[MattR302]

Well, I had been meaning to change my oil and clean/lube my chain for the past 3 days now. So today was gonna be in the 90's, so idecided to do that last night before i went to bed last night, so i could ride to work today. Well this was the first time i did either of these since i got the bike in May. The oil change went fine. (If you dont want to be too grossed out, skip to the end)

I lined the floor of the garage with newspaper, was WD-40 and toothbrushing the chain. Well, I had read either on here or ex500riders.com about putting the bike in gear and letting it idle to rotate the cahin when cleaning it. Well I did that, and WD-40'd the chain as it was spinning, then held a rag up against the chain behind the sprocket to wipe the grime off. It worked pretty good. Well heres where the stupid part comes in... I decided to wipe the chain before the sprocket, in order to clean off the inner part of the chain too, while it was still idling in gear. Well, I put the rag up against it the chain, the chain pulled the rag into the sprocket. I heard kinda a pop as i pulled my hand away. It felt like i pinched my finger lightly. Well it took me about two seconds to look down and i realized that the tip of my right index finger was completely missing and it was bleeding a lot.

Hooooooly shit. I grabbed a different rag and pinched it off. Yelled to my parents, who had both been sleeping for an hour and a half or so. This was right about midnight. My dad grabbed the tip of the finger (still in the chain) and went to the ER (Midstate in Meriden, CT). Got in there pretty quick, got some X-rays. Basically they said the standard procedure is to trim the exposed bone back and fold the skin over. We talked to the Dr there and asked about reattachment. Well they dont have the capability to do that there, so she made some calls to Hartford and Yale-New Haven. Basically, she said that if there was a possibility of reattachment, Yale would be the only one that would be able to do it. Seeing as it was off just behind the first knuckle, if they did reattach it, they would have to fuse the joint. I guess I figured since either way, i wouldnt have a functioning knuckle there anyways, if i did try to get it reattached, it would at least look sorta normal. Seeing as I "refused treatment" there, they couldnt transfer me to Yale. So I was discharged, and my parents drove down there, maybe 30 mins away. By the time I saw a Dr there, it was about 6am.

Basically, he said that since it had been 6 hours, blood vessels and nerve endings have sealed up, and although it would physically be possible to reattach it, the chance of it living is slim if the blood vessels are already pinched off. Plus, risk of infections and whatnot. So they ended up doing the same thing, trimmed back the exposed bone, and nubbed off the skin. He said this procedure usually leads to a very functional finger/hand.

One of the nurses was saying how I was probably the calmest person to ever go in with something like that. After I checkd into the 2nd hospital, the PA put the jar with the tip next to me and said "keep this here with you, don't let it get separated." I replied, "it already is". He was cracking up. And after the surgeon did the nip/tuck, he was like "we can dispose of this for you if you want, or if you can take it, if you have some kind of attachment to it"... "well, I used to..."




So the long and short of it: Due to a momentary lapse of thinking, my right index finger is now 2/3 the length. Yes, this kinda shit actually can happen, its not just crazy stories you hear of someone that knew somebody years ago or whatever. So think twice before doing anything around any moving parts. Rotate the chain by hand when cleaning it, it may take longer, but man do i wish I did that differently. Its one of those things where you keep hoping you'll wake up and realize it was all a bad dream. BE CAREFUL, PLEASE.

My mom wasnt thrilled the day I brought the bike home, typical worried mother. I told her as I was waiting for a doctor at the first hospital, "don't think that this is going to keep me from riding it ever again". Plus, being able to say "I lost a finger in a motorcycle accident" sounds pretty badass. Be careful, ride safe, and think twice before you do anything. I'm gonna go take some more percoset. Take it easy guys.