I have E.T.’s famous phrase running through my head this evening: “Ouuuuch….”
Was at work today. We’re in a small business complex with a communal trash compactor/dumpster. We were a bit slow so I was just doing the usual “hey, find some small chore to do” mode, and decided to haul out a bag of trash. Why not? I’m not above menial tasks. When you work for a small business everyone pitches in for things like that.
I walked the bag of trash out to the dumpster, tossed it in, walked away… and suddenly my feet flew out from under me on a patch of ice that I hadn’t even noticed. And my hand slammed down to catch my fall–right into a collection of sheets of glass laying near the dumpster. My butt hurts, my back hurts, my arm hurts, but beyond all that I lift my hand up and see nothing but ripped flesh and blood.
Fortunately I know “Boy Scout” first aid, so I immediately pressed my good hand’s thumb directly into the wrist and the meat of the palm below the injuries, and hobbled back into the shop. Had to negotiate opening the door carefully, then went in and said, “crap, I cut myself,” and at first everyone was laughing at me for having done something dumb. But I said, “no, this is serious, I need some help,” and everyone got serious immediately. My boss handed me some cloth to blot out all the blood that was pouring over my fingers, and after one look he said I needed medical attention right now. They drove me straight to professional medical assistance.
Upshot: One patch of my palm had to have the hanging skin excised, leaving the fatty tissue underneath exposed. The other wound had to have seven stitches to close it off and stop the bleeding, as they searched for remnants of broken glass in the two wounds.
The doc wants to see me again on Friday, and again in a week or two to remove the stitches and survey the aftermath.
My arm hurts, my back hurts, but most especially my palm hurts. As a compulsive blogger, I’m writing this now but it’s painfully slow. I’m functional for the moment, but damn dude: it’s many hours later, and I hurt worse than I did when I first smashed my stupid hand into a stupid pile of broken windows.
E.T. say “ouuuuch…”
{ 8 comments }
Damn dude, that sucks.
Watch your arm and shoulder area for swelling tomorrow. That’s exactly how I broke my upper arm last year (almost to the day….).
And that pain didn’t show up for 24 hours or so.
And get well soon!
Eww…. that hurts. I hope your mom is there to help you. And yes, make sure something like an elbow, shoulder, etc. isn’t broken. Bone breaks swell fairly quickly. Best wishes for a swift recovery.
Ouch. It hurts worse once the adrenaline wears off for sure. With a wound that big, watch for the normal signs of infection. :( Keep it irrigated if possible. Normal saline is best. Damn your luck these days. Here’s to better days eh?
OW! Sorry to hear that Dean.
I once nearly chopped my left ring finger off in a bank vault door, just a month or so before my wedding day. Much like you the situation went from “Ow! That’s sort of funny” to “Omigod, we better get you to a hospital!” very fast.
In my case I actually got faint when I saw that my finger had been mostly severed and was hanging on mostly by a flap of skin and muscle.
The doctor wanted to amputate it, but I refused. To this day I have a numbness in the finger and it does cause me some frustration playing guitar, but for the most part it is completely recovered.
It sounds to me like you were lucky. Slips like that can hurt your spine. People have been crippled by such falls. You have my sympathy and best wishes. Nothing for you to do right now except rest and take your meds, as the pain is liable to get worse before it gets better.
Take care of yourself Dean. The world can wait.
Tylenol 3 is my new best friend!
Ruth and All,
You betcha that I am watching over him. I was so sad for him when he came home with his hand wrapped. He is getting one of his favorite Mexican dishes tonight, enchaladas and pinto bean soup!
To my dismay I really feel for you lil bro, noone wants that type of pain. One of your readers said to look out for other sources of pain and I could’nt agree more. Please take care and for heavens sake quit playing with glass.
Beverly Cruse
Comments on this entry are closed.