Friday, June 4, 2010

Two trips to the hospital in one day.......I don't know!!

The first visit to the hospital was a scheduled appointment for dh, as he had to have a CAT scan as he has a persistant cough and chest problems.  The only reason I went was that dh's truck was in the garage for a service, so I was recruited to be his driver for the afternoon.  So lets pray and hope it's nothing too to serious for dh.

The second visit was NOT scheduled, read on to find out why!!

As you all know I went and hurt my arm with the brush cutter over two weeks ago, read here  Things have been up and down with my arm ever since.  I went to the doctors a week ago and he said it was mending nicely and not to worry about the lump it would go.

A couple of you have been asking how my arm is, so last night I was looking at it, and it was still lumpy.  On further investigation; me squeezing it, I discovered it was full of pus and liquid.  On even more further investigation; me poking it even further, I discover a black object in it.  So after poking about in it for a while with a pin and tweezers I was finally able to get hold of the black object, but couldn't pull it out.

So I got dh to try and he decided to go and get his tool for pulling nails out of wood to grip this black thing.  I know you're all yelling.....NO!!!!!  He did wipe the end on his pants just to make sure he got some of the dirt off!!   Anyhow, he could get hold of this black object but it didn't want to come out of my arm.  Plus by this point I had figured out it was a piece of metal.  Both me and dh decided this was a hospital job, as we figured the skin had grown around the piece of metal and someone was going to have to cut my arm open to get it out.

So just after 8pm of we trot to the hospital again.  At 11:15pm we saw the doctor in emergency and he cut open my arm; after freezing it I am pleased to say, and cut out a piece of metal that was sort of shaped like a "U"  He said it was like a fish hook, as the more we were pulling on the one end, the other end was digging into the flesh of my arm, so I would never have got it out without ripping open the arm, which would have been painful.

Of course I had to have a tetanus shot as goodness knows when I last had one of those; and off I went at 11:35pm.  We were all tucked up in bed by midnight, shattered.  Poor dh had to be up his usual time of 4:20am, and Molly had me up her usual time of 6am.  So I can see and early night in store for us.

Oh and a bit of good luck with all of this.  Remember how the dentist put me on an antibiotic for my tooth, see here  Well we figure that is what has helped keep the infection in my arm down during this past week.  I got another prescription for some more antibiotics last night, but will only fill it if my arm starts to flare up again.

So the moral of this story, one trip to the hospital can lead to two.  That British Woman should never be allowed to use the brush cutter with the metal blade on it.  If you have a lump in your arm and it looks lumpy, investigate earlier on in the day, so you can get to bed at your normal time, otherwise the next day you will be bone weary, which is not helpful when you have a busy day ahead of you!

Well I had better get on, as I still have my Orangeville Banner column to write for this week!

16 comments:

MyBulletinBoard said...

So glad you got a tetanus shot!! Yikes!!!!!

Stella Jones said...

I thought that arm looked fierce! My son had a similar injury once. His hand slipped on the microphone during a gig and a shard of metal went right into the fleshy bit under the thumb. He did nothing about it and the skin grew over it. About three years later he went to the hospital!!
So glad you were on the antibiotics. You SHOULD have had the tetanus jab as soon as you moved in to your new abode. Heed advice: LOOK AFTER YOURSELF properly in future!Please keep us informed re the tooth and the arm.
Blessings, Star

Toria said...

Wow, glad you investigated finally & found it there. Was it lucky you were on the antibiotics, or would you have discovered it early if you had started to get a bad infection? I guess avoiding infection is always a good thing.

mommanator said...

My goodness, Hope you soon on the mend!

Tracey said...

You need full body armour! Yuk it could have turned all green & dropped off! xxx

Caroline said...

Things should be on the mend I hope now. You have had a rough time of it of late.

Cherie said...

Yikes! That could have gone so much worse! I am glad it is all figured out and well though...I hope the same for your dh. Nothing worse than waiting for test results!

Laurie and Bill said...

I'm so glad that you got to poking and prodding at that lump. If you hadn't I shudder to think what it would have looked like in another week!

Praying that all's well with your hubby!

Karine said...

Good heavens, what a story!!! You,re very fortunate indeed that you were already on antibiotics. I can't believe you were able to poke at your arm like that yourself too, I would have totally chickened out and panicked. Wow!!! I'm glad the problem is solved though and hope you heal quickly!

Stephanie D said...

Smart move, going to the doctor. I'm not normally squeamish (good think, since I AM a nurse!), but the image of you and hubby tugging on a fishhook-like object made my skin crawl! Glad the doc was able to get it out.

Don't hesitate to fill that prescription if the arm even looks like it's going to flare up.

Leiani said...

OMG! I was eating breakfast as I read this post. Not a good idea, especially when I got to the part where your try to get the metal out yourself..... Hope is heals quickly now. And I hope your DH is better soon too.

Anonymous said...

Holy sh*t, metal in your arm? Do wonder it hurt! You are Wonderwoman - the thought if it just makes me cringe.

Hope all your health worries go away now!

Lori said...

OW!! Watch that spot, in case it flares up.

Canadian Saver said...

Wow, hope you feel better now!!

Rose said...

I flinch just thinking about pulling on that thing! Maybe now you will heal.

CannedAm said...

You know there are easier ways to get out of the house for the odd evening, Gil! :) You sure do get up to kicks, don't you? I hope your arm heals and gives you no more trouble!!

Hotel Stay - Dinner

As part of our hotel stay the kids had booked us dinner, breakfast and afternoon tea. Here is what we ate at dinner.  Everything was spot on...