Around the house: X

When I fell off the ladder and broke my leg, I also broke a bone in my right hand (fortunately I'm left handed). They straightened it out and stuck these two pins in, as shown in this x-ray from 22/12/94. They're called k wires, perhaps because they couldn't decide whether they look like a j or an l. Unlike the ones in my leg, the ends stuck out and when it was deemed to have healed adequately, they were taken out.
This was the most fascinating part of the whole procedure - I went into outpatients, the surgeon took a pair of pliers, grabbed the bent end of the k wire and pulled. Straight out. I couldn't look - but even more, I couldn't not look. He had an incredibly steady hand, pulled it straight out, no pain, and just a drop of blood where the wire had been. Repeat the procedure with the other one, slap a new dressing on, done.