So, I did something stupid saturday night, and ended up with a very painful injury. I got my finger tip slammed in a sliding glass door. Don't ask for the circumstances, cause I won't tell. Anyhow, left it packed in ice all night, and the next morning, the pressure was unbelieveable. By the time that I made it back home and tried to rest and relax the pain away, the swelling had caused the skin underneith my fingernail to start to bulge out. So I called a buddy of mine that is really sharp.....a really smart guy, and asked him if he would drill through the nail to help relieve the pressure. I went over to his house for him to look at it, and he immediately grimaced in pain. Said he was surprised that the nail hadn't split due to the pressure that was being exerted on it from the swelling in the tip of my finger. So we packed ice around the finger and let it get numb. While I was waiting for it to get numb, he went and got out his cordless drill, and the smallest bit that he could find. Now picture this: I am standing in my friend's driveway, soaking my hand in ice, listening to my other friend talk smack and try to rattle my nerves, and my friend walks out of his garage with a cordless drill, revving the motor, and giving me this wild-eyed look. I almost ran. So I compose myself for some of the toughest pain I've ever dealt with, kneel down behind my friend's truck, and lay my arm on his tailgate. The other buddy is joking about using a ratchet strap to hold my arm still as I feel the first time the drill bit make contact with my nail. I am trembling with pain and anxiety as he whittles away a tiny hole in my finger, knowing that I'd love my decision in 2-3 days. We had to stop the drilling several times during the course of the operation to resoak my hand in the ice and numb it again, as the drill bit produced quite a bit of heat, and this in turn caused the numbing effect of the ice to go away. Finally we knew that we were almost all of the way through the nail, and I had sunken into a deeper conciousness. A place, a practice, that I reserve for when I am in extreme pain......physically or mentally/emotionally. I had stopped shaking, and opened my eyes, and was talking, taking regular breaths. And suddenly the pain that I had gotten accustomed to, had given a name to, had assigned a taste and color to......suddenly it became satan, exploding through my finger, causing my hand to burst, and my body to almost black out. Blood shot 8 feet into the air, landing on my shoulder and my back, and when I could finally raise my head, there was a steady one inch stream of blood squirting from the top of my finger nail. We were through. Now was time to soak it, get all of that bad blood out, and clean it, making sure that there is no chance for infection. I have gone through 8 dressings on my finger, the first 5-6 were replaced because the blood soaked through. Now though, I am just trying to keep it clean. I have accepted the fact that I will lose my fingernail, and it is in the Lord's hands as to weather the end of my finger gets infected, or if the trauma to it was enough for my body to just quit supplying it, and have it die. If this becomes the case (VERY slim chance,) please send flowers to the hospital, and ladies, the giving of physical favors has been proven to improve recovery time of trauma patients....(hint,hint,hint.) I apoligize for any typos, as I am typing with my left hand, and pecking with my right. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and is in less pain than me! * EDIT * These are pics that I took when I changed the dressing this evening. It is almost back to it's normal size, and the color is coming back. Until now, it has been absolutely black, and swollen to about 200% it's normal size. Ya'll take care, and God bless. Riggy