3.30.2007

It's Off!

My wedding ring has been stuck on my finger for about 2 years. I have tried at various times to remove it, sometimes quite strenuously, but have always been unsuccsessful. Sometimes it is so tight I can barely spin it around on my finger, and other times it is comfortable.

My fingers always swell when I am pregnant, and I have known for some time that it really must come off. Last night I could hardly sleep because the ring was so tight that the throbbing kept waking me up.

So, this afternoon we went to the EMS to see if they could cut if off. I thought cutting was the only option. But when we arrived, the woman there said "If you can take it, I can get it off." I decided to see if I could take it.

The male technicians were all very interested to learn how she did it. She had apparently removed the ring of a man a week ago and everyone was very impressed, but no one had seen her do it.

The retrieved some tracheostomy tape (umbilical tape is preferred, but it was unavailable), and some KY Jelly. She slid a strip of the tape under my ring, creating a handle to pull the ring with. Then she wrapped my finger VERY tightly with the tape to try to make it smaller than the ring. A liberal squirt of KY and the pulling/twisting commenced.

WOW, It was PAINFUL!

They pulled, twisted, pulled, twisted... A few times I had to have them stop so I could catch my breath and make sure that they weren't fileting my finger. It really, really hurt.

But, it is off!

My finger is still pretty swollen and painful, but I will sleep tonight. And the ring didn't have to be cut.

All in all, worth it.

And now, if anyone needs a ring removed, I know just what to do :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! That does sound painful! Glad that it is off.

Nicole Hearn said...

Let it never be said that a day in the life of an Elliott is not adventuresome.

lindafay said...

How interesting!

I learned something new today.