In 2006, my right hand was partially amputated in a bizarre accident, requiring extensive repair and rehabilitation. The following is an account of how I coped with the experience by studying the science behind it, and accepting love and help, in many forms, from many people. Chapter content alternates between chronological memoir and science (anatomy, neuroscience, psychology, and then some), and in the happy event that the latter whets your appetite for more, I have included a bibliography for each chapter at the back of the book.
I probably wouldn’t have dived into the science myself if an acquaintance (now friend), who has survived a life-threatening injury himself, had not encouraged me to do so. He also made a bold promise of reward for my suffering that gave me much-needed hope. “You’re lucky this happened to you,” he said, “because you’re going to learn and experience things that you couldn’t any other way—amazing, wonderful things that most people will go their whole lives without knowing.” I’m still not sure about the “lucky” bit, but he was right about the rest of it. I hope I have done justice to the payoff in these pages.
I’ve retained some names, with permission, and changed all others. I’ve also changed personally identifying details where appropriate, for instance in describing my fellow hospital patients. I reconstructed events and conversations from memory, aided by medical records and copious journal entries from the accident year, and I sometimes altered minor details to more effectively convey an emotional truth, or to keep action moving at an engaging pace.