Shock is pretty kind on the body sometimes. It seems to me that when I'm trying not to throw up, I'm concentrating more on that than what I've done to myself.
Remember this clip from the Simpsons? Funny how there's a line from this show for nearly everything.
I didn't kick anything when I stood on a big screw poking out from a bit of wood in the chicken enclosure at all. I just pulled my flip flop and foot off the screw, grimaced, and walked to the back door as casual as you like. It's all good, it's all good. Except when I sat on the back deck and saw a bit of flesh hanging out the hole, I was pretty glad Jamie was home to come and rescue me.
I crawled to the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood. Luckily he was more concerned about me than the trail of blood I left on the floor. He squirted it with the showerhose as I tried not to vomit, and held on to the windowsill as I got all hot and sweaty. He gave it a swab of alcoholwipe and some betadine and got me an iceypole from the freezer. I generally don't like sugar but I tell you what it does wonders for shock.
Off I went to the doctors just to make sure. Both the nurse and the doctor gave it a good poke, cleaned it, dressed it, and sent me on my way. It was kinda reassuring. I mean, flesh came out, I tell you. Flesh. No, I'm not providing you with a close up. That's gross.
I felt glad I'd already had my whooping cough vax with diptheria and tetanus. I know what people feel about vaccines these days but hey I'd rather not die of tetanus thanks. Globally 38,000 people died from tetanus in 2017, according to Our World in Data. About 1 in 10 people who contract tetanus die from it. Most of the global cases are in Asia and sub Saharan Africa where they are less likely to have the vaccine, and most in kids under 5. Whilst chances are that I won't get tetanus from the soil and chicken shit in the garden, I don't really want to take that chance.
How we feel about vaccines is a bit of a spectrum - it's not wrong to be either/or, but it's not really right to not be open minded and blindly follow one view or another. Not all science is good, and not all science is bad either. I'm bloody glad we live in the west where we do have easy access to whooping cough and tetanus vaccines.
Anyway, being still in shock, I hopped in for a coffee and me the most adorable dog. Apparently he had 14 different breeds in him from bull arab to airedale. You know how some dogs are just friendly and smiley, and you gel with them like they're your long lost dog brother or dog sister? Well, he was one of those guys. I'm a dog person I guess, but this guy - ah, I would have take him home if I had the chance.
The pain from the foot still hadn't kicked in and didn't till after lunch, so I managed to clean up my sad looking garlic crop, clean out the fishpond and weed around the gazebo. After a lunch of leftover paneer curry with mixed beans and paratha (yeah I know right, yum) the pain kicked in.
And kick in it did - a hot, throbbing pain that pretty much said: 'don't you dare step on this foot in any way shape or form'.
Day 2, and I'm sitting on the couch in tears because I can't even hop because it hurts. My Mum came out and brought me lentil and barley soup she had in the freezer, bless her, and some crutches my sister happens to have.
Gardening is not fun in crutches.
It gets tangled up in hoses, sinks in the dirt, and all the while you're trying to bend over to pick up weeds or carry something with two awkward sticks - yeah nah, as Australians say. Yeah, it's possible, but nah, too hard.
So I'm laying on the couch feeling very, very sorry for myself. I've done some yoga and some arm weights and sit ups and the like, but the rest of the day is looking decidedly unproductive. This baby magpie is more productive than me - he's pulling apart our jute rug for fun.
I'm not great with unproductive. And I feel all this static chi just clogging up my energy pathways and all I want to do is move, goddamit, move. I understand the universe might have other plans for me, but there was nothing wrong with the plans I had to get the garden sorted, go for a surf, go visit the grandmunchkin, and go for a nice long walk in the sunshine now, was there, universe? Hmmmmm?
With Love,
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Gett well soon @riverflows..Relax for a while and for sure another productive day would come.Take care!
Thanks so much xx
Ouch @riverflows !LUV
You really got screwed girl.
Yep, I sure did!!!!!
!LOL
Oh im sorry to hear it @riverflows. Just relax for a while and take this chance to rest but i hope you will feel better soon.
I find moving relaxing so I'm a bit tense on the couch 😂 Thanks love x
I am very sorry to hear this I hope you get well soon take a good care of yourself 😱
Thanks sweetheart 😘
Ah it sucks, I wish you a swift recovery! You're allowed to swear a few times hahha... You brave warrior!
I am being vewy bwave!
