Post by papaof2 on Oct 26, 2023 13:33:20 GMT -6
Almost did major incapacitation to myself yesterday. Checking the tires on the better half''s SUV and the spare gets caught at an angle as I'm cranking back it up into position under the back of the vehicle after airing it up. Down on the piece of cardboard I always have in place when doing that and grab the tire in both hands to move it back to straight so I can crank it up the rest of the way. The tire is stuck a little tighter than usual so I pull a little harder with the right hand - and the tire pops loose and slams the back of the left hand into the assorted sheet metal under there. Taking it in the house to wash it off, I can see three places that the skin is rolled back (degloved) so this probably needs more than the first aid I can do at home. Rinse the back of that hand in running warm water for cleaning then running cold water to speed blood clotting and wash the rest of both hands. Back out to crank the spare all the way up so the SUV can be driven. Back inside to wash one hand and change from grubbies to something slightly more presentable.
I didn't damage the large vein on the back of that hand so this is probably something Urgent Care can do with glue, butterfly bandages or stitches. We're maybe ten minutes from an Urgent Care that's under the auspices of the medical group our primary care physician is part of so they're first choice. Get to the desk there and the mini sign-in sheet is all they need to find my records because I was there in January with an ear problem. The chairs aren't bad for medical office chairs but those are rarely decent seating for more than ten minutes. The music is far too loud and a genre I find difficult to describe as music but we only have to wait an hour :-(
They get BP and temp and I'm escorted to an exam room. While I wait for the doc, I work the 3x3 gauze pad I taped over the wounds lose from the dried blood. The doc examines my hand and then washes it with a solution of Betadine, antiseptic soap and sterile water. After some drying with sterile gauze, she says "Steri-strips and glue" and goes to get those. Meanwhile, I'm holding fresh gauze on the wounds and holding the hand above my head help the bleeding stop - need a dry area to use glue.
Fifteen minutes later, the bleeding is almost stopped so she uses steri-strips to pull the edges together and glue to hold them closed. I've explained that the reason I'm not yelling from the pain is that I have a pain patch delivering a healthy dose of pain meds continuously. She calls in a prescription of antibiotics as a "just in case" measure (5 days' worth).
Two and a half hours after arriving, we're out the door of Urgent Care and will stop at the pharmacy for the Rx on the way home. By the time we're home, I'm tired - been up about 20 hours, had a major jolt of adrenalin when the hand was hit - I'm hungry and the hand hurts. Food, a tablet and a half of the Rx pain meds I have and then stop to let the Rx have time to take effect. Then a 3x3 gauze protect the area while I sleep (and protect the bed linens if it bleeds any more) then to bed and I crash.
Fourteen hours later I wake and the hand is swollen (that needs ice) and I'm again hungry (that's a good sign ;-) Ice off and on every ten minutes (can't manage the cold for the normal 20 minutes on/off with an ice pack) but ten minutes does help with the swelling.
Pretty obvious that it'll be several days before I can re-hang the swing or put the blades back on the ceiling fan on the screened porch :-( On the positive side, I didn't do any functional damage to the hand and it didn't need surgery to repair any damage. I will have limited use of the hand and I'm likely to be icing it for at least another day.
Just a normal day with a simple task of checking the air in the tires - something I've done dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
I didn't damage the large vein on the back of that hand so this is probably something Urgent Care can do with glue, butterfly bandages or stitches. We're maybe ten minutes from an Urgent Care that's under the auspices of the medical group our primary care physician is part of so they're first choice. Get to the desk there and the mini sign-in sheet is all they need to find my records because I was there in January with an ear problem. The chairs aren't bad for medical office chairs but those are rarely decent seating for more than ten minutes. The music is far too loud and a genre I find difficult to describe as music but we only have to wait an hour :-(
They get BP and temp and I'm escorted to an exam room. While I wait for the doc, I work the 3x3 gauze pad I taped over the wounds lose from the dried blood. The doc examines my hand and then washes it with a solution of Betadine, antiseptic soap and sterile water. After some drying with sterile gauze, she says "Steri-strips and glue" and goes to get those. Meanwhile, I'm holding fresh gauze on the wounds and holding the hand above my head help the bleeding stop - need a dry area to use glue.
Fifteen minutes later, the bleeding is almost stopped so she uses steri-strips to pull the edges together and glue to hold them closed. I've explained that the reason I'm not yelling from the pain is that I have a pain patch delivering a healthy dose of pain meds continuously. She calls in a prescription of antibiotics as a "just in case" measure (5 days' worth).
Two and a half hours after arriving, we're out the door of Urgent Care and will stop at the pharmacy for the Rx on the way home. By the time we're home, I'm tired - been up about 20 hours, had a major jolt of adrenalin when the hand was hit - I'm hungry and the hand hurts. Food, a tablet and a half of the Rx pain meds I have and then stop to let the Rx have time to take effect. Then a 3x3 gauze protect the area while I sleep (and protect the bed linens if it bleeds any more) then to bed and I crash.
Fourteen hours later I wake and the hand is swollen (that needs ice) and I'm again hungry (that's a good sign ;-) Ice off and on every ten minutes (can't manage the cold for the normal 20 minutes on/off with an ice pack) but ten minutes does help with the swelling.
Pretty obvious that it'll be several days before I can re-hang the swing or put the blades back on the ceiling fan on the screened porch :-( On the positive side, I didn't do any functional damage to the hand and it didn't need surgery to repair any damage. I will have limited use of the hand and I'm likely to be icing it for at least another day.
Just a normal day with a simple task of checking the air in the tires - something I've done dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
