Just call me Grace. I’m such an idiot.

[Barbie]

WARNING: DON’T READ IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH! 

I decided to tune up my lawn mower today. Got the blade off and took it to a shop to have it sharpened. Being oh so careful with my now very sharp blade, I came home and held it above my head as I walked in the door to keep jumpin’ jack Zeus safe. I slowly walked to the back door, grabbed my tools, went outside, gently set the blade in place on the lawn mower, and started wrenching it back on. The socket slipped off the nut and two of my fingers slid across the blade. Blood was gushing everywhere – all over the lawn mower, the ground, the floors inside my house, the doors, refrigerator, dog crate, cabinets, countertops, and my face, neck, and chest. Holy cow, I’d never seen so much blood.

I rinsed my fingers with water, then peroxide, applied antibiotic ointment, and slapped a big band-aid on the one that was cut pretty deep – how deep, I don’t know because of all the blood and I don’t want to open it up now to find out. So, I immediately mopped the floors and cleaned up the rest of the splattered blood. My kitchen and bathroom looked like a crime scene.

Then I put on some leather work gloves (yeah, after the fact), went back out and finished installing the blade, came back inside, and was covered in about 20 mosquito bites on my legs and elbow. So, I removed my gloves and one was covered in blood - band-aid no workie. I wrapped my finger with a paper towel and covered my skeeter bites with Off (it actually does work after-the-fact – makes them go away in about 1-2 hours).

A few minutes pass, and blood is still gushing. I called my vet and asked if I could use Hercules’ “blood-stop” topical medication for his tumor on my finger. “NO”, they said. Then I called one of our family nurses and was told to park my butt on the sofa to slow my heart rate, elevate my finger, and keep pressure on the wound. Finally, an hour later, it stopped bleeding.

I cleaned it up again with peroxide, applied more antibiotic ointment, and slapped on another big band-aid. Then I put a latex glove on my wounded hand, wrapped a ponytail holder around my wrist, and jumped in the shower to get the blood off of me. How it got on my face, neck, and chest, I have no idea. I just put my clothes in the washer to soak and am now sitting here with my dislocated toe (did that a few days ago), itching like crazy (those were some really bad skeeters this time), and trying to relax with OTC medication (a beer . . . or ten).

I do hope your day was much better than mine, lol!

[Barbie]

Thanks, Lynn. What do you use to clean a wound, if not peroxide? I'm "allergic" to the medical setting - lol. I've been self-treating since 1999 and luckily haven't had any catastrophic injuries or serious illnesses. Steri strips would help some, but they wouldn't stay on because the laceration is just below the joint and I need that finger mobile or I won't be able to function. I removed the band-aid today because the skin was too moist, causing a little more blood to seep. It's doing fine now - no discoloration, very little pain and swelling, and I can keep a better eye on it without being covered up.

[Barbie]

Ouh, I'll bet the red hummus didn't look very tasty anymore, Kaytlin. It's really pathetic that they made you wait that long to even be seen. I'm glad you didn't lose any digits. Wonder why it still hurts though ... maybe hit a nerve? Have you tried applying Vitamin E on the scar twice daily to help minimize the scar? After you poke a hole in the gel cap with a needle or safety pin and squeeze a little out onto the scar, the capule will seal itself back up, so you can use more of it later.

[Lynn D.]

The peroxide kills the good healthy cells as well as the bad. And mostly unnecessary. My nursing school taught to use hydrogen peroxide as well. But in the last 10 years the thoughts have changed.

FYI, short of having a major event (ie, heart attack, car accident, etc) urgent care can get you in and out a lot faster than a hospital's ER and most insurances treat a visit there like a doctors visit for your co-pay.

Barbie, go to Walgreens and in the band aid isle look for something called steri strips. That should be good enough to hold together your laceration till it heals. If you want further help with sign and symptoms of infections, etc. just pm me.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

OUCH! I did something similar a bit over a year ago. i was making hummus and a few chickpeas got caught in the hand blender so I stupidly went to pull it out. Accidentally hit the power button and my finger got sucked into the blade. Blood everywhere. Thankfully there was a walk in clinic a block away, but I had to wait an hour even though there was only 1 other person waiting. Bleeding everywhere. Going into shock. They gave me a tetanus shot and applied a pressure bandage. Took a good few weeks to heal enough to take all the bandages off, and another few weeks with a bandaid on. I was lucky not to loose my fingernail. I now have a scar and it still hurts sometimes (under the nail too). Yesterday i finally had the courage to use the hand blender again.... 

