*UpdatedIt's been a few weeks now. Things are going so-so OK.A short while back, one magical sunny, warm Saturday afternoon, while using my electric wood splitter, a small accident happened.You see, when the wood sits on the wood splitter, it sometimes has a tendency to move due to the vibrations created by the motor. Sometimes I would lightly hold the wood to make sure the wood wouldn't move from the position I'd put it in.Most times, this works pretty well. Sometimes, the wood moves and if my hand is in a bad position, it can get pinched under the wood.Well, a few weeks ago, I had my hand on top of the wood, resting it there and holding the wood to prevent it from turning. It was getting close to finishing time for me. I'd been working for about 90 minutes at that point.Suddenly, the wood turned and my hand went with it. In a split second, my hand had become wedged between the wood and the machine, and my thumb 'popped'.I won't lie. It was a bit painful, but not severely so. But, it was different than other times when my fingers have been pinched. I quickly stopped the machine, took off my gloves, and there was some blood on my thumb. I thought I may have broken my thumb.A quick trip to the hospital and a quick examination revealed the result: broken thumb. OK. I've experienced this before (once on the same thumb, when I hit my thumb accidentally with a hammer while I was splitting wood, once on the other thumb when skiing in Canada). No problem, I'll just get a splint on it.No. I was told that there was a great chance of infection due to the fact that blood had come out; while it was not bleeding externally very much, there was a great chance it was bleeding internally. Probably, I'd need an emergency operation and have to stay in the hospital for 3 or more days.In the end, I did have the operation and had to spend 2 nights in the hospital. My thumb is still in the splint, but the pain has been gone since the first night.*My many thanks to the doctors, nurses and staff who cared for me at the hospital. The doctors were very skilled to assess the situation quickly and perform the necessary operation. The nursing staff were caring and polite and made me feel comfortable. Other staff also helped to make the best of the situation and their services were appreciated.Today, I went back to using the wood splitter to deal with our wood.I'm happy to report that all my fingers and toes are OK. I made a promise to myself and my wife that I would never ever touch the wood on the wood splitter again, but if needed would use some tool to touch the wood. I kept that promise today, and spent a few hours working.I'm not finished yet, but I will work slowly and carefully. Weeks ago, I made a mistake. I did what my uncle Bill many years ago. He famously (in our family) said, "You shouldn't have put your finger there." Uncle Bill, I'm listening now. I will never put my finger there again. Promise.