If you dont know it already, I had a small run-in with the Pilot House door on Saturday Morning.
Dont ask me what we did on Friday, I cant remember!...back to the emergency...
Waz and I were sitting and eating our breakfast and could see a rather large sportfisher boat coming down the canal towards us. She was moving at speed, and this was making me mad! We suffer the ignorance and testosterone of boat drivers who forget that the marina is a 5 mph zone, and they zoom past us on the plane very often, leaving a huge wake for us to rock and roll over each time.
We both decided to exit the boat via the pilot house door, being the closest, to flag her down to reduce the wake. All the boats moored along the canal suffer the same fate..and it damages all of our boats.
The pilot house door (PHD) is very heavy and I would normally open it with my left hand on the handle and right hand supporting the door to push it out then slide it back alongside the boat.
Why didnt I do that this time? who knows!!I just didnt.
In the process of standing right side on to the door and pushing the handle with my RIGHT hand, I sliced the top of my right index finger almost off by catching it between the striker plate and the boat.
I knew immediately what I had done, and told Waz that this was a 'hospital visit', lets get going!
We staunched the flow of blood as best we could with thick paper towels, and though I threatened to faint a number of times, Waz went off to the office to borrow the marina vehicle...the Ford truck...which is like driving a tank.
I wasnt fit to drive, so he was designated driver...something he hasnt done a lot of in the USA to date, but did just fine.
He came back to the boat to print up instructions on how to get to the Hospital ER. That done, we climbed aboard the truck ( you almost need a step ladder to get into it!) and were under way...it was only 9.45am!
When you cut a toe or finger, the nerves play havoc, and I think that hurt more than anything else.
We made it to the ER where Waz left me and sought a parking space in the Hospital garage...the roof space in the garage was only 6ft 2 or something...so the truck was a tight squeeze.
ER was not fairly empty and they processed me very quickly. ..because I was going to faint on them, I supposed.
The male nurse who processed me was very jolly and went about his work with a great sense of humour and got things done swiftly. My blood pressure was 112/67 (or close) which was amazing, considering how stressed I felt. All vitals were excellent:)
They put me in a room...and we waited. The Female Doctor was very efficient and got the info she needed before handing me off to the X-ray people and putting me in another room, covering me with lovely warm blankets...I was VERY cold...shock, probably.
An assessment was made after the x-rays showed I had trimmed the top of the bone along with most of the top of the finger.
The Dr said she had wanted to be a general surgeon, but after doing an ER section in her training, had decided she liked ER better. She also said that it was great to have something different to do..meaning my injury. They are very accustomed to dealing with knife and gunshot wounds...NOLA being the crime capital of the USA.
The nurse irrigated the finger and cleaned what she could without pushing on the wound. The Dr came in and stuck me with finger block, which was probably more painful that then finger at that stage. She told us she was a perfectionist, which was heartening...but we didnt expect her to tie 4 knots per stitch, lol....
She did most of the job with a thinner thread, then said she needed a thicker one to go through the fingernail. That, she had ascertained, was the best way to go as there was little else she had to stitch with, on the finger. It looks a bit scary, but what the heck...I had sliced through the nail bed. This will not have a pretty outcome, but who cares? At least I will have the end of my finger!
She has to sew through the fingernail to keep everything together.
We had some lunch after all the stitching was done. A cafeteria hamburger never tasted so good!!...and drove back to the marina arriving at 4.30pm.
I would love to say that is the end of it all, however...
I went into the office at the Marina to see if I could pay for some gas for the truck, which told us the tank was low. They refused the offer. While I was inside, Waz had been accosted by a fellow who I had seen sitting out front. He accused Waz of not thinking of anyone but himself when borrowing the vehicle for such a long time..did we have a choice?...and that he had served his country and we had a fancy boat around the corner and could afford to find alternate transport, while his boat cost him only $1,000 and he didnt have much money etc . This fellow had just seen me go into the office..and I had greeted him with a smile...with my finger all wrapped up. He must have been sitting there for hours stewing and getting more and more pissed off.
We asked the staff about this and apologised for our monopoly of the vehicle...they said not to apologise, they had given their permission for us to use it for the purpose, and there was no call for this person to get so upset. We didnt recognize the man, and we couldnt describe him sufficiently for them, so we hope that is the last of it. the vehicle is also used by the staff, so it is never a given that it will be available for use. We had no other choice as this was an emergency. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth when someone does that though.
It is now monday morning...the last couple of nights have been very broken sleep..painkillers being the object of discovery each time I got up in the night. Today we will rest.
I will tell you all about the Wooden Boat fest in the next blog.
Ciao for now.
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