 

I hope you heal quickly! Be more careful next time!

[Barbie]

 

Ha-ha, you are all so funny! I’ve been doing my own handiwork since my mid-20’s and have more tools than most men. I learned a long time ago that if you want something done “right” then ya gotta do it yourself. My biggest accomplishment was remodeling my kitchen and bathroom. And, since one of my diplomas is in auto mechanics and I work on my cars frequently, I figured tuning a lawn mower would be a piece of cake. I didn’t factor in that razor-sharp blade attached to the bottom. It is beyond me how I can operate a jigsaw, circular saw, concrete saw, tile cutter, etc. without incident, but be attacked by a non-moving lawn mower blade. Nicky, I won’t even ask how the Magimixer attacked you (lol, poor thing). Believe me, lesson learned. I will now wear leather work gloves and be more careful when messing with anything razor-sharp.

 

Yeah, I could probably use some stitches, but it’s really not necessary. Though my cut is 1¼” long (L-shaped), my finger hit the blade sideways, so there’s a straight-edge flap of skin covering the wound, it’s not in the joint area, and the bleeding subsided. I’ll likely have some scarring, but at my age, I’m not too worried about it - lol. If it’s really bad, I’ll apply some Vitamin E. The wound is apparently clean – no sign of infection, but I’m still keeping a close eye on it. Lynn, why is peroxide bad to use? I grew up with old-school nurses, so it was instilled in my brain to flush it with that after the water.

 

On the Deet, it is actually less harmful to apply on just a bite, than covering large areas to avoid being bitten. I’ve been spot-applying it for 5 years now on almost a daily basis. Skeeters just love me. I’ve tried numerous products (rubbing alcohol, vinegar, aloe vera, nail polish, Solarcaine, Benadryl, calamine, cortisone, etc.), but nothing stopped the itch (at all), which continued for 2-4 days. As a kid, I’d scratch myself in my sleep, breaking the skin. I accidentally discovered that Deet would literally stop the itch immediately and make the bump disappear within a few minutes. But, I just moved to NC and the skeeters here are vile, apparently causing an allergic reaction, with whelps and streaks. So, the Deet is taking longer to work, but it’s better than itching constantly for days and risking infection from unconsciously scratching. I do have an Off clip-on, which works most of the time when I’m sitting, but not when mobile because it breaks the barrier.

 

Pink duct tape, Donna? I love it! Gonna have to get me some of that. I’m so envious of Jane’s poop station that I’m thinking of making myself one and that pink duct tape would give it a nice touch, don’t ya think? ;0)

 

I now leave with visions of oil gushing out on Sue’s face. LOL, that just cracked me up. I once got my ponytail caught in the wheel of my creeper and had to roll off of it and snail my way out from underneath my car, while dragging the creeper attached to my head. I laid on the ground for 15 minutes getting my hair unwrapped and got bitten by red ants on my legs. I thought that was hilarious, but it’s nowhere near as funny as the oil-in-your-face incident, Sue.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I commend you for tuning your lawn mower, I don't even know how to start ours. Hopefully your finger is getting better but if not get a butterfly bandaid and use that to pull the cut together and to keep it from reopening. Then of course there's duct tape that works for everything and you can even get it in pink.  :>)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Sounds awful. I have cut myself and panicked and gone to the ER.  Uck!!!  Hope you are better.

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

HAHA. Sorry, not funny. That sounds like a bad. It also sounds like something I would do. I thought I would be "handy" last summer, and change the oil in our lawnmower (what is it with lawnmowers? Maybe we should leave things to the professionals!). I consider myself a pretty good do-it-yourself'er, but not this time. After about an hour of me trying to pull the stopper out, sweating all over the place and cursing up a storm, it flew out, pouring oil all over my face (because of course, I thought it would be a good idea to lie UNDER the mower), the garage floor, and Lola's feet (she was playing as my "assistant"). That was also a bad day....at least I wasn't squirting blood all over the place lol.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I think I would have gone to the ER covered in the blood (so they don't make you wait) and then when they get you in say you need stitches on your fingers! (sorry) I'm glad it wasn't more serious-keep it clean! Have a bettter day/week/month/year!!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Yikes!!  Sounds like you had one heck of a day!  Glad you were able to get the bleeding under control.