I need a MEDIC! MEDIIIIC!
- Thread starter MattAY
- Start date
Bretimus_v2
So tired.
Another awesome hospital visit (that I'm pretty sure I mentioned in less detail on here before), but this time with awful pics. WALL OF TEXT BEGINS NOW!
The day after I bought my wife her engagement ring, I got ran over by a big forklift at my summer job. It sucked because I had figured out how much I would make and it covered tuition, honeymoon, and living expenses. It also sucked because, you know, I got ran over by a forklift!
Basically it ran over my shoe, knocking me down, the skirt scraped the skin off at the ankle bone and the solid rubber rear wheel peeled out on my shin and calf as it climbed over my leg. The skirt then scraped some skin off at the knee. It stopped before it got all the way over the calf and before it hit my thigh. The tire gave me a third-degree burn (roughly 3% of my total body surface area) and it looked like a giant patch of beef jerky on my leg. I was in shock and belligerent. The ambulance came and they didn't have any pain killers, so I got to the hospital drug and adrenaline free. So not the way to be. They then commenced to scrub the wound and pull out stuff (nails, a screw, rocks and a piece of glass). This was awful, even with pain killers. All of my surface nerves were dead but the deep ones were still there and not excited about the experience. Also, the nerves around the edges were exposed. They took an X-ray of the leg since the forklift was huge and heavy imagining there would be a fracture. Surprisingly, they didn't even find a pressure crack. Everyone was surprised. They put an IV in me and pumped me full of liquids, gave me a prescription for antibiotics and pain killers and I called a friend to come pick me up. SIDE NOTE: I didn't call my fiancé. She had a big day with tests. I thought I was being thoughtful. No, not really. She came over later that day and was a combo of pissed and distraught. So the next two weeks consisted of going to the ER, getting a bunch of liquids pumped into me. By the way, having an IV in your arm for two weeks...not fun. After that they would put my leg in a whirlpool with disinfectant (hot, cleansing pain that seeped into every agonizing crevice), dry me off and then inspect the wound. They warned me that with a burn this large I ran a huge risk of dehydrating, so I was instructed to drink more than a gallon of water a day. This meant I had to change bandages every two hours because they would get soaked (it was gross). After that period of amazingness and wonderment, I went to a plastic surgeon and discussed a skin graft. He had me use an ointment that was 70% urea to eat away the dead skin. It was expensive too, like $60 for a tiny bottle that was essentially filled with a paste that was derived from pee. I did this for two and a half months. I sat in my apartment living off of pain pills, playing Neverwinter Nights constantly, drinking tons of water and never peeing, crutching myself around, living in a daze and depending on my poor fiancé for everything. SIDE NOTE: Did I mention that she was planning our wedding at the time? Yeah, because she totally was. The skin slowly debrided leaving a disgusting mixture of beef jerky and raw dermis/subcutis. Here are the disgusting pics.
And this one because it looks awesome.
When it was finally clear enough of dead skin, the doctor scheduled the surgery. SIDE NOTE: Mind you this was less than a month before our actual wedding. They made me circle which leg needed the actual skin graft! Really? You don't see the giant, several hands sized wound on my leg. Seriously...American medicine. Then I got put under. They took skin from my inner thigh for the procedure. When I came to, I acted inappropriately. I've done this every time I'm put under. It's a matter of much familial jest. But the leg looked awesome. Imagine your skin being turned into a gauze bandage and then being stapled to you. I wish I had taken more pictures. I then spent the next two weeks dealing with babying my leg to make sure the skin graft didn't need to be repeated. Then, a week before my wedding, they took the staples out. And the first day I stood on my leg under my own power was my wedding day. I even tried to go pill-free the whole day, made it up to before the reception. Serious. Standing outside for several hours on a golf course in Arizona, it broke my will.
It was an awesome experience that I hope to never repeat. I learned how to rely on my wife when I need to. And she stuck with me through a period where I acted like a dick (me + pain pills = a dick). Now, seven years later, I still don't have sensation. I hate wearing socks that come up to the calf. I can only feel two thirds of the cuff. I've also burnt the area several times when getting stuff out of the stove. I'll be leaning in and checking food and think, "what's burning?" It's me. But never anything too serious.
