So, the other day I switched my rings from my left ring finger to my right ring finger. It is something I do often because I have sensitive skin and my rings irritate my skin easily. That night, when I went to take my rings off, though, I couldn’t. This has happened before, so I just put lotion on and tried again. And again. And again. But they wouldn’t come off and my finger was getting more and more swollen. So I decided to leave it alone and try again in the morning. Here is what my finger looked like before I went to bed:

But then I woke up at 3 in the morning and my finger was still swollen and it hurt. A lot. So I called the BCBS nurses line. After asking a few questions, she told me I needed to seek immediate medical attention, which at this time of night meant the ER.

So I got in the car and drove to the ER. Luckily, there was hardly anyone there. They took me back right away and immediately decided they needed to cut the rings off, rather than try to slide them off. I was eager to have them off my finger — however that needed to happen. I was surprised by how long it took. The guy used a not-very-powerful saw and then pried the rings off with clamps, causing all kinds of damage to the rings in the process. They slid that metal plate underneath while they were sawing to protect my finger and that is metallic residue below the rings.

The medical staff in the ER were very different than what I am used to. While the guy was working on my rings, he was telling me all kinds of crazy stories, including the fact that the guy in the cot next to mine was high on narcotics. Luckily he was snoring away, so he couldn’t overhear the conversation, but still–isn’t that a pretty clear HIPAA violation? And at one point a nurse came over because she said she needed my guy’s help rousing patient #5. My guy responded, “Oh, I am sure the PCP has worn off by now.” Yikes!

But whatevs, he got my rings off, which is something I couldn’t do for myself, so I guess beggars can’t be choosers! Here is what my hand looked like afterward. Yikes. Those suckers were on tight!

The next day I took my rings to the jeweler to have them repaired. The jeweler couldn’t believe how bad they looked (one of the rings had cracked into the setting when it was removed, another had been cut in two places). Grand total? Over $1,000. Oh my gosh, what a waste!!! So, the moral of the story is that if your rings are stuck on your finger, just leave them. Don’t mess with them. Wait until the next day when you can go to a doctor or a jeweler who will be able to get them off or cut them off more delicately. On the bright side, when I get my rings back, they will be nice and shiny!