Laceration By Lightbulb

It was supposed to be a good day, a normal day. I had nothing special planned, just going to my storage unit to get out a winter coat or two maybe stop at Dominos and get one of their chicken parm sandwiches. First I wanted to check my e-mail, so I turn on my PC, go get some juice, then come back and turn on my desk lamp. It's a 3-way lamp which hasn't been working properly.
I reach over with my right hand to tighten the bulb and it flashes and explodes. Blood and bits of a GE Soft White 30-70-100 bulb are splattered and shattered across my desk, monitor, mirror, and wall. It looks like an episode of CSI. :yikes: I was frozen from shock for a moment then I realize I don't want to drip on the keyboard so I run to the bathroom and run cold water over it. Blood is flowing from the gash on my thumb like Niagara Falls. :frown1: I feel light headed and notice what a brilliant clear red it is. I quickly wrap a paper towel around it and attempt to apply pressure. When I press on it it hurts, now I am worried that I have a piece of glass in this open wound. I see this rounded bit of white in the center of the red and go to pull it thinking it's either a bit of glass or a flap of skin. As soon as I touch it, it hurts, BAD. So I break out the peroxide and pour that on. It fizzes up nicely and seems to slow down the flow of blood.

I quickly hop into the shower to wash the important parts. :biggrin1: I then wrap another paper towel around my thumb and get dressed. You have no idea how much you need your right thumb until you can't use it. I almost couldn't get my mascara on straight. :tongue: I have now bled through another quadruple layer of paper towel so I take that off run cold water over it and notice that the tip of my thumb is now numb. This alarms me! :eek: I quadruple fold more paper towels poor some hydrogen peroxide on the paper towel and wrap that around my thumb as I grab my purse and run out of the house.

The local hospital ER was empty as it was only 1:30 in the afternoon but they were woefully slow. This was complicated by the fact the triage nurse probably didn't realize the cut was as bad as it was. So I wasn't a priority. By the time they finally took me back and had a doctor look at it I was feeling a little woozy. I was also annoyed because he left, went to the desk, and I could hear him say to the other nurse how did she say she did that? A lightbulb?! That's the worst lightbulb cut I have ever seen. Then they all look across the hall into my little room. Maybe they thought I was a severly, depressed moron attempting suicide by slashing my thumb instead of my wrist. :irked: After this things moved quickly.

A nurse and 3 nursing students came in and asked if they could observe and I said yes. I always do, as an educator I always think it's important every opportunity to learn be taken.

The nurse had me rinse off the betadine they had put on in triage. She looks at my thumb, pokes it, I whimper in pain. Then she looks at me and asks when did I do this and how much blood did I think I had lost. This scares the crap out of me! I told her it happend about 12:30 PM and while it looked and felt like I had lost a pint at home I doubt it was more than 3 tablespoons. She said if a wound doesn't stop bleeding within 30 minutes you should always come to the ER. I said okay but it was the top of my thumb going numb and me feeling a bit woozy that brought me in today. She then announced what I had determined at home. I need stitches.

She explains everything she needs to do. The needle for the local anesthetic hurt like hell. I am no wuss when it comes to pain; but this was worse than the time I had to get a cortisone shot in my little toe for a bone spur. If you have ever had a cortisone shot you know they hurt like hell. She mentioned cutting off that round white bit I had become convinced was a tendon (it wasn't). I said to the nurse, "You can't just cut that off, shove it back in." She looked at me and said, but it's just a bit of fat. I then said, "but what if I need it? What if it affects my quality of life?" :biggrin1: She looked at me and smirked, "removing that tiny dot of fat from your thumb will have an adverse affect on your quality of life....riiigghht, I don't think so." I then looked her dead in the eye and said, "I live on the computer and I need my right thumb to text. I am not as quick with my left thumb." She laughed, and said to me, "fair enough I would be totally lost if I couldn't text."

By this point we are all laughing hysterically. I then said if she was so set on removing fat she should take it from some place people might notice like my belly or thighs. :tongue: The nursing students chuckled at that in agreement. Frivolity aside she snipped off a bit of the fat and finished up my stitches.

Twenty minutes later some guy comes in to give me a tetanus/diptheria shot and review instructions for wound care. I put them in my left hand and headed home. Once home I poured myself a big glass of pink lemonade, grabbed a handful of mini Snickers and sat down to watch Oprah.

Shit, I still don't have a winter coat that isn't fur to wear as it's been really cold here. I do have my leather bomber jacket from college but I want something that covers my butt. Now I'm screwed because I can't bend my thumb or get it wet or dirty. :irked: On the bright side I should be able to milk this and the tetanus shot for a few days. :biggrin1:

Laceration by Lightbulb
My First Stitches
All Bandaged Up

Comments

Damn...I remember cutting my right thumb real bad a few years ago. It was horrible! I couldn't jerk off for almost a month. I tried using my left hand, but my right hand got so jealous, I had to stop.

Thank god we heal.
 
My dearest NJ,
I owe you an apology. At first I thought this was a "show n tell" type wound. Not unusual of an exchange between us as we share many every day common occurrences.

So my response may have sounded glib. For that I apologize publicly and profusely.

I suppose there was not a great deal of comfort in typing out all the "business" regarding your incident either. LOL

Hope your wound heals quickly, just don't inform mom and dad with such expediency! Milk it sister!!

xoxo OY
 
Eeek! I squirmed through this story.. then clicked the links.. I'm crazy.

Hope you feel better hun.
 
"you cut your thumb badly, and then take a shower before going to the ER?" Biggin'

Shower I can understand...but the line I really liked was: "I almost couldn't get my mascara on straight."
 
You cut your thumb badly, and then take a shower before going to the ER?" Biggin'

nicenycdick: Shower I can understand...but the line I really liked was: "I almost couldn't get my mascara on straight."



Getting mascara on correctly is very important-there are lots of eligible young doctors to be found at the hospital and one must look their best.
 
No apology necessary Oh_Yeah. I realize that what to me is a big deal may not be to other people. Also, it's not like I cut off a digit with my circular saw.
==============================
I had to take a shower as I had been doing some housework the night before and that morning which made me a little sweaty. I knew I needed stitches but I also knew I wasn't gonna die if I took a six minute shower.

In addition, it has been my experience, particularly in the south as a black person that the better attired and coiffed you are the better you are treated. This is true in retail establishments and medical offices. I was not going to the ER smelling funky and wearing a Lanz Flannel nightgown. :irked:

As for the application of mascara, I've been wearing mascara since the 10th grade when Donna Sadow taught me how to apply it at play practice. I never leave home without mascara.
 
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW OUch, right in the fold of your thumb?!

You did give them all a treat at the ER though :biggrin:

Hope it heals fast!
 
I learned early in life to diffuse tense situations with humor. If I am nervous it helps to put me at ease. Depending upon the situation joking around a bit can take the focus away from me, which is sometimes a good thing.
 
I learned early in life to diffuse tense situations with humor. If I am nervous it helps to put me at ease. Depending upon the situation joking around a bit can take the focus away from me, which is sometimes a good thing.
 

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