Fin.
The day after I bought my wife her engagement ring, I got ran over by a big forklift at my summer job. It sucked because I had figured out how much I would make and it covered tuition, honeymoon, and living expenses. It also sucked because, you know, I got ran over by a forklift!
Basically it ran over my shoe, knocking me down, the skirt scraped the skin off at the ankle bone and the solid rubber rear wheel peeled out on my shin and calf as it climbed over my leg. The skirt then scraped some skin off at the knee. It stopped before it got all the way over the calf and before it hit my thigh. The tire gave me a third-degree burn (roughly 3% of my total body surface area) and it looked like a giant patch of beef jerky on my leg. I was in shock and belligerent. The ambulance came and they didn't have any pain killers, so I got to the hospital drug and adrenaline free. So not the way to be. They then commenced to scrub the wound and pull out stuff (nails, a screw, rocks and a piece of glass). This was awful, even with pain killers. All of my surface nerves were dead but the deep ones were still there and not excited about the experience. Also, the nerves around the edges were exposed. They took an X-ray of the leg since the forklift was huge and heavy imagining there would be a fracture. Surprisingly, they didn't even find a pressure crack. Everyone was surprised. They put an IV in me and pumped me full of liquids, gave me a prescription for antibiotics and pain killers and I called a friend to come pick me up. SIDE NOTE: I didn't call my fiancé. She had a big day with tests. I thought I was being thoughtful. No, not really. She came over later that day and was a combo of pissed and distraught. So the next two weeks consisted of going to the ER, getting a bunch of liquids pumped into me. By the way, having an IV in your arm for two weeks...not fun. After that they would put my leg in a whirlpool with disinfectant (hot, cleansing pain that seeped into every agonizing crevice), dry me off and then inspect the wound. They warned me that with a burn this large I ran a huge risk of dehydrating, so I was instructed to drink more than a gallon of water a day. This meant I had to change bandages every two hours because they would get soaked (it was gross). After that period of amazingness and wonderment, I went to a plastic surgeon and discussed a skin graft. He had me use an ointment that was 70% urea to eat away the dead skin. It was expensive too, like $60 for a tiny bottle that was essentially filled with a paste that was derived from pee. I did this for two and a half months. I sat in my apartment living off of pain pills, playing Neverwinter Nights constantly, drinking tons of water and never peeing, crutching myself around, living in a daze and depending on my poor fiancé for everything. SIDE NOTE: Did I mention that she was planning our wedding at the time? Yeah, because she totally was. The skin slowly debrided leaving a disgusting mixture of beef jerky and raw dermis/subcutis. Here are the disgusting pics.
And this one because it looks awesome.
When it was finally clear enough of dead skin, the doctor scheduled the surgery. SIDE NOTE: Mind you this was less than a month before our actual wedding. They made me circle which leg needed the actual skin graft! Really? You don't see the giant, several hands sized wound on my leg. Seriously...American medicine. Then I got put under. They took skin from my inner thigh for the procedure. When I came to, I acted inappropriately. I've done this every time I'm put under. It's a matter of much familial jest. But the leg looked awesome. Imagine your skin being turned into a gauze bandage and then being stapled to you. I wish I had taken more pictures. I then spent the next two weeks dealing with babying my leg to make sure the skin graft didn't need to be repeated. Then, a week before my wedding, they took the staples out. And the first day I stood on my leg under my own power was my wedding day. I even tried to go pill-free the whole day, made it up to before the reception. Serious. Standing outside for several hours on a golf course in Arizona, it broke my will.
It was an awesome experience that I hope to never repeat. I learned how to rely on my wife when I need to. And she stuck with me through a period where I acted like a dick (me + pain pills = a dick). Now, seven years later, I still don't have sensation. I hate wearing socks that come up to the calf. I can only feel two thirds of the cuff. I've also burnt the area several times when getting stuff out of the stove. I'll be leaning in and checking food and think, "what's burning?" It's me. But never anything too serious.
Fin.
daverabbit
Rookie
Well I'm not gonna need dinner now, thanks Bret. Great story though, makes anything I was going to add completely unnecessary.
