Monday, April 17, 2006

Not for the squeamish

If the sight of blood bothers you, don't look beyond picture # 4. 

I had a run-in with a cattle panel when I went to call the horses up last night around 6 PM, and injured myself pretty badly.  Cliff wanted to take me to the emergency room, but our new insurance only pays for emergency room visits if you are subsequently admitted to the hospital.  So I waited until this morning and called my doctor's office.

The nurse's reaction when she first saw the wound was, "I can't believe you didn't go to the emergency room with this!"

My main concern was tetanus, since the accident happened in the barn area; and I did get my shot. 

I think there were thirteen stitches in all.

Dr. G. says I'm a tough old gal.

Just another day in "my country life".

This added later:  John Scalzi's "Monday Photo Shoot" assignment is a picture of "something unexpected".  So I am using these pictures, although I told him to delete me from his comments if it was too graphic for AOL.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy cow, Donna!  That looks like a lot of blood....  hope it doesn't hurt as bad as it looks!!

~Amy

Anonymous said...

Yepper I remember the country life! And being a nurse!!! LOL
Surprised they let ya take pics, most wouldn't have.
Nice "eye candy" hehehe I showed of my legs (well knees actually) on my furr babies journal a few days ago when I was trying out the Halti on Angel.
Take care my friend, glad you got the Tetanus shot, I'm allergic to them :(
Hugs,
SUGAR

Anonymous said...

OUCH!!!  Glad you are okay!  This hurt me just to look at it.  Barbara

Anonymous said...

They sure grow 'em tuff in the country....
I'd of told the Doc to wake me up when it was over....
The pictures turned out well tho...  <grin>

All kidding aside, I hope you recover quickly and be a little more careful when out at the barn from now on. God Bless...

Anonymous said...

Glad that you went in within 24hrs. Tetanus shot is necessary and so were the stitches! Hope you do OK.
Tess

Anonymous said...

Ouch!  I guess you don't do anything unless it's big huh?   That looks like it will be sore for a while.. i hope he also put you on an antibiotic so it won't get infected.  I hope you mend fast and it doesn't hurt too much..

I've only seen one wound on a leg i thought might be as bad or worse and I had to help take care of it until we got to a hospital.. a gal i shared rent with in CA.. she owned a Serval cat (that's an african wild animal about knee high.. 80 lbs)  Anyway the cat had been raised from new born by my roommate.. her mom was visiting and went outside to the garage to do laundry and didn't know the cat was loose instead of in his cage.. he was asleep in the garage and got startled and attacked her leg and took a good chunk from it.  I had her put her leg in the bathtub while i tried to clean it somewhat and poured peroxide on it and got something like a bandage on it so we could take her to the emergency room.. with a wild animal you need certain care mostly from infection from their teeth.. more blood then i had ever seen!!  luckily i waited until we got her to a doctor to fall apart and begin to shake lol.. sheesh..

Anonymous said...

You are a tough one!  Thank God for good nurses. Also, I noticed how bright white your shoes were in those pictures :-)   Anne

Anonymous said...

Glad you're stitched up and on the mend.  Youch!  That must've hurt.

Anonymous said...

OUCH!!  I can't believe you didn't go to the emergency room last night.  Your insurance would have covered that!  Stay off your leg and let it heal. I hope it doesn't hurt too much.
Missie

Anonymous said...

WOW that has to hurt!  I can't believe you didn't go to the ER right away.  You're tough!  Tougher than I am!  
Hope it's not too sore and doesn't interfere with your walking.  I know you love your walks.

Anonymous said...

Oh Donna, I'm so sorry you got so hurt... Good for you to take pictures and then you could look at it from a different view point I bet.... I know it must have been frozen. I bet you didn't get much sleep last night either. Take care, Please. Sandra

Anonymous said...

Wowzers Be careful girl!!!

Anonymous said...

Good grief. I bet that give you fits all night. Please be careful. Hope it heals up quickly. Helen

Anonymous said...

You took pictures while they were stitching you up.  That's pretty hard-core.

Good job. Hope your leg feels better. -- Joe

Anonymous said...

Dang girl! That is one nasty cut! Fences and stuff like that is the reason I keep my tetnus up to date! That is going to be one sore leg!

Anonymous said...

SHEESH !! What a nasty wound. You poor baby.  But what a 'trooper' you are.....I'd a gone runnin and screamin' into the night !!  LOL.  Is the cut by your knee?  I only looked at the pictures once before clicking on the comment link.

Maybe you need to invest in some shin guards, knee pads, steel toed boots, elbow pads etc. I was thinking too, maybe just a Baseball catcher's uniform !!

Hope you feel better real soon Mosie....and becareful.

Anonymous said...

My goodness Mosie.. that is one deep wound!  It's a good thing it wasn't too late to get the stitches!  Sometimes when you wait too long to get stitched up, they either can't do it, or it comes out terribly scarred because the wound starts to mesh together on its own.  Looks like you were lucky that didn't happen!

