Buddy Valastro’s hand injury could take a year to heal

After a gruesome hand injury earlier this year, “Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro is still unsure about how much permanent damage he will be left with.

In September, Carlo’s Bakery spokesperson Michael Ciullo told USA TODAY that the famed pastry chef’s hand was repeatedly impaled by a “metal rod” during a “malfunction with the bowling pinsetter” at the bowling alley in his New Jersey home.

Opening up in an interview with E! News published Tuesday ahead of TLC’s 2-hour special on Wednesday titled “Buddy Valastro: Road to Recovery,” Valastro, 43, shared that he is “probably going to need a couple more surgeries,” plus “intense physical therapy.”

“They say this healing process could take up to nine months to a year because they reconnected nerves and stuff and you just don’t know how they’re going to grow,” he said. “I think they’re starting to work, but I just won’t know until we’re further down the road… I’m starting to get back a lot of what I lost but I don’t know if I’m going to be 60%, 80%, 90%, hopefully 100%.”

Valastro, the owner of New Jersey’s Carlo’s Bakery, rose to fame as the star of TLC reality show “Cake Boss” in 2009 and has since appeared in a slew of other baking shows. He has been open since the accident about being nervous for what the injury could mean for his future as a baker – last month, Valastro told Entertainment Tonight he was currently at “10 or 15% of the strength I used to have” – but he remains hopeful for a full recovery.

“I’ve been really optimistic,” he told E! News. “The fans and my family have been so good, cheering me on and supporting me. Giving me the love that they’ve been giving me. It’s made me want to do more. It’s pushing me to get better.”

Contributing: Cydney Henderson

Read more at usatoday.com