Kent Klocke works with his hands, so the contractor from Decorah is used to the occasional cuts and bruises. That’s why, when he cut his left ring finger on a nail one Tuesday afternoon, he didn’t think much about it. But that small cut turned into a wound that threatened his life, had it not been for the fast work of doctors at Gundersen Health System.
A progressing problem
That day, Klocke, as part of a bathroom remodeling project, cut his finger while he was working on flooring and around a toilet flange. Some of the contaminate from the toilet flange and wax ring likely got on his tools or hands and then into the cut.
“I didn’t think much of the cut when I did it,” Klocke says. “I just put a quick bandage on it to control the bleeding and went back to work.”
Klocke went on with his week like usual, but then on late Friday afternoon, that finger he cut began giving him trouble.
“It felt like a sliver, but I couldn’t see it, so I left it for later,” Klocke says.
He didn’t pay much attention to it until about an hour later when he couldn’t bend that finger. After another hour, he couldn’t bend the rest of his fingers. Then about an hour after that, the whole hand was getting sore. That’s when he decided something needed to be done.
Klocke went to a Decorah-area emergency room, and by then, the pain was so severe, his whole body was shaking. He was given an antibiotic, a tetanus shot, a prescription for antibiotics, and some Tylenol to cut the pain slightly. Then he was sent on his way to endure a restless night at home. The next morning, his hand was turning red, and the swollen finger was turning blue, and by noon, it was black and cold. That’s when Klocke and his wife were told by his daughter – a nurse – to head for the emergency room at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse.
A cut becomes critical
Upon arrival, Klocke was fast-tracked to an exam room, where he underwent several blood tests. It wasn’t long after that his doctor told him that “she was searching for a hand surgeon, and if she couldn’t find one soon, he’d be transferred to another facility.” By then, the discoloring streak had reached his underarm.
There was no hand surgeon available, but they were fortunate that Jon Peterson, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Gundersen, was working that day. Dr. Peterson recognized what was happening and immediately got Klocke to the operating room.
“The last visit we had with Dr. Peterson in the emergency room was, ‘We will start with your finger,’” Klocke recalls being told. “We may need to strip flesh. If we do, you will be treated like a burn patient and be transferred to a burn unit, or we will need to keep amputating. If we don’t catch this, it will be fatal.”
Klocke underwent surgery that Saturday afternoon, roughly 24 hours after he first felt that “sliver.” Following the procedure, as he came out of anesthesia, he realized he was still in La Crosse at Gundersen and it was still Saturday. He then looked down to his left hand.
“I said, ‘Thank the Lord. I still had my hand and arm.’”
Knowing how bad the situation could have been, he was thankful he was only missing the one infected finger.
“It was a relief,” he says. “I lost a finger, but everything else is whole, everything else is functional. I just took the attitude that life is good, and I’m thankful for everyone and everything around me.”
Quality care in La Crosse and close to home
Following some recovery time, Klocke went back to work, with nearly full use of his left hand. He’s had to adjust how he does some tasks without the ring finger, but he knows it’s a small inconvenience, considering the alternative. He credits his care team at Gundersen for the precision and timely surgery that was done and the work of the departments who got him back on his feet and back on the job.
“Walking into the emergency room there, the staff knew how serious it was, and it was full speed forward,” he says, adding how everyone from doctors and nurses to lab technicians, pharmacists, therapists and food service specialists, were kind and made his stay feel like “Club Med.”
What’s more, Klocke’s been able to have some of his follow-up appointments close to home at Gundersen Decorah Clinic, a location Dr. Peterson does outreach at twice a month.
He admits he was a little up and down emotionally, but not for the reason you’d expect.
“It was not the loss of the finger, but thankful for still having a hand and arm and especially everyone who was around me,” he says.