Almost Lost Another Finger....

So it was one beautiful Saturday afternoon on April 17, 2010, and one could not help but go outside and do yard work! I was trimming some hedges with the electric hedge cutter and the kids and Gordon were playing basketball....it was a perfect day! The hedges were looking great - I really am good at trimming and shaping I must say....LOL! Well, it was all good until I reached down to get the cord out of the way and my right hand decided to do the same thing (guess I had a brain fart). The pain was not immediately there at first; in fact, it was the squirting blood that told me what had happened. The first thought I had was, "Oh no....I lost another finger on my left hand....what is with this left hand of mine?" I immediately grabbed it (ok....after I dropped the trimmer) and started walking to the garage catching Gordon's attention and telling him to go get me a towel. He say my hand dripping in blood and ran inside. I made it to the garage and could only kneel to my knees as the pain was becoming very evident and I was feeling very unsteady. I could only think of squeezing harder and harder. I told Gordon that I could not look at it right now, but to see if my finger was still intact. He looked at it and immediately said, "Get in the car!" I was trying to hide it as well as I could because the kids were around and luckily Thomas, Nathaniel's friend, grabbed Levi and removed him from the scene so he did not have to see mommy in pain. Once we got to the urgent care, the lady say my hand shaking and my forehead sweating and told a nurse to take me back immediately. They laid me down and I was starting to feel somewhat better. The doctor used four shots of lidocaine directly into the cut to numb it. I have NEVER felt so much pain in my life.....even giving birth (yes...I am pretty darn sure). The fingers are one of the most sensitive spots on your body and putting the needle right in the cut does not help the matter any more. I tried to stay so still.....grinding my teeth, expressing "ouwwww" and going into shock. I thought, "Great!" Once I was numbed up, my body began to relax and I was feeling better. BUT WAIT......after the first stitch, the electricity went off and I was sure the generators were going to kick on. I mean, don't all medical facilities have generators????? HAH! Not this one.....the doctor was expressing her concern and after a couple minutes, here came the nurse with a flashlight. Yup...that's right, a flashlight! I could do nothing but laugh as they stitched me up via flashlight. On top of that, I had a tetanus shot and a Rocephin antibiotic shot which, of course, stings like heck. Anyway.....healing well; Dr thought the pad might die off because I cut through the vessels and there was no circulation to the pad anymore. It was pretty white yesterday but it seems to be pinking up today....WOOT WOOT!!! Very tender and I want to express some words that normally do not dwell in my head when I hit it; you really find out how much you use your fingers when you cannot. Quite the experience......

San Diego AFC 1/2

AUGUST 16, 2009...SAN DIEGO, CA

I cannot believe I have waited this long to post on my 1/2 in San Diego...geez, I must be busy!!! It was a blast to say the least! I got there late Friday night and went directly to the hotel which was amazingly cool!!! It overlooked the Harbor Island Marina.

I slept well....I love hotel pillows! The next morning I had breakfast all by myself (WOW!) and then headed to the expo for the race. I did buy a few things and then waited for my friends to come.

I caught up with Kim Cornwell and my best friend from high school, Stephennie Tieri. After the expo we headed to Pizza Nova on Harbor Island Drive and met up with some more high school friends. It felt like I had not aged one bit....I loved hang'n with Kim, Stephennie (and her husband), Wes (and his daughter), Dana, Kisha, Scot, and Kristeen (and her sister). It was so much fun!

That night my best friend from PA, Keri, came down to San Diego (they now live in Simi) and we went to dinner. Keri stayed the night with me in the hotel and waited for me to finish my race the next morning....of, course, she did not have to wake up at 4 like I did...LOL. After the race we hung out at Horton Plaza and just loved being around each other until I had to take the red eye back home.

I could not sleep one wink the night before the race...I was so excited. I was so nervous though because I was worried I would have no energy for the race. At 4 a.m. I ended up getting out of bed and getting ready for the race. We all had to be on the bus at 5 a.m. in order to be shuttled to Point Loma Pt where the race was starting, as they had all the roads blocked for the race. Oh man....breathtaking!!! It was dark but you could see all the lights of downtown San Diego. I met up with Wes and Kim at the race point and ate breakfast and just waited until 7. Believe it or not, there were 8400 runners in the 1/2. It was AMAZING to see so many runners....all ages and shapes - very inspiring! It took us 10 minutes to cross the starting line and trigger our pace tag on our shoes once the gun went off. The feeling of running with so many people around you was weird....some places it was elbow to elbow.

It finally thinned out at about the 10k mark. I had run beside Kim up until then, but I felt a great boost of energy so I told her I was going to speed up. My 10k time was 1:04 which is an easy run for me and I was pleased. I knew I could speed up and try to finish by 2:00, which was my goal. It was so beautiful to run along Sea Port Village and see the ocean and the ships. I was in love and I become quite homesick for San Diego. To my surprise, I had known there was a bit of a hill at the end, the race started to incline about mile 10.5. I was not too worried as I am fine on hills...but it kept going and going; every corner we turned, the hill still existed. I was saying....there is always the downhill on the other side, but it never came. I was so frustrated and it kicked my butt. I ended up walking about 1.75 miles of the 2.5 mile incline. I was tired. Others were cursing around me and some sitting on the curb. Why would they

end a race with such an incline...are they SERIOUS???? Oh well...I did not make my 2:00 goal, but instead 2:23 which I am so fine with! I ran the race and loved it and it really did not matter what my time was. I loved it and it was a great adventure!!! I am grateful my sweet husband, Gordon, encouraged me to run and meet up with my old classmates, and hold down the fort here at home while I was away....he is amazing!!!