The Mandoline Incident

My immunotherapy infusions cause me to bleed easily....and I don't stop bleeding. You would think knowing this I would have taken extra precautions when I was slicing fruit on a mandoline, but you'd be wrong. 

The second it happened, I knew it was bad. Molly was home ill from school that day so I enlisted her help in calling Sam. I was in so much pain, and the bleeding just would not stop. I needed him to come home and take me to the ER because I couldn't apply pressure to my finger and drive myself. There was no way this was going to stop bleeding and heal on it's own without medical attention. 

I waited forever in the ER. I know that's how it goes sometimes, but I was starting to feel dizzy, sick to my stomach, and get a headache.  It was getting hard to keep applying pressure.  After 2 hours, the ER Dr. was finally available to see me. 

I knew he was going to have to numb the area for stitches, but what I didn't know was that he was going to stick the needle literally into my wound. Not above and below it, but right into it. That was, without a doubt, the worst pain I have ever been in in my entire life. I don't know how I kept from screaming, passing out, or throwing up. 

Once numbed, he was able to put in some stitches and bandage it up for me. I couldn't watch. It was still seeping blood, so I had to change the bandage a few times still that night and over the course of the next few days. I was dreading the numbing agent wearing off, and I was right for doing so. The pain was so intense that night and into the next day, I could hardly sleep. 

Now, a week later, I was able to have the stitches removed. I already had an appointment with my naturopath, Dr. Farr, so I asked if he was able to do it for me and he said yes, so that was awesome. It healed up pretty nicely.  There's no scar, but the nerves are super sensitive there, so I'm always careful not to knock my pinky into things. 

Lesson learned: use the slicing guard that comes with the mandoline. 

With love,

Mama Hauck