Just Got Back from the ER

[Cheetam]

Well, what can I say.  Don't play with really sharp things, and especially don't cram them into your thumb

I was painting up a few baits this evening, and checked on a new homemade balsa bait I'm making.  I had dipped it in poly to help seal it prior to base coating and painting and found that one of the hook hangers was gooped up with the stuff.  I grabbed the closest thing I had at the time (a leatherman that belonged to my dad) and proceeded to try and cut the stuff out of the hole.  Well, that particular leatherman doesn't have a locking blade, and it collapsed while I was putting pressure on it.  The whole thing closed up on my thumb.  Oh, did I mention that my dad had an obsession with keeping his blades razor sharp?  By the time I knew what had happened, I had the blade half way through my thumb, slicing from the side of my thumb down past my thumbnail and clear through the fleshy fingerprint side to almost the bone (they took x-rays to make sure it didn't get there).  The surprising thing is it only took 5 stitches to close it, although it could have used an extra one, but they would have had to go through my thumbnail to do it.  I'd post pics of the wound, but it's kind of nasty looking and wouldn't want anyone to have nightmares.  So, I will leave you with an "after" pic...Oh, and the moral of the story?  Use dull knives....

[dartag]

" OUCH "    they did a good job of wrapping it up.   at least it is not your casting thumb.   did you get some good pain pills. 

ss

[Cheetam]

Actually, it is my casting thumb (I took the photo in my hallway mirror).  I have to go on some antibiotics for a couple of weeks, and I got some Motrins for the pain, which right now isn't too bad.

[Cy]

Jeff,

I'm sorry to hear that you hurt yourself!  All I can say is...next time don't be so darn dumb!    I hope you don't own a table saw!

Get better soon!

Cy

[Skip Johnson]

Dang Jeff sorry to hear about your mis fortune, they sure did wrap that thumb big enough.
I think your the only guy I know that probobly wants spring to be a couple more months out.
So may I ask why you look so happy in the pic? did you get out of some honey doo's 

[McCarter]

I swiped the picture and made it my backround on my work computer.  Eventually i will have it put on a t shirt and will wear it to all the tournaments i fish in 09.

McCarter himself

[dartag]

now i get it.   too bad looks like Spinning Rods for you.  good thing you are a drop shotter now.  could have been career ending.  i will get some Round End sissors and put them in the boat.   maybe you could get a set from the girls for around home.   remember no running with them.

[cr]

Major Bummer, but did you get the stuff out of the hole? I hate it when that stuff happens.

[Cheetam]

You guys are funny .  I was dumb, I tried rushing something I shouldn't have and now I have a gaping wound to show for it.  I've actually been laughing at myself the whole time, and that bandage is one of the funniest things I've ever seen (which is why I was smiling Skip).  Plus, I look like I am trying to hitch a ride, and/or saying "AYYYYYYYY" (do your best Fonzi impersonation there).  I am going to be on the bench for at least a few weeks with painting baits and stuff so that's a bummer.  But, hey, that's what stupidity buys you...And, no, I didn't get the stuff out of the hole Charles 

[Durand Dan]

Thanks for posting that Jeff. I was working with a very sharp knife this morning and was extremly careful because of your incident!

[t-bone]

That is a bummer - I saw your baits at the show - you do a great job. So, are you going to charge extra for the bleeding bait version?

Last year I was cleaning a bunch of brim and one of the fish slipped out of my hand while I was in a sawing motion and I put a fillet knife in the meaty part of my index finger and the point came out the other side. I have know idea how I missed the critical stuff, but some antibiotics and gauge from the firstaid kit and I was back on Dale Hollow fishing the next day. What you did sounds much worse! Its fillet gloves for me from now on!

[thedude]

I call BS!

you faked the whole thing so you could go to work and hide a can of beer in your "wound dressings".


I see right through you cheetam... like an open window.

[McCarter]

Your giving him way too much credit.  He isnt that intelligent. 

JK Jeff.................or am i???

McCarter himself

P.S.  Dude, you may be a genius with that idea. 

[Cheetam]

Looking at the size of the dressing, I could have hidden a 1/4 barrel in there...lol.

t- bone, thanks for the compliment.  There will be only one bleeding bait, and that's the one I was working on last night  .  I think this might be a sign that I should just stick to painting them, and not making them.

[Eric]

So.................if you are too injured to paint baits, I got this vector format project...............

[Cheetam]

So.................if you are too injured to paint baits, I got this vector format project...............

[MadWags]

I almost cut my right pinkie finger off while carving a spinner for a model airplane with an Exacto Knife. Unfortunately I cut right through the tendens which required 2 surgeries since the first one failed. Count you blessings Cheetum, it could of been much worse. But i know the feeling of analness when you think back on it.

[thedude]

i took up carving duck decoys years ago... look into a Fordom machine. Won't cut your fingers off and when your shirt or hood strings get caught in the shaft it doesn't have enough power to rip your face (or thumb) off.

[dartag]

Hey Eric i checked out your website.  maybe Jeff should have called you in for.

Healthcare Provider CPR
Heartsaver First Aid & CPR
Advanced Cardiac Life Support  ( he is getting old ) 
Bloodborne Pathogen Training
OFFT Health and Safety Officer
VFIS Bloodborne Pathogens

at least we can pick on him for a few weeks.

[Cheetam]

I almost cut my right pinkie finger off while carving a spinner for a model airplane with an Exacto Knife. Unfortunately I cut right through the tendens which required 2 surgeries since the first one failed. Count you blessings Cheetum, it could of been much worse. But i know the feeling of analness when you think back on it.

Oh I know it could have been much worse.  If I would have had the bait on my table trying to clean it (instead of holding it in my left hand), I could very easily have taken the whole thumb off with the force of the leatherman hitting the table and all of my weight behind it.  Plus, I was really lucky it didn't cut into the joint or across any tendons.  And, the more I thought about it today, the dumber I felt  .