English teacher recovering from severe hand injury

Last year, May 1 seemed like another typical adult league soccer game for English teacher Meg Battey, who was playing defender until an opponent’s miscalculated kick landed full force against Battey’s right hand. 

“At first my hand went numb, and I was trying to shake it to get the feeling back,” Battey said. “I looked down and there was blood everywhere.”

Luckily for Battey, one of the men on the sideline was a firefighter, who put her finger in a splint and told her to go to a hospital as soon as possible. However, because Battey was already in shock, the man did not mention the severity of her injury.

"At the hospital, the lady that was taking my information said, 'Hey your bone is sticking out of your finger,' so I almost passed out, but my husband's friend caught me," Battey said.

After waiting in the ER for six hours, Battey finally underwent emergency surgery.

“I was out for three weeks [from school] because the injury was so bad,” Battey said. “I was definitely Frankenstein. They had pins through my hands and this metal attachment as well. My students remember it; it was really gross.”

Grading papers became especially difficult for Battey since her writing hand was injured.  

“I wrote very badly with my left hand and I was able to hold a pencil very awkwardly with my right,” Battey said. “My students last year were able to decipher some of my terrible writing, which was helpful.”

Consequently, Battey turned to alternative methods of grading that were not as writing intensive. 

“I had been able to type better than I can write, so I had been using a lot of rubrics,” Battey said. “I would highlight comments that I would have usually given to the student and met with students more at tutorial to give feedback that way.” 

The road to recovery was a difficult one for Battey. Until last November, she went through constant physical therapy including ultrasounds and red light therapy. 

Because she still felt pain in her hand in December, Battey sought a specialist who told her she would need two surgeries. Battey decided she would take two weeks off before spring break this year and the week after for the first surgery. 

“It was definitely experimental,” Battey said. “The specialist didn’t know if there was anything to do to help me, so he went on a limb and removed my screws, took the scar tissue off the tendon and shaved off the bone. It’s so much better now.”

The first surgery was such a success that the doctor has told Battey that she will not have to undergo the second surgery that was originally planned, which would have required an eight to 10 week recovery period. 

Although some pain still lingers and Battey goes to physical therapy twice a week, Battey is grateful for the success of the first surgery. 

“I’m really happy that I had this surgery,” Battey said. “My hand will never be the same again, but I can wrap my hand around a baseball and throw it to my kids, so I'm happy."