NickKmet
Regular
I've been fortunate to not experience any serious injuries yet. The worst I guess was when I had shoulder surgery to basically remove a portion of my collarbone. It really wasn't that bad, besides the cut getting infected with, of all things, acne. So much puss. So gross. Draining it was not fun.
Other than that, I once tore my hamstring while playing baseball. It was such a bad tear that I had a completely black bruise on the back of my leg for several weeks. I mean, it looked like I had drawn a square, roughly the size of your average cell phone, on the back of my leg with a sharpie. Pretty gross considering all that internal bleeding came from a torn muscle. Still, only took a few months for me to be able to start running again.
I also once tore a bunch of tendons off of my hip, while playing kickball in elementary school. Wasn't able to run for a good month. Sucked.
The most blood I've ever experienced came from a scissors injury last year. I was (stupidly) trying to open a cardboard box with scissors, and (really stupidly) was pulling the scissors towards my body. Well, I pulled too hard, and the scissors proceeded to stab my in the opposite wrist. Right between two veins. Soooo much blood. Fortunately, I didn't need to make a trip to the emergency room, seeing as I had managed to miss both veins by 1 or 2 millimeters. I now have a scar on my wrist, and if you press on it, it pushes me veins to the side, and makes me vomit. Fun!
Other than that, I once tore my hamstring while playing baseball. It was such a bad tear that I had a completely black bruise on the back of my leg for several weeks. I mean, it looked like I had drawn a square, roughly the size of your average cell phone, on the back of my leg with a sharpie. Pretty gross considering all that internal bleeding came from a torn muscle. Still, only took a few months for me to be able to start running again.
I also once tore a bunch of tendons off of my hip, while playing kickball in elementary school. Wasn't able to run for a good month. Sucked.
The most blood I've ever experienced came from a scissors injury last year. I was (stupidly) trying to open a cardboard box with scissors, and (really stupidly) was pulling the scissors towards my body. Well, I pulled too hard, and the scissors proceeded to stab my in the opposite wrist. Right between two veins. Soooo much blood. Fortunately, I didn't need to make a trip to the emergency room, seeing as I had managed to miss both veins by 1 or 2 millimeters. I now have a scar on my wrist, and if you press on it, it pushes me veins to the side, and makes me vomit. Fun!
Bretimus_v2
So tired.
The answer to those questions are "yes" and "a lack of proper safety protocol".
intoTheRain
Regular
tinymhg said:
typical american response. "an accident happened did you fuck over other peoples lives in return in order to get free money you don't have any right receiving?"
Bretimus_v2
So tired.
intoTheRain said:
Counterpoint: MattAY was going to say the same thing...AND HE'S A BRIT!!! Get off your high horse.
Gunner, everybody was like "oh, hey, Brett just got ran over...did you see the Office last night?"
Bretimus_v2
So tired.
No, he didn't get fired. He was a good guy too. It was his son's 8th birthday. I felt bad for him because it screwed his life up to. He was pretty shook up.
But...do you know what this thread needs? Less legalize and more hospital stories!!!! WHOoooooooooooooooooo!
But...do you know what this thread needs? Less legalize and more hospital stories!!!! WHOoooooooooooooooooo!
tinymhg
Rookie
Bretimus_v2 said:
I once spent 5 days in hell, but my pain and suffering was nothing compared to what I heard. For 5 days I was in the Harborview Medical Center’s Burn Center in Seattle, Washington. The kids, some with burns over half their bodies, would scream and cry until they pass out, real tear your heart out sh*t, and trust me they were well medicated with the strongest of painkillers too. Only two things would set them off: 1) When their bandages were changed. 2) When their mom had to leave. You can try to imagine what hell is like, but I think I got a very small taste in those 5 days. I talked to several nurses and aids who told me the that toys and video games took the kids’ minds off their suffering for awhile, and they had a Nintendo 64, a TV, and several games all rigged on a cart so they could wheel it into different rooms. Donate something to your locale Children’s Hospital or go online to childsplaycharity.org and make a donation. You might just make a kids hell a little easier to bear.
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