Trinity Regional Medical Center 802 Kenyon Road Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 515.573.3101

Making a joyful noise. My Livelihood, My Trinity.

Joel Warland had big plans for Christmas morning 2009, more than the traditional gift exchange – he planned to propose to his girlfriend. And after the proposal, he intended to spend the day with family and friends sharing their exciting news. Unfortunately, the day did not unfold as he intended.

The morning started as planned, when Joel asked Dawn Larson, his girlfriend, to marry him and she said ‘yes’ – the day was off to a wonderful start. Joel and Dawn were eager to get to Joel’s parents to share their news. However, the weather was not cooperating and Joel needed to clear the driveway before they could go anywhere.

Joel started up the snow blower and began to clear the driveway when the blade jammed up with ice. Distracted by the excitement of the day and his eagerness to get on the road, he quickly reached in to release the ice – he did not realize the machine was still running. When he released the ice, the snow blower started back up with his hand in the blade.

The next thing Joel knew he was at Trinity Regional Medical Center. “I don’t remember much of the ride to Trinity, just the pain and how quickly the ER staff began working to alleviate the pain,” shared Joel.

Dr. Dan Cole was working in the Emergency department when Joel came in; he took one look at Joel’s hand and knew that he needed a hand surgeon. However, it was highly unlikely that the ambulance would be able to make it to Des Moines because of the deteriorating weather and poor road conditions. Dr. Cole called Dr. Kyle Ver Steeg II, plastic surgeon, for his assistance.

Dr. Ver Steeg was at home with his family opening Christmas presents when he received the call from Dr. Cole. He immediately left home and was in the Emergency department by the time Joel returned from X-Ray.

“Dr. Ver Steeg talked to me and my family about my options and was very candid with us. Then he looked at me and asked, ‘What do you want?’ and I told him that I wanted to maintain functionality. I’m a banker, I need to be able to type – it’s my livelihood,” said Joel. “Dr. Ver Steeg was honest with us. He told us, ‘I know what needs to be done. I’ve had the training but I’ve never performed the surgery.’ But we trusted him and believed he could do it.” Dr. Ver Steeg consulted with the hand surgeon in Des Moines, and then took Joel in for surgery.

The goal of the surgery was to maintain the length of the middle finger and preserve functionality. The best option, with that goal in mind, was to elevate a flap of skin from the thenar eminence or the muscle just below the thumb and sew the middle finger to that skin flap. Joel then wore a splint to keep the middle finger flexed down to the thenar eminence. Ten days later Joel returned to Trinity for another surgery. During this procedure, Dr. Ver Steeg divided the skin flap and restored the middle finger to its normal position. He then did a skin graft from Joel’s arm to his hand to close the defect on the thenar eminence left by dividing the flap.

Six months later Joel has full function of his hand. He is working and enjoying all the hobbies he enjoyed before the accident. Aside from minor scaring, the evidence of the injury to his hand is nearly undetectable.

“Looking back on the experience I am amazed at the care and treatment I received at Trinity. Prior to moving back to Fort Dodge, I lived and worked in Chicago – you expect to receive this type of cutting-edge care in a large city, we are so fortunate to have it right here in Fort Dodge,” said Joel. “But the staff is what made the experience truly exceptional. Every person we encountered was caring, compassionate and genuine.”