A storm in a teacup

[vilakins]

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my last post. Rather than reply to you each saying much the same thing, here an update.

Cyclone Lusi, despite the scaremongering on the news for the last few days and even last night, wasn't at all bad here in Auckland. There was only a third the expected rainfall and we've experienced stronger winds, though Greg said that when he went out for Indian tonight and started to open the car door, the wind almost sucked the door out of his grip. A friend once had her car door damaged and almost ripped off like that. It's still windy tonight but really, despite some trees down, it's a fairly standard storm and steadily getting weaker.

As for my finger, I half cut the top off and it started bleeding copiously again when I changed the sticking plaster last night. I put a really tight one on and it was OK today at the gym (though I didn't do the biceps pull-down) and salon, but I wasn't happy about it so I went to the local White Cross medical centre. The triage nurse said that mandolins should be banned (though I've had that thing at least 12 years and this is the first accident). The doctor said I should have come in last night but that it should heal up nicely.

Then another nurse gave me a tetanus shot and cleaned the finger and put a huge, intricate, bulbous dressing on it (Greg says it looks like the end of a ray gun), chatting away all the time about what she was doing. She had a button reading "Not all autistic people are quiet. Some can't stop talking." I asked her if she knew someone autistic, and she said, "Me, but Asperger's to be exact." We had a chat about obsessions; I admitted to fandom, and she said hers was wound management - and she did a bloody (umm...) good job too so it's more useful than mine. Then we talked about how pedantic we both get about word use and grammar, and she said she once refused to go to a nurses' party because the invitation read "Your invited". A woman after my own heart, says the one who has sometimes corrected signs in passing.

I have to go back on Monday for a new dressing (I hope I get the same nurse), but I now feel much happier about the whole thing. I'm also buying a kevlar glove for future kitchen chopping and slicing - thanks for the suggestion, executrix!

Thanks again for your concern, lovely people.

Comments

[capri0mni]

Hooray for your nurse... This last year, with my own "adventures" with wound care and my feet, I've got a renewed respect for nurses....

And this story proves that the difference between "Disability" and "Asset" depends more on the environment than the individual. If there's anyone you'd want to have obsessive focus on detail, it would be a wound care nurse. :-)

Glad things are coming together, overall, instead of falling apart.

[vilakins]

She was wonderful, her competence was very consoling and totally lacked the condescension one sometimes gets from medical people. I hope she's there tomorrow to change the dressing.

I've decided on greater safety precautions in future though, like the cut-resistant glove.

[capri0mni]

Yes -- an excellent idea.

[kalypso]

Glad the cyclone didn't bother you too much, and that you've had the wound seen to so thoroughly - I hope it heals soon.

[vilakins]

Me too; it's a pain to keep dry and the bulbous end away from hitting things, but it's had the best chance possible for a good healing.

[pebblerocker]

We had half a pine tree down at our place yesterday! I've lived around pine trees before so I knew exactly what the creak was. Luckily the house is far enough from the row of pines that even a whole tree going over won't hit us. Cleaning up the branches can wait until the weather has settled down - perhaps our neighbour has a chainsaw...

I hope things go well with your finger. Losing the use of a digit gets so frustrating after a while.

[vilakins]

We've had trees down before; one blocked our drive and had to be cut up before we could go to work. Some came down city-wide, but that always happens in high winds and is likely due to the sheer number of trees. Our garden bag blew over (also common in gales) and knocked the back gate open but that was it apart from the cats spending more time inside than usual.

The finger is fine unless I knock the end. I can't type with it but mainly because it would take out two keys at once; mousing is OK as the pressure's light and not on the injury.

[pebblerocker]

Speaking of cats, Marilyn was outside when the storm hit and we had to go hunting for her. She'd found a dry hidey-hole and I think she was enjoying the wind out there! She followed us inside and had some breakfast, but later she wanted to play outside again, the perverse animal.

[vilakins]

I've noticed that Ashley and Jasmin really like the wind ruffling their fur, as did Tessa. I still saw them a bit more this weekend, maybe because they knew I'd hurt myself? They were certainly more cuddly from Friday onwards and it was quite calm then.

A friend in Florida with several cats said that they were always fine in hurricanes as they knew where to hide.

[toft]

Glad you went to the doctor, and that nurse sounds cool.

[vilakins]

She was! I hope she's on duty again tomorrow.

Another endearing obsession she had was with purple: her stethoscope, watch, scissors, anything that could be, were bright purple. She showed me some dark blue scissors she'd ordered, still in their cellophane, that she's sending back because they're not the purple they were described as. I totally agree. They were navy.

[toft]

She sounds great! And yes, absolutely, one shouldn't accept sub-par non-purple.

