eneumeier Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Last night at Chebacco I, along with half the other people who recently took rolling from Karen Knight and Bob Foote, was working on my roll. On one attempt my hand slipped off my paddle, causing a bit of chaos for me under there. As my spotter tried valiantly to right me, my right hand swept the bottom. Just as I was thinking pushing off the bottom might help, the slightest applied pressure pushed a fish hook into the tip of my middle finger (right hand, of course - if I were a lefty it would have been my left hand). I could feel a wad of fishing line and knew immediately what had happened. In the natural reaction to jerk back I could feel the hook break off. I popped the spray skirt to wet exit. Good time to be around friends. We looked at the gross injury. Talked about possible ways to extract it. Someone in a fishing boat loaned a tool. I let one willing guy give it a tug then sat down to fiddle with it myself. Fairly quick decision to go to the hospital and let the pros handle it. That was the right decision. My concern was that the thing was so old and rusty a piece would break off. After the doctor did his thing he was concerned that had happened because the hook removed only had a tiny barb left on it. X-rays revealed a "foreign body" remaining. I declined a referral to a surgeon -- who "might have trouble finding it" and "might have to splay open the finger" -- in favor of tetanus, antibiotics and wait and see if my body can expell this nasty sucker on its own. And, given its location, how troublesome it is. I can type fine. Not sure yet about holding a paddle. Many thanks to Ann G. for driving me to the hospital and waiting (entertained by some weirdos in the ER) while I got treatment. And, many thanks to Rick C. for staying in the parking lot with my car and boat until we got back there, I think it was close to 10 PM. Driving to the drugstore to get my prescription filled, the inevitable what ifs started going in circles through my mind. The creepiest was: what if the hook had not broken and the lines were really snagged on the bottom? Wear shoes. Watch out for grassy/muddy areas. Lots of gross stuff down there. Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbeale Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Dear Liz, Sooo sorry for your mishap--how did you manage to be so brave and calm????? Yo, girl, I am impressed!!! Having recently been in a somewhat similar position of being injuried while paddling, I agree with you, being with knowledgeable paddlers can make a remarkable difference in an emergency situation--take care of that injury and get better soon, les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Liz, That is so nasty. I feel for you. Good warning to all about using the bottom. Such a minor thing with major consequence if you had been alone. Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoons Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Liz... My wife is a radiologist at Lahey and specializes in Ultrasound. She is one of the few around who removes foreign objects using ultrasound to guide her directly to the embedded foreign object - splinter, fishhooks, etc. A lot less traumatic. If you would like to consider this option, email me at alcoons @ verizon.net and I will email you our phone number. Al Coons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneumeier Posted August 5, 2005 Author Share Posted August 5, 2005 Ya know, that "splaying" the finger open approach sounded awfully crude and primitive, given that he was showing me digital x-rays and all. I'll be in touch. :-)) Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Ouch Liz! While waiting for you all at Karen and Bob's class last weekend, I almost sat on a fish hook on the grass at the Lake Cochituate put in. When you see all the trash and broken glass folks leave around ... Fish hooks are another good reason to have a knife handy... not for your finger, but for attached line. I was having a nice quiet paddle at a local lake a couple of years ago and reached down to pick up what I thought was a small plastic bobber that the fishermen use. What I didn't realize was that it had a fish hook and line attached. The hook got me in the fingertip (but not deeply as it did you), unfortunately, the line attached to the hook was attached to a log. I managed to extricate myself but it wasn't easy or comfortable and I didn't want to drive the hook in further. I cannot remember if I had a knife on my pfd or just wished I had. I think it was the latter. Best wishes, Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneumeier Posted August 5, 2005 Author Share Posted August 5, 2005 Well, it doesn't hurt much and now I really feel like I belong in Gloucester so ... I do make a point of picking up -- very carefully -- stray finishing line when I find it. It is often there because someone snagged a hook and cut the line. I have salvaged some worthwhile bits of gear and freed the world from some nasty pointy hazards. I may head back to Chebacco with a rack and hit that section. Apparently a paddler had his legs tangled in the same area recently. And, although I practiced getting out my shears and cutting a line while capsized in the pool a while back, I am now going to practice doing it one handed. Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Leonard Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Eewww! Sounds awful Liz.. Thanks for sharing the story though...Your making me seriously consider swapping my knife out in favor of shears. Makes sense to have something that can be used one handed. Fishhooks on the bottom. I think it is a plot from the Greenland paddlers among us to encourage rolling. I hope you get to keep the finger! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhipple Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I was wondering how your hook encounter turned out ... YEESH! And using it as a cautionary tale for the rest of us is helpful, and appreciated. Sounds as if consulting Al's wife is a good idea, a better alternative than having a surgeon go fishing in your finger. On the other hand, if you wind up ultimately having a little foreign "friend" sharing your finger, it isn't necessarily a problem, even if it never decides to move out. Depending on location, these things can turn out to be perfectly well-behaved, absolutely symptomless residents. (But sorry, you probably didn't want to think about that.) This will NOT prevent your Monomoy trip, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHuth Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 That does sound scarey. I was once flyfishing in the ocean with a number 0 hook (translation - biggest friggin hook you can tie a fly on). A gust of wind hit me on the back-cast and the hook went right through my ear, with the barb sticking out the other end! I was too embarassed to go to the emergency room. I was alone in the kayak and thought "what now?". I clipped the line off and paddled home. When I got home, I found a pair of dikes and a pair of needle nosed pliars and stood in front of a make-up mirror and tried to snip off the barb before removing the hook. It was like docking the shuttle to the space station or some equivalent orbital maneuver, but I didn't want to walk around for the rest of my life with this feathery thing hanging from my ear. Later that week, I saw a woman who had her ear pierced and a feathery thing dangling, and it looked identical to what my fly looked like dangling from my ear....sheesh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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