Monday, November 12, 2007
THREE STAGES OF A WOUND
so when i mentioned to my mother earlier in the day that my plans were to go mountain biking, i had no idea what i really meant was that i'd go for a mountain bike ride and then tumble head over heals into a ditch!! all this within eye shot of my ride being over too. seriously, when i threw the bike off me, climbed out of the ditch and got over my 12 seconds of initial shock, i looked up and saw my car just below. so close!
it is at this stage when you say to yourself, crap...i'm bleeding...its probably only a scratch, then get on with your day which for me was a quick stop at the market on the way home. while at the market kneeling down to inspect the wheat germ, a fellow shopper tapped me on the shoulder and said "excuse me, do you realize you're bleeding all over the floor"? HOLY CRAP!! i've ruined the supermarket floor with BLOOD ... and lots of it!
after a couple of the check out women cleaned me up, i was on my way to the house where a warm shower awaited me.
after the shower, i slapped the biggest band-aid i had on the gash. a half an hour later, after the batch of chocolate chip cookies and milk eased my bruised ego, blood started to drip down my leg again. CRAP! time to bust out the first aid kit and do a better patch up job because that band-aid wasn't quite big enough.
it was at this stage while cleaning the wound that it dawned on me that this was no little scrape or scratch that would just heal by itself. i was reminded of the opening scene to michael moore's recent movie "SICKO" which showed a guy who had no medical coverage stitching up a similar wound of his own. luckily for me, i live here in NZ where things aren't so bad. i decided to get another opinion on my lil boo boo.
the emergency room stage...filled out half a form, had an x-ray taken, and was all through (tetanus shot included) 3 hours later. thanks ACC! 8 days and they come out and i'll be good as new.
could have been worse, when i was waiting to get my x-ray, there was a guy named david on a gurney with a neck brace and possibly a broken neck. he had an accent similar to mine and oddly enough, he and his buddy were talking movie talk about 'Beowulf' and 'Avatar'...fellow movie biz co-workers in some regard? perhaps...anyway, i asked the nurse what happened to him when it was my turn to be x-ray'd. "mountain biking" was her response.
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2:
so, the other day i got the stitches taken out. all looked well and good...UNTIL...i knelt down at work later in the day and the thing SPLIT OPEN and poured blood all over my favorite pants and all over the floor!! i'm becoming annoyed that my blood can't stay on the inside of my body. current status is covered with two band-aids so i don't have to look at what its become. perhaps i'll peek tonight...its been a few days.
UPDATE 3:
another week has passed and it appears things are scabbing up nicely. it looks like i'll have a tidy little scar too which i'm completely cool with.
miraculously and much to my amazement, the gnarly blood stain which ran from the knee all the way down the left leg of my favorite "the north face" pants up and COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED when i washed them today - 6 days later. i didn't even rinse them or treat them or anything, i just threw them on the dirty pile because i thought they were screwed after seeing what the blood did to my white sock. if you're into getting blood on your clothes, like i seem to be, i can't recommend 'the north face' enough. i'm gonna go buy another pair actually.
so when i mentioned to my mother earlier in the day that my plans were to go mountain biking, i had no idea what i really meant was that i'd go for a mountain bike ride and then tumble head over heals into a ditch!! all this within eye shot of my ride being over too. seriously, when i threw the bike off me, climbed out of the ditch and got over my 12 seconds of initial shock, i looked up and saw my car just below. so close!
it is at this stage when you say to yourself, crap...i'm bleeding...its probably only a scratch, then get on with your day which for me was a quick stop at the market on the way home. while at the market kneeling down to inspect the wheat germ, a fellow shopper tapped me on the shoulder and said "excuse me, do you realize you're bleeding all over the floor"? HOLY CRAP!! i've ruined the supermarket floor with BLOOD ... and lots of it!
after a couple of the check out women cleaned me up, i was on my way to the house where a warm shower awaited me.
after the shower, i slapped the biggest band-aid i had on the gash. a half an hour later, after the batch of chocolate chip cookies and milk eased my bruised ego, blood started to drip down my leg again. CRAP! time to bust out the first aid kit and do a better patch up job because that band-aid wasn't quite big enough.
it was at this stage while cleaning the wound that it dawned on me that this was no little scrape or scratch that would just heal by itself. i was reminded of the opening scene to michael moore's recent movie "SICKO" which showed a guy who had no medical coverage stitching up a similar wound of his own. luckily for me, i live here in NZ where things aren't so bad. i decided to get another opinion on my lil boo boo.
the emergency room stage...filled out half a form, had an x-ray taken, and was all through (tetanus shot included) 3 hours later. thanks ACC! 8 days and they come out and i'll be good as new.
could have been worse, when i was waiting to get my x-ray, there was a guy named david on a gurney with a neck brace and possibly a broken neck. he had an accent similar to mine and oddly enough, he and his buddy were talking movie talk about 'Beowulf' and 'Avatar'...fellow movie biz co-workers in some regard? perhaps...anyway, i asked the nurse what happened to him when it was my turn to be x-ray'd. "mountain biking" was her response.
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2:
so, the other day i got the stitches taken out. all looked well and good...UNTIL...i knelt down at work later in the day and the thing SPLIT OPEN and poured blood all over my favorite pants and all over the floor!! i'm becoming annoyed that my blood can't stay on the inside of my body. current status is covered with two band-aids so i don't have to look at what its become. perhaps i'll peek tonight...its been a few days.
UPDATE 3:
another week has passed and it appears things are scabbing up nicely. it looks like i'll have a tidy little scar too which i'm completely cool with.
miraculously and much to my amazement, the gnarly blood stain which ran from the knee all the way down the left leg of my favorite "the north face" pants up and COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED when i washed them today - 6 days later. i didn't even rinse them or treat them or anything, i just threw them on the dirty pile because i thought they were screwed after seeing what the blood did to my white sock. if you're into getting blood on your clothes, like i seem to be, i can't recommend 'the north face' enough. i'm gonna go buy another pair actually.