Well its been almost 6 months to the day since 'prop bitten', and this is my final summary to the thread. At this point I've got back about 90% use, and hopefully that will increase a bit more as time goes on. I'm still going to therapy 3 times a week, but believe we're about to finish that up as well. There is still some numbness in areas, and it doesn't take long for the fingers and joints to stiffen up, so its a constant exercise routine to keep them somewhat limber. Nor can I extend my fingers straight out yet, still about 10 degrees off from full extension. Hopefully these things will also dissipate as time goes on.

You can see that the wound is healed, except where I banged the index finger cleaning out my truck. The other photo is all of the various apparati worn during different periods of the recovery process. The box on the left is an electro-stimulator for working the muscles to achieve extension of the fingers. The braces and one of the gloves are for keeping the fingers in various stabilized or bent configurations, the rest are slings and ice packs. Only thing missing is a lot of gauze and wrapping. So far treatment has generated 138 pages of paperwork, most of it insurance billing and I suspect a few more are still on the way. My out-of-pocket expenses looks to be just under $3,000.00. Total insurance costs look to be just under $20,000.00. The second operation accounts for about $11,000.00, or roughly $2,000.00 per finger, with the next largest share going to therapy. Here are my observations;

1. Take the prop off or disconnect the engine when working on electrics.

2. Keep your insurance up-to-date and have some idea of your coverage. I use Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which was a bit of a blessing, as I didn't have any of the restrictions associated with HMO's and various 'in-network' providers. I was considering cancelling it just a week before the bite because of cost, thankfully common sense prevailed in this instance.

3. If you get bit and are going to require surgery, seek out a specialist! The ER may provide you with a list of appropriate surgeons, but that does not mean you will get one of them when you schedule with the clinic. So, use what little time you have to check that list to see which one may be the best for you. Ask around, google them and so forth, THEN call the clinic and request to see that person. Not, "I have a list and need to see one of them".. you may not get any on the list, but instead the surgeon 'on call' the day of your injury. While there may be various insurance considerations to consider, the important point I've learned is that if you've injured your hand and require surgery, get a hand specialist! Had I done this to start, I probably could have saved myself a second surgery, since the general ortho surgeon failed to adhere to protocol and left my hand in a cast for far too long, thus 'locking' everything up beyond theraputic recovery. FYI, unless you've REALLY screwed up bad, surgery for this type of trauma is out-patient.

4. You will need additional support. Not just to get to and from surgery but for daily activities as well. Ever try washing just one hand, with one hand? Opening a jar one-handed? Point is you'll find a number of seemingly innocent tasks become very difficult. You're not going to be able to button shirts, pants or tie shoes, so get some pull-up athletic trousers and polo shirts. As for shoes, Wal-Mart sells a tennis shoe with velcro straps for $9.00 or so. Driving wasn't a huge problem, just awkward so have to be careful. One thing for certain, your uninjured hand/arm is going to get much stronger through the course, and your injured hand/arm is going to weaken considerably. You will be nothing short of amazed at how quickly muscles atropy, and the length of time it takes to get them back up to reasonable usability.

5. You MUST be compliant with your treatment! Show up for your therapy sessions and go the whole mile while there. Sometimes its going to smart but you have to suck it up, it won't always be that way! The lions share of that work is going to be on your back. You cannot be cured with an hour a day. You are going to have to do the exercises and work the hand almost constantly. Believe me, you are going to get sick of working it all the time, which can be quite depressing since you will only see very small or modest gains to start with. Don't let it wear you down mentally. Tighten those ruck straps and buck up, because if you stick with it, you WILL get a great deal of lost mobility back. It just takes time, usually measured in months! Frankly I would have never believed that a tendon repair would take so long to recover from. I thought 3 weeks in a cast, 2 weeks working and back in the game. Wrong! Set a goal of getting your hand back, not getting it back next week because its not going to happen like that.

The whole ordeal has been a real eye-opener for me, and I hope that my shared experience will keep you from experiencing a similar ordeal of your own. I would like to thank everyone that contributed to the thread and took an interest, its greatly appreciated. If anyone has any questions I'll certainly respond and try to answer them. For now, I'm back into flying and building, spring weather is breaking and my hand feels good and works good. Life is sweet. So take care my fellow flyers, and I hope your stories are about great flights.