OK, so today started off really well - we got up, had breakfast and opened our presents (everyone was very happy with everything they got). My Dad called (finally) and we spoke to my Mom on Skype. Then we went for a walk with pug-pug. Our next door neighbors had cut back our palm tree out front, which is fine, because it was planted in a silly position and although it's on "our land" it hangs over their driveway. They'd left the huge palm leaves on our side though, so hubby went to get rid of those. Well, he came back in with a huge splinter in his arm, near his elbow. In the process of trying to break them up a bit to put them in the trash, something somehow splintered off and got stuck in his arm. It looks like a BB gun pellet under his skin, and the entry wound was tiny! He tried to get it out himself but without any success, so at 1.30pm we went off to the ER. The number one concern was infection, and also the splinter itself is causing him pain. Well, we were there a few hours and one of the doctors gave him a local anesthetic, sliced his arm and attempted to retrieve the foreign body but to no avail. Damn! He said he was worried that it might end up in the elbow joint, which would obviously cause more problems. They dressed