If I believed in it, I would think my family has been cursed. How so? About a week before my mom’s accident, my 14-year-old cousin was in the hospital with road rash. Then my mom got hit by a car. Then my uncle (my cousin’s dad, by the way) was admitted to the hospital with chest pains and a high pulse rate (they diagnosed him with stress, and put him on blood pressure medication). On Sunday night, my nephew was taken to the emergency room with a fever of 104. (He’s fine, just has a bad virus.) And yesterday, it was my turn.
It all happened a little after 2pm. I was washing the dishes and while rinsing off a glass, it slipped and broke another glass in the sink. No biggie. I took all the pieces and just put it on the counter, to clean up later. Once I finished with the dishes, I took a kitchen towel, picked up the glass, and on my way to the garbage, it slipped and sliced me on the inside of my thumb. Ouch.
The cut was pretty deep and was bleeding pretty steadily. I grabbed a towel and started applying as much pressure as possible. I called my mom and was pretty calm about the whole thing. Just your average, “Hi, Mom. I’m at home. Everything is OK, but I cut my finger pretty bad. It’s bleeding a lot and OH, MY GOD, I CAN’T GET IT TO STOP. ARE YOU THERE? MO-OOOM?!”
I’m pretty much a pro at panicking and thinking of the worst case scenario very quickly. I knew I would have to go to the ER. I was fairly sure I would be getting my first stitches I’ve ever had. The fact that I have no health insurance weighed on my mind a lot.
My mom had a friend drop her off at our apartment, and then my grandpa arrived. It was no less than 10 minutes after the initial call, but felt more like 30. My grandpa drove us to the hospital, since my mom is still in a sling and I’m, you know, still gushing blood from my thumb. On the ride there, I was thinking I probably burst a vein or a blood vessel and would require surgery. And that’s why it was still bleeding. Yes. I jump to the worst conclusions rather quickly.
I didn’t have to wait too long to be seen, 15 minutes tops. The doctor, we can call him Dr. McDreamy, although I would say he was 10x cuter than Patrick Dempsey, saw me and calmed me down. He said all it would take was a few stitches and that’s it. Oh. Just a few stitches? I can handle stitches.
They did have to give an an x-ray to make sure I didn’t have any remaining glass in my cut, which I didn’t. And then he stitched me up. He numbed me up pretty good, which didn’t hurt all too bad, and then stitching part was easy breezy. I didn’t feel a thing.
So there you have it. My first ER visit since 1999, my first x-rays in a billion years, and my first stitches. I only got 3 stitches so, in essence, my mom wins. (She got 17.) I would show you my stitches but I have them wrapped up and really, it’s not all that exciting. I would rather show you a picture of Dr. McDreamy and I, but alas, I did not take one.
I don’t know what is going on with my family. We are not accident-prone at all. I’ve been in the hospital 3 times total: when I was born, to get my tonsils removed at 4, and to get a tetanus shot after I had been bit by a dog. I can only remember my mom being in the hospital twice: once for hurting her arm when I was in middle school and then for her thyroid surgery 2 years ago.
I’m very nervous to see how much the hospital bill is going to be, especially with the 3 x-rays. And I have to find a place to get my stitches out. We have no student health center at my campus, and the cheapest we’ve found is $150. So if you ever want to have a debate on why I think a country-wide health insurance plan is a good idea, I will win.
Tell me, have you ever had to get stitches? And/or, when was your last ER visit?