Oh no ! Damn, that's bad ://
Take some good rest, you know what to do. I get the frustrating evident part about not being able to move, but I'm sure you'll manage to use that time differently and not in a so unproductive way ! I hope you'll recover fast enough !!
I know a little about what it can do, but not with a screw... The first day in my first flat, a knife went all the way through my foot. Lol, I had decided to prepare a simple ratatouille, when I went to get stitched up, the nurse told me I was lucky, the blade had passed between three tendons, two nerves and an artery... So, even when you do such things, there is always a star... even if you don't necessarily see it at the time !
Courage to you, it's good Jamie was home that day !
Betadine in gel can really help as it is a fatty substance, it helps the healing process and also makes the bandages "easier"...
Omg a KNIFE!!!! I am always dropping knives and lids on the floor when I cook, and I'm always in bare feet... It freaks Jamie out!!! I won't tell him that story...
We did put betadine on it. It has a butterfly stitch on it so I'm waiting for it to suture close before unwrapping it. It's painful as it heals!
Yeah, was quite intense ^^ maybe better indeed not to tell him haha !
Yes, and then when the flesh grows back, it stings... ouch ouch courage, I have memories of my last operations coming back to me !
How long should this take approximately ?
Yikes. 😬 My condolences. The fact that you still wanted to do gardening says a lot. 😅
This reminds me of when a friend of mine was carrying out his grandpa's casket to the morgue van (whatever it's called). And as he exited the building, he stepped on a screw that went clean through his sneakers and foot. Why was a random screw on the sidewalk? Who knows! But to this day that's like one of the most unlucky things I've witnessed. 😁
It'll heal and you'll be back to normal in not time! 😉
Omg that's awfully unlucky !!! What a time for it to happen!!!
It's funny, you think it's taking ages to heal but it'll only be a week. A week feels like eternity not being able to do Anything!!!
I feel ya. 😅 perfect time to engage more on hive! 😁
Haha yes... But even screen time drives me crazy!
Ouch. Hope you feel better soon.
I remember teaching my niece and nephew, a year or 4 ago, that pain is actually good, as it means the little white men in our bodies are healing us. It's the alarm bell of the little helpers.
xx
Oh yes, the pain is signifying it's healing! But I can still moan about it 😂
of course :^)
My family has a running joke about it. Apparently when I was little I cried unreasonably about a stubbed toe and since then if anyone complains about something that sounds too dramatic we all say 'A woo woo woo woo woo' to bring the complainer down to earth.
This is probably one of those moments. I mean, I do still HAVE a foot.
It's no fun when your body sits you down. You have no say... I keep lots of sitting projects for times like that. Like planning the gardens... Making maps.... inventorying seeds... making seed orders...
Well, that's what's on for today anyways...
Gosh you are so organized. I guess it hurts too much to even walk around gathering the things I need to do something productive sitting! Going to try bread tomorrow though.
Ummm, maybe Jaime could collect what you need? Does the bread have to be kneeded? I doubt I could do that sitting...
For me, any cooking is considered a standing job, something to be planned for...
It's no knead and Jamie will collect the stuff. Haha he may as well just do it 😂
There ya go! But that leaves you projectless....
I washed the dishes and it's the best thing that happened to me today so far. I am struggling a bit mentally this morning as I know that I use movement to move anxiety and depression out of my body and I'm experiencing waves of ecogrief this morning having stupidly listened to half an audiobook called 'how to die in the anthropocene', which started by saying well we are all dead anyway, and here's why - ie climate change. I know I've got to read to the end as I'm sure there's a more uplifting and hopeful message of how to deal with this immutable fact but still, it's paralysed me somewhat and I can't move that stagnant energy by sitting around! And as tempting as Jamie's offer to sit in garage watching him do mechanics was this morning, I just can't bear it. I might put on some reggae and do some floor yoga. Sure, I can sit with this feeling but I don't bloody want to. So there.
Well, do what you can without making your foot mad. If moving is how you cope, then I think you are doing the right thing with music and yoga.
For your sake, I sure hope it doesn't keep you immobile for too much longer...
aloe vera is a fantastic antiseptic and anti-inflamatory
It is!
I'm pretty much an anti-vaxxer, but my first thought was "I wonder when her last tetanus shot was."
Ouch!!! Yucky! You do so very much, I can't imagine you lounging around on the couch. I hope it's over very soon and you are back to your normal super productive self. I'm sure you have some really good books. If you're in the mood for salacious, check out Lady Chatterly's Lover on Netflix.
Oh I just saw that come up!!! Thanks!!!
I'd hope you are on a spectrum of anti vax like most of us. You'd be bonkers nor to get a tetanus shot I reckon. ❤️
I refused one recently. I'd been bitten by a feral cat, and knew that if I got tetanus from that cat, it was too late for a vaccine to be effective. But boy did they try to convince me otherwise at the ER! I did let them start the rabies treatment, but quarantined the cat and did not have to complete the series.
I support the suspension of all vaccines, world wide. Something is very wrong there. I am certain that, over all, we would see improved health regarding ALL causes, if we just stopped confusing the immune system with vaccines.
I agree - a vaccine is not always the answer. I know your history so I totally understand how you feel about it. And the whole COVID vax thing is wrong on soooo many levels.
Having a vaccine as a bandaid to something that already happened seems counter intuitive!
Still, I'm grateful for some vaccines as it's my belief that some of them, like tetanus, have prevented many deaths, but I'm not here to argue and respect your opinion immensely. xxxx
Ouch! lucky your current with your tetanus shot. Thats the classic puncture wound that gets stuff the skin is supposed to keep out deep in there where it doesn't belong 🙁 Just chill for a bit 😉 I watched The English btw. Good show. Those are themes and stories that are real from the West in that time. They were on the fringe but happened. Its like I told my wife, there's Little House on the Prairie (which is a saccharine, sanitized version of the West) on one end of the spectrum and then there's The English on the other end. Most of the real stories are somewhere in the middle.
Glad you liked it. It did have that Western feel to it but conveyed the brutality of how the Indians were treated rather than casting them as the bad guys. I thought about it for a long time, both the horror of that terrible disease and how unfair it was, and what happened to Eli. And how her ex fiance drowned without him knowing she was there. I loved both the leads. Glad you watched it and enjoyed it!!
OMG so sorry to hear you stood on a screw. And saw the flesh poking out. Ouch….
Hope it heals soon… 🤞🏻🤞🏻🍀🍀 rest your foot a bit.
Bigg huggss
!LUV
Must you always do things in a big way? ❤️
You would probably heal a little faster if you stay off it. I understand with your schedule and energizer bunny adrenaline, it is more difficult to stay put than to put up with the pain.
Don't you have a book that you have been trying to read? Surely that is a yes!!
Feel better, heal better and I am glad you got tetanus. Not all vaccines are welcome to me, but, that one has done an amazing job.
Yes I hear that, and agree. Tetanus seems a good vax!!!
Thanks for your well wishes. I will try very hard to relax... Tomorrow 😂 As it is it's more sitting around than I am used to. Hopped around kitchen and made bread, a few other things. That got rid of frustrated feelings and got me closer to maybe sitting stiller a bit longer. Acceptance not strong suit but at least I'm aware.
Tomorrow is good enough, bad girl. 🤣
You crack me up. Even when you're in so much goddamn pain. Sorry, you're in so much pain, love. Sending a big, gentle hug from the other side of the bay. 🤗
Oh man I am glad that it was fairly easy and they didn’t have to do surgery to take the thing out! That sucks though, I’ve seen it many times and damn I’m sure it hurts!
I think my wife feels your pain and frustration! She had a foot issue start about late September and it seems to be a side effect from medication that destroys cartilage and joints. It ended up being a stress fracture and damn she hated not being able to walk around easily!
Oh no! Has she tried comfrey as a cream or poultice? Might be worth a shot? Sometimes you hust have nothing to lose!
She was getting good relief with a THC cream but thankfully the worst is past us. The doctors didn’t do much to help besides prescribe more poison lol so we got a cannabis cream and it worked wonders better and none of those awful side effects.
It was tough, being her right foot she couldn’t drive sadly and that was the worst for her. She’s had her license since she was 16 and always got up and drove wherever she wanted lol
Yeah the loss of independence is a killer. I bloody HATED relying on Jamie to do everything and in his time as well, it drove me insane and I was only out for a week! Lol.
Hahaha yeah I’m sure you and my wife are on the same page with that! I’ve tried hard to help her out as best I can but I’m sure she’s biting her tongue a few times that I needed to do something in a certain way and she couldn’t do it.
Shit, I stood on a nail when I was a kid, it was so feckin painful. I hope that you have been healing well. And yes no crutches in the garden. Sending healing and love xxxx
I forgot about plantain. OMG - miracle. I'll write about it tonight but feck me if I ain't walking this morning and the puss just disappeared. Best stuff ever.