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So I am now sporting a large, restrictive bandage on my thumb due to an unfortunate incident with a knife and an apple on Friday night. The size of the bandage makes the injury seem far more severe than it actually is. I probably could have gotten a couple stitches given the depth of the cut, but my friend (a nurse) said that as long as I am nice to it, it should heal fine without them. Now, I do trust my friend's judgment, but out of my paranoia I have taped my thumb to the point that it can barely move. It looks rather dramatic, and I get a lot of concerned inquiries. Generally, I say, "Oh its nothing" (since telling people that it squirt blood onto the wall seems to cause them some discomfort), however I have been told that the correct response to these inquiries is , "You should see the other guy." In any case, the bandage has resulted in a lot of (not unwanted) attention for me.

It's interesting how important thumbs are. You appreciate this when you effectively have only one. They are indeed what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom (well, that and having a soul. But thumbs are still cosmically significant, I think). You will be happy to know, however, that despite my temporary cosmic loss I can successfully tie my shoes.

In other news...

Yesterday I went for the first time to a new doctor on my (also new) Kaiser Permanente insurance policy. It was my first foray into the HMO world, I didn't know what to expect. Half of the people I've told about my new insurance responded with pity (most of them were nurses who actually seemed disgusted at the mention of the name). The other half seem to think its great--provided you don't mind being a "number".

I found the nurses to be helpful and polite, and my doctor is great. They have a very orderly system worked out--the doctors, labs, and pharmacy are all in the same building, and there seems to be an established flow of procedures for them firmly established. The problem is that they lack a procedure for helping new members. If I hadn't run into a friend in the pharmacy I would certainly have left the facility without leaving a copy of my visit paperwork in the bin at the reception desk and as a result probably would've had to do the chicken dance for the nursing staff (and of course I would've missed the appointment cause no one told me it was in nursing station B, not A). But I think once you know the system it isn't so bad and it seems pretty efficient. I guess I can see how it makes you feel like a number, though. And, of course, they DID leave me waiting on the butcher paper for over a half hour. Seems to be standard procedure for any healthcare provider.