Don't try this at home

Waiting to get stitches in the ER

I was all set yesterday to go to George's clinic, and had even left myself a note to bring the fresh local watermelon I was going to share at our break, when I went to drag the trash down to the street and did a stupid thing.

Thinking I was late for the pickup (when actually I wasn't), I grabbed the green bag out of the bin in the kitchen and dragged it down to the street. I have been putting the heavier bags in my garden cart to take down to the street to save my back doing the job that was formerly Joe's, but this time I didn't. When the bag (in my right hand) brushed against my left ankle, I felt a sharp pain and looked down to see blood gushing from the spot. It ran down my leg and into my sandal, which by the way I was worried about ruining.

I grabbed a dish towel, wetted it down, and wrapped it around my ankle and applied pressure. The gash looked pretty deep. With the towel wrapped around my ankle I got upstairs and applied antibiotic cream and two bandaids. After I went out and hosed my sandal down and it was still bleeding, I decided I better call 911.

Being close to the fire station has definite advantages. An ambulance arrived in minutes, and in came my old friend, (semi) retired fire chief Bill Selkirk, who had triaged Maddie when she got hit by a car (and probably saved her) and who had arrived at the lake when I cracked my head, and who is just generally a good guy. He and a nice EMT said I better get stitches, got me into the ambulance, and away we went to the Holyoke Medical Center ER. Early morning is a good time to get injured, and I got seen quickly.

The physician assistant who gave me five stitches turned out to be one of Joe's high school friends, Jenna Turcotte; we had a nice chat while she took care of me. I took a photo of her and texted it to Joe, writing, "Look who's giving me stitches!" I also had to get a tetanus shot. Afterwards, it was nice of Deborah to rescue me.

Of course I felt stupid about breaking a plate and then throwing it in the trash, and not thinking about what I was doing, and it hurt afterwards, and I could hardly walk, and I missed our super fun tennis, but all things considered it is not such a big deal.

Jim Bloom had Maddie because I had left her there thinking I would be gone for a while, so later in the afternoon I went down there. Their house is so pleasant with its central air, compared to my loud room air conditioners. I lay down on the couch and watched the end of a movie with him (and his 100-year-old mother Nellie), and then Fox News came on, which made me miss Jon Stewart, but I dozed off, and when I heard Jim working in the kitchen I said I was going to go home, but he said to stay. He had already set a place for me at the table, and then Jane came home and we had a wonderful dinner: baked salmon, salad, beets and snap peas.

Maddie doesn't like to leave there, and sometimes neither do I! She walks into the crate where she sleeps when she stays over and then gives me a look. When we got home, I finished the chocolate ice cream and gave her a carrot. I think she likes the snacks better there.