Don't Do This

One lovely fall day I was walking through our back garden, when I felt a definite smarting on my hand. I could see the stinger of a bee sticking out of my finger, so I grabbed it and pulled. The throbbing pain really hurt and I ran it under cold water for awhile to numb it. I don’t have allergies or anything, so I figured I was good when the soreness started to subside. How wrong I was!

After about twenty minutes, I looked down at my hand and vaguely realized that my finger was starting to swell a little. No big deal, to be expected and all. A few minutes more and suddenly I went, I have a ring on that finger!!

It was too late. No way was that ring going to budge. I went to the pharmacy and bought Benydrl because it has anti-histamine in it. Then I thought, what if I fall asleep and my finger keeps getting bigger and the circulation gets cut off by the ring and I don’t know it ‘cause I’m passed out from the Benydrl?

Next plan, go to Urgent Care pronto. The doctor took one look and called for the ring cutting kit. Now, I have to say this is no ordinary ring. Brad bought it for our 15^th wedding anniversary. It’s a ruby in a handmade setting with little people and small diamonds on the side. The man who made it has gone out of business. There is no way to replace this ring.

The doc says, “I’m going to try one thing first,” and calls for a bit of string. We decided on dental floss as the perfect thing, nice and strong and flat sided. There was barely enough room to slide the flat part between the ring and my finger, but he did it. Then he started wrapping, pushing all the fatness higher and higher up on my finger, making the lower part as thin as possible. I was sure my skin would break open from the pressure. He wrapped passed the knuckle, then started pulling on the end that was next to my finger to slide the ring upward. It worked! I was free and my ring was saved!

Now if you ever find yourself with a swollen ring finger, you know the trick.