He was able to connect a good artery (that brings blood to the thumb) but he wasn't able to find a really good vein (that takes the blood back to the heart). As a result, Kyle's thumb would swell up with blood, and they used leeches (YES, I said LEECHES) to help drain the excess fluid. Kyle's spirits were pretty low, and he was really worried about how this might affect his future as a veterinarian. He was even worried about whether he would be able to someday play catch with Cache. He tried really hard to keep his head high, and we have the most amazing family and friends that came every day to keep him company. Cache and I stayed with him in the hospital. After 6 days in the hospital, as they started to slow the leech treatment, the transplant failed. They discarded the transplanted tissue and Kyle was taken back into surgery. The surgeon took the tissue from the top of Kyle's index finger and transplanted it onto his thumb. With this approach, there is a possibility that Kyle will gain sensation back in his thumb. They then took a flap of skin from his abdomen and covered the top of the index finger. They attached his thumb to his index finger to promote blood supply, and it had to remain that way for three weeks. Kyle's right thumb is about 3/4 inch shorter and he is missing pretty much all of his nail bed. On June 30 the doctor separated Kyle's fingers successfully. His fingers will be stiff from not using them, but he will not need physical therapy. Kyle is eager to get back to school and is ready for the whole ordeal to be over. It seems so wierd to say that this injury was relatively minor, but when we think about all of the things that could potentially have happened to Kyle, we are so grateful that he is ok. Even though it has been a major ordeal, he could have been seriously injured. He will not lose any of the capabilities that are necessary for his future. Thankfully, he has some really good friends that have kept his spirits high and helped him see the humor in his situation. One friend made a "thumbs up" cake for him after his second surgery, and the other told him "Well, at least you'll have a unique 'This Little Piggy' nursery rhyme to tell your son." ...........We have the best friends. There are pictures of Kyle's hand below.