Did I ever have a fun day today. Besides the profuse bleeding part, of course.

[MiddleFingerMom]

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Getting ready to take a shower (which I NEEDED badly) and this
little sore on my leg is itchy so I scratch it. My fingernail catches
it just right and pulls off the smallest of scabs.
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This thin JET of blood starts coming out of my leg, shooting out
to about a foot or so away. Won't stop. Pressure. Won't stop.
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I was a medic. I've seen situations where there was a LOT of blood.
Although this was a lot of blood... it wasn't a LOT of blood. So,
although it was gross and inconvenient and messy, it wasn't much
more than an "Oh, fuck" moment.
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I thought of Dan Ackroyd from the old SNL doing Julia Child and I
started talking to myself in my best (bad) Julia Child impression.
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"Oh no... now I've done it."
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Luckily, one of my housemates had the day off and drove me to the ER.
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Not a big deal -- just time-consuming. They did some blood tests
to check the levels of the two blood-thinners I take -- which had
contributed to the problem along with the mild edema (fluid swelling)
in my lower legs.
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Lab work OK. Many more serious cases came in, so I laid on the
treatment table (and napped most of the time) for 3 or 4 hours
before they came in, checked it out, slapped a bandage on it
and sent me home.
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Had quite the mess to clean up when I got home.
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I'm fine -- just inconvenienced.
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Here's KINDA what I looked like.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaASyRFXTj4
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[Tobin S.]

1. Man, I think I would have freaked

But I get crazy when I nick myself shaving. I have a hard time with that kind of stuff. I have to get blood drawn once every three months or so and although I can endure the discomfort, I don't even look at the blood spurting out of me and into the tube. I just look the other way until it's time for the cotton swab and the tape.

It's good that you have a sense of humor about these things. I think that will help get you through a lot in life. And speaking of shaving, is that something that you just don't do now because of the bleeding risk?

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Funny you should mention shaving because when I woke my housemate up to go to the ER...

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...I explained to him that I had cut my leg in the bathroom (rather than
the specific cause). He came right out and off we went, but pretty much
his first and only question was, "Were you shaving your legs in there?"
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That's still making me laugh.
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Sense of humor? We were 18-year-old boys with literal life-and-death
responsibilities thrust upon our shoulders as medics. Talking amongst
ourselves, we could admit to being scared shitless most of the time...
but the men we worked with and for could NOT be allowed to see that --
they NEEDED to have absolute confidence in us, so most of us developed
a sense of dark humor (kind of a gallows humor) to help us both look
and actually BE calm and collected.
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We all thought we were hilarious (and we were). We grossed out and
sometimes ANGERED many a bystander -- but we were able to keep from
uncontrollably shaking and falling apart until after the crisis passed
(trust me on that one).
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With my own blood yesterday, I was able to look at it with a really
WIERD clinical detachment -- simultaneously, I was mildly freaking
out and thinking, "NONONONONO" while also looking at that little
jetstream of blood and thinking, "That is way cool, Beavis."
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And the beard? I just have always hated shaving -- outside of my
time in the service, I've had a beard of one sort or another --
sometimes long and shaggy, sometimes clipped extremely short and
well-groomed -- for decades.
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And that particular bleeding yesterday? The meds I'm on make me a
potential bleeder... but the edema in my legs (actually very mild
compared to what it has been at times) combined with that to kinda
pressurize the bleeding -- it's doubtful that it would have been ABLE
to occur in other locations.
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It WAS, in a way -- way cool. Briefly, I twisted my leg just to send
that stream in an arcing pattern, much as one would with a machine
gun or garden hose.
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I mean, I'm REALLY hoping I won't get many (ANY) chances to play
like that in the future... so I wasn't about to waste what I hope
was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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[Kali]

2. just a flesh wound! (thinking of Mont Python)

be careful, guy

[MiddleFingerMom]

5. I didn't think of that until reading this, but now that you mention it...

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...PERFECT. :thumbsup:
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"be careful, guy"
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Yes, Mom.
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:P
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[LiberalAndProud]

3. I'm glad you're well.

And it's nice that you got to nap a bit. But be careful, MFM
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because
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we care.
:hug:

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. Thanks, LAP -- one of the reasons I REALLY like DU and The Lounge...

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...is that the people here DO care. :hug:
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Your use of dots... ... ... ... that looked way cool.
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I may have to start doing that. :evilgrin:
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[LiberalAndProud]

8. You know what I love?

I love when you make me LOL.

And I love DU.

[Bossy Monkey]

7. "Save the liver!"

Did you know that high blood pressure is caused by
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vertical ellipses? Oh shit!:P

[applegrove]

9. Good that you took it seriously. You never know with blood thinners.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. My dear MiddleFingerMom!

SO glad you're OK! I found your description so damn vivid that I could see the stream arcing from your leg...:scared:

Please be careful....OK?

You matter.


:hug:

[MiddleFingerMom]

11. My dear CaliforniaPeggy!

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Thank you for that.
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I TRY to be careful -- although not so obsessively so that
I'm no longer really living.
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What DID (and does) bother me is how absolutely painless
it was -- actually totally free of any sensation whatsoever
(though the area isn't numb).
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If I hadn't actually SEEN the blood, I might not have known
that I was bleeding at all -- let alone so much (normally,
a teeny wound like that -- even a lacerated vein -- will
self-close before a patient bleeds out -- but with the edema
causing it to fountain like that -- my seeming nonchalance
aside... that IS some cause for concern).
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I know now to be even MORE careful.
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Thanks.
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