Very good photos!  I love the way you show us EVERYTHING!  Great pics!

Sorry about your boo boo though.. :(

Jackie

Anonymous said...

Yikes thats an awful wound! I am surprised they let you take pictures of them working like that. Hope its feeling ok cause the second and third day is usually when the hurt begins to get a bit worse before it gets better.Take care and stay still for a few days if thats at all possible... LOL

Anonymous said...

Ouch! I would admonish you along with the others that you should have gone to the emergency room.... but, I hate going to the hospital and probably would have done the same... except then i would have tried to convince G that since it was already 'old' now that I didn't need to go to the Dr. either! <LOL>

Good point is that those new tetnus shots last a LONG time. Bad point is that the silly things often hurt worse than the injury you got it for <g> When I had to get my last tetnus shot, I remember that the 'wounds' I had didn't hurt or even swell, but I couldn't lift my right arm at all because of the dang tetnus shot!

Great pics though..... bet that was a first for your Doc... someone wanting to document the stitches so they could put it in their blog ROFL!!
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind
http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

So basically what you're telling us is you have "Gambler's Insurance"??

Anonymous said...

I got 17 stitches when a snapping turtle bit me.

Anonymous said...

Chopping wood on the south slope the Porcupine Mts (Mi) my axe miscued and laid open the top of my left instep. Alone and to far to make it to a town anywhere, I washed it in lake water and sewed up with about twenty stitches with the aid of mom's sewing basket. Sure got sore. managed half the intended work from then on, soaking foot four/five times a day reheating original salty water solution. What a picnic. Didn't hurt a bit as it would have if I had made it alive driving an hour in any direction.
Hmmmm! Nice leg..... err..... limb! Fernan

Anonymous said...

Oh! I liked the commet what went with snap (6.) Fernan

Anonymous said...

ouch that looks like it hurts. I can't believe you were taking pictures while it was going on. LOL how funny. get better fast.

Anonymous said...

Lord have mercy Mosie.........I can not believe that you waited until the next day....you had to be in so much pain!!!!!!!
Man that cut looked awful but Cliff did agood job wrapping you up didn't he???? lol I bet it scared him too.
You take care and keep a watch out for infection.
love,
Carlene

Anonymous said...

Woman, you are something else,LOL. You remiind me of myself. I hope that heals well as it was a nasty wound. Your DR. probably just shakes his head at you as does mine. take care of yourself ans for goodness sake watch where you are going,lol.
            Cyndy, Mendota, IL.

Anonymous said...

Ouch nasty cut. Cliff did a good job. Take care. Paula

Anonymous said...

Donna, you continue to amaze me! I'm praying for both of you now as I just read Rachel's journal and found that Cliff is having a heart procedure.  I know the Lord is ther to guide the hands of the doctors.  Blessings, Penny http://journals.aol.com/firestormkids04/FromHeretoThere

Anonymous said...

I saw the link at Joe's journal, and not being the squeamish type, decided to visit yours. Wow! I can't believe the doctor actually allowed the pictures. He must know you pretty well. At any rate, great shots! Looks like the doctor did a great job stitching it up. But that gash at the panels must have been quite painful. Ouch!! Just proves... we aren't babies when it comes to pain. Bea http://journals.aol.com/bgilmore725/Wanderer/

Anonymous said...

Tough gal is right!!  Yeeouch!  Glad it wasn't any worse!  Michelle

Anonymous said...

WOW Donna.. hahaha... thats the kinda thing i do.. (Nooo.. not cut myself in barns.. But phorograph everything!) .. Its always great to look back on in years to come.. You brave lady you!    
Claire :o)

Anonymous said...

Glad it wasn't worse than it was.  Good thing there was no infection.  Love the fact that you photographed everything!
Lori

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness you got it taken care of when you did.  I thought I would be more squeamish of the pics but working at a hospital 5 yrs now..even though it's in the office area...didn't bother me at all.  It's good that you did get pics too.  I'm just glad you're alright & wasn't a more serious injury.  Take care!

Anonymous said...

WHAT A BUNCH OF BS. A REASONABLE DOC WOULD NOT SUTURE A WOUND THAT  LONG AFTER THE INJURY. TOO HIGH OF INFECTION RATE. ALSO THE SUPPOSED MED STUDENT DOES NOT HAVE STERILE GLOVES ON AND WOULD NOT HAVE HIS LAB COAT AND STETHOSCOPE ON. GIVE ME A BREAK CHICK. GET A LIFE!

Anonymous said...

ouch!!!

Anonymous said...

Yep.. looks like they had to open it up some more to irrigate it out first before stitching it up.. and those are sterile gloves.. from what I can tell they are the non latex kind.... I know those kind.. Looks like it hurt plenty.. but was dealable till the morning..I just feel bad at how SORE that area is going to be.. ouch!! I've done some pretty messed up things myself with the accidents I've had throughout my lifetime so far.. and as for taking pictures once they numbed it up.. I'm sure you didn't feel it at all.. ;) Mel

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