Top this...two visits to the emergency room in one week.

I had to go Wednesday night because I got a piece of rusty iron in my eye while hammering a good-luck horseshoe over my front door, for good luck as Ivan approached.

THEN, tonight, my son was playing tag with a neighbor at his grandparents' house. He ran into a crepe myrtle tree, and a nub on the tree punctured his scalp. Back to the ER, where the gash had to be closed with staples.

Any advice for two very accident-prone people? I will be off and on at DU, since, when a 10-yr-old is injured, Mom has to be a servant at the little patient's beck an call. :-)

turn out with your eye? I have wondered since that evening and did not see if you reported back. Have fun with the 10 yr old. They do not get any better when they grow up.

then let me go. They wanted to put a patch on it to keep me from rubbing it, but I said NO. :-)

and recipient of pirate cracks

National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Glad you're okay! When I was little I was hanging on my dad's leg and knowcked an ash from his cigarette into my eye. Emergency room for me as well. Fortunately no permanent damage.

Now be careful out there!

FSC

Beware of superstitions and trees, not necessarily in that order.

Get well soon ...

Were you mounting the horseshoe upside down?

If so...study up on superstitions. Be careful. LOL

If not...It's just an example of Mother Natures cruel sense of ironic humor when bored.

I guess it's not nice to tempt mother nature. :-)

We discovered it is a very easy spot to deal with an injury (except, of course, the trip to the ER).

You can get it wet, wash it in a shower or bath, just be careful combing. It didn't bother her at all like an arm or leg injury would.
Since it is covered with hair, you don't even have to worry about a scar.

Scared the crap out of me when it happened but it ended up being an easy injury.

His wound is over his ear about two inches. Two staples for him.

When he came running into the house, he had blood gushing down over his ear and onto the collar of the shirt. It scared me to death.

Yes, the doc said that the scalp heals fast. (I am not looking forward to the process of having the staples removed, though. )

Trust me when I say the staple removal doesn't hurt at all. I've had regular stitches removed in the past and they can feel like you're being pinched or pulled on. The only thing I can determine as to why staples don't hurt is because they're smooth metal and healing skin doesn't stick to them like it does to regular stitches.

The scariest part will be the anticipation and seeing the tool they use to remove the staples.

Now, if he'd had an abdominal drain like I did, I'd be telling you about one of the most painful things that has ever happened to me when they pulled that out. The drain tube was bigger than the drainage hole and it literally tore the hole open bigger.

I won't go into what my reaction was when the dr. pulled a foot-long piece of tubing out of my stomach, but it wasn't pleasant for the orderly.

was honest with me and told me it would hurt. I'd already had an NG tube and a catheter pulled out so I thought it would be a little more painful than those were. Little did I know!

She told me she was going to do it fast where it wouldn't last as long and she was did her best. She pulled it out and I sat there for maybe 2 seconds looking at her and then I burst into tears. I had been in ICU for pneumonia and peritonitis, had surgery and all that kind of stuff and hadn't cried during any of it. While the tube was only about a foot long, it felt like it was miles long.

What led up to you having your drain tube? Mine was a perforated ulcer.

shoes on her feet to go to the ER while my hubby got the first aid kit and was acting like he could deal with it. I told him he was insane and she was going to the hospital - head injury, gushing blood.

The heavy blood supply to the scalp is why they aren't worried about infection so you can get it wet.

Anticipation is the worst part of the removal, the actual act isn't bad.

Give her a hug, and tell her I hope she is better.

How's the ankle? Is she sure she doesn't need surgery?

A few more nosebleeds since, although much less severe, and none in the past 4 or 5 days. No surgery either.

But I do I have to say I wonder if you have reconsidered your stand on horseshoes - yes, you avoided too much hurrucane trouble, but the whole fleck in the eye still makes me hurt!

the rest of the way. I was scared that the beast, which was barely nailed in, would come unnailed and hit me on the top of the head.

At least THAT didn't happen. ;-)