Adventures in Knife Juggling

Me + 10" Chef's Knife = Trip to the local ER.

I did a seriously bonehead thing. I was cutting a sweet potato in half (lengthwise, not that it matters). I was holding the potato and cutting toward my hand, and the knife broke through and then some. I have 2" long laceration (I like to use the big, technical terms) between my thumb and index finger on my left hand, which is now decorated by six lovely stitches. You can't see them right now because there's a big stack of gauze bandages on them.

I had my wits about me, and immediately applied a clean dish towel to the large, nasty cut in my hand. Then I picked up the phone and cried when my husband didn't answer his phone. My next call was to my sister, who skipped out on the last 10 minutes of work to come rushing to my aid. Then I called my husband's work's dispatch, and Amy the dispatcher very kindly got Big Kahuna on the radio and told him to call his wife, then find someone else to wash his truck for him. In there somewhere I applied gauze and tape to my hand so I wasn't carrying a dish towel around with me.

The neighbor came over and stayed with Busby and Janet until my sister arrived, then BK, McCloud and I headed for the ER. (McCloud came with us because I'm still her sole source of nourishment.) Overall, we had exactly the high level of service and care that I expected from the ER staff, with the exception of one nurse. The nurse we had back in the treatment room had a less than fabulous bedside manner. He was removing the bandage I applied to my hand, which kind of stuck a little. To assist things, he sprayed an antiseptic spray. I said "OUCH!" and he said "Oh, I didn't warn you about that." BK told him to watch out, as he (the nurse) hadn't previously been warned about my right hook. The nurse's bedside manner improved appreciatively after that. At the end of it, he let us take home the scissors, tweezers and clamp thinger from the suture kit. (He was going to throw them away otherwise. And we were going to be billed for them no matter what.)

Also, in spite of the fact that I haven't had a tetanus shot since 1994, I didn't get one tonight since I'm still nursing McCloud. I'm supposed to ask her doctor if it's ok for me to get the shot. There's not a huge concern, though, since this was a kitchen accident and not an animal bite or some other nasty incident.

So, this means showers with a glove on my hand for the next two weeks. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have Big Kahuna wash my hair in the sink. Already diaper changes and breastfeeding have proved slightly painful. Wish me luck.