Never a Dull Life in Barbara Land - Caution not for the faintful

So it was just another quiet Sunday night, the Eagles fended off the Denver Broncos, the Flyers beat the Islanders, my Dad had his two mega plasma's burning up the wall in his family room and we had a nice gathering of about 15 to exchange gifts at my parents house...

My nephew Robert was intensely concentrating on his new game of Mind Flex,(that's the game where you use your brain waves to move objects around, notice the little blue ball that Robert has suspended in the air)  while my niece Julie (to the right) was helping by sending vibes and my SIL Brian was intently reading the rules of the game...

All was fine until it happened. 

 

Seems my Mom got a little bit too intimate with a mandolin vegetable slicer and took off the top of her right pinkie finger.. and well let's just say I learned something tonight.  If you ever do slice off the top of your finger, you are supposed to put it in saline (that is if you have a hope and a prayer of having it re-attached).  My DB, just wrapped it in a paper towel and put it in a baggie.. so that didn't help us.  I was informed about this little tip when I pulled the little baggie with the little pinkie tip out of my handbag and the nurse said, " we can't use it, but you can show it to the doctor"

Anyway back to the party..  Mom and Dad had a great holiday get together party going on (and little did my mom let on how bad her finger was, not until she unwrapped the bandage and the trail of blood dripped across the room).  My oldest daughter was about to pass out, everyone else seemed to get a whiter shade of pale.  That's when I made the decision for my Mom "You are going to the hospital:.Mom"  and so we went... Thank goodness it was a slow night in ER land.. The hospital staff was quite amazed that she waited as long as she did, and had as much blood going on.. or should I say coming out.. (sorry for the gross depiction but it was rather well bloody).. They put some magical stuff (a gel spongy thingy around the tip of her finger, and then wrapped several layers of gauze around her finger until it looked like a big gauze sausage. She had to keep her hand raised above her heart for a long time, until they were sure that it would clot up and stop bleeding.. She was still in quite a bit of discomfort when we left the hospital.. but that was not unexpected.. so there you have it.. another quiet night..

So I share this story, because I found the event served as a good appetite suppressant, not much desire to snack around.. However, I think I will still rely on the band to get me through the next holiday party..