[gwendraith]

Hurrah that the cyclone wasn't as bad as feared. I find here that the weather people always forecast the worst case scenario just in case ;)

Glad you got that finger properly looked at. Hope it heals soon.

[vilakins]

They don't usually exaggerate bad weather; in fact they often don't realise it's going to be really bad till it hits. It's very hard to predict here, stuck in the sea.

The city lost trees and 7,000 houses lost power, but that's not the disaster they were leading us to expect.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I'm relieved that the news is good.

Then we talked about how pedantic we both get about word use and grammar...

I've never understand how there can be people who don't get pedantic about them. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And how many still don't care when they're told they're wrong because they say they only want to get the point across, even though often it's misinterpreted by others due to things like quotations for emphasis.

[thisbluespirit]

Glad you're all right, and I hope the finger heals up soon!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's certainly got the best chance now.

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you got medical attention. I was worried, but I saw that others had already suggested it, so I left off commenting. I feel MUCH better about your wound, too! And I'm glad that Lusi turned out a bit tamer than predicted.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Generally I look after injuries myself but this one was worse than usual which I only realised last Friday night.

We got the edge of Lusi, she's causing a little more damage further south but she's nowhere near the monster they were predicting.

And I'm very relieved about both.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Glad the storm wasn't too apocalyptic, and the finger has been seen to and should be OK. Have you been going around pretending to shoot things with your ray gun digit? Because I totally would. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ha, yes! Doctor Blake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctor_Blake_Mysteries) (a very good Australian murder mystery series set in the late 50s) was on and he was pretending to shoot things to work out what had happened so I joined him. Greg just said, "Keep that finger pointed away from me!"

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Doctor Blake sounds like some kind of wonderfully cracktastic crossover. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It does! Lucian Blake's a bit of a rebel, lost his family in the war, and annoys people by sticking his neck out and nose into all sorts of things, but apart from that, it's completely different. :-)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I missed all this! I'm glad things are better.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks; me too!

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

Glad the finger will be all right and that the storm wasn't so bad.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They say it's healing well though it still looks a bit mangled to me. Ugh. It's also a pain not using that finger except for mousing. But yeah, I could've taken the top right off.

[lolmac]

Glad you're okay!

My mother had one of those slicers -- we didn't know it was called a mandolin. We had some pet name for it, along the lines of the Finger Guillotine or the Ninja Finger Slicer. I think the modern ones have some kind of guard on the blade to save future fingers, but ours sure didn't!

Mom loved it, even when it bit her . . .

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It really is a great device! There's a spiky holder thing that you stick into veges which protects fingers but it's not very secure on large items so I go halfway through then use the holder.

I have no idea what I did this time. I've had it for ages without a mishap.

[kernezelda]

Holy crap, you cut off the top of your finger??? Jeez, I've been away from LJ too long. But only a bandage, gee, you're a tough little cookie. Very glad you're all right and didn't have any damage from the cyclone.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

No, I almost cut it off, about halfway. I stuck it back and held it tight with a paper towel till the bleeding stopped, then put a tight band-aid on it. It got a much better clean and dressing on Saturday and I went back today (Monday) to have it changed and they said it would be healed in about 10 days and it was very good I'd stuck it together as it would have been much longer if I'd lost the top as some people do.

It's a bastard taking showers with a surgical glove taped around the wrist. Last time I got a tiny fold and some water got in but didn't reach the finger. It's a worry though as it has to stay dry. But they're pleased with how it's going.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Good to hear the things (both the storm and your finger) had been dealt with. Also I liked your chat with the nurse.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

She was wonderful. I was sad she wasn't there today. The one who changed the dressing was very nice but nowhere near as careful and meticulous - or as fun to talk to.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I like that nurse
Hope your finger is better

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

She wasn't there yesterday, sadly. The one I saw much much more slapdash, at least in comparison.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Hope your finger's much better by now. We got to see Dr Blake over here last year, and it was fun.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

There's a new series running now! I like it a lot. The only jarring note is them doing "bloods' instead of blood tests; I thought that was pretty recent. (You may know.) I also can't help but notice that almost all the women have dark, usually curly hair. I've only seen two blond minor female characters and one major. That must be deliberate, but why?

My finger will apparently take 2 weeks to heal. I'm getting a new dressing every second day, but I think I'll be able to put my own on next week.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Hopefully we'll get the second series later in the year. 'Bloods' didn't strike me as odd, but maybe I put it down to a non-UK issue (I'll have to look at something like Dr Kildare or the original Dr Finlay for comparison).

No idea about how they chose female characters, but now you've mentioned that I'll have to look!