A Night out at Beaumont Hospital

The following story happened last night around 8:30pm as I was trying to prepare a tuna casserole type dish for dinner.  

This particular dish called for a can of tuna, drained.  So after measuring the other ingredients I opened a can of tuna and drained it in the sink.  After, I started to peel the label off of the tin can in order to recycle it.  It was at this moment that I fumbled the can.  What I should have done was let it fall to the floor and then carefully pick it up.  The reason being the sharp edges created on the lid of a tuna can when you open it.  Unfortunately, I tried to catch the can and did, but in the process sliced open the pinker on my left finger.  Of course I let out a yelp, probably an obscenity or two and then looked at my finger.  When I looked at it there was some blood, pouring out of the middle of my pinky, also the laceration stretched from the tip of my finger to the base of my first knuckle on the inside of the pinkie.

Immediately I ran some cold water and put pressure on the wound.  I was then handed a towel and proceeded to lay on the couch, hold my pinkie above my heart and keep pressure on it.  After a minute or two I took away the towel to reveal a very deep wound with fat cells from my pinkie jutting out.  I tried to convince my fiance that I did not need stitches but it was useless.  So in my pajamas we both headed to the hospital, which happens to be next door to our apartment.

When we pull up to the emergency entrance, which was not easy to find with all the construction going on at Beaumont, a man with a magical red wand waved us in to the emergency room parking lot.  We walked into the hospital and checked in at the emergency room front desk where they took my information and then gave me a wrist band with my name and birthday on it.  After that I was taken back to where the action happens and was asked to wait with another lady who was also suffering from a canned food related injury.  I full can had fallen on her hand and busted through her nail... totally gross.  I was then shown to a private bed and my vital signs were taken.

The nurse that helped me was very kind and relaxing.  She gave me two shots at the base of my pinkie to numb the finger, and I have to say it worked.  I didn't feel anything while she stitched me up (6 stitches) and dressed the wound.  I did however feel the tetanus shot I was given after the stitches that also had the whooping cough vaccine in it (apparently it's on the rise again).  It feels like my brother knuckle punched me in the right shoulder like 10 times. 

All in all the whole visit took about an hour and 15 minutes.  We got some good pictures, especially the blood stains on the floor, and afterwards my fiance wanted Jimmy John's so we headed there post-op.

All in all I would like to thank Beaumont for their good work on keeping me alive and keeping my pinkie on my hand.  Also thanks to my fiance for keeping her head and for making me go to the hospital for stitches.  I am supposed to go back in 7-10 days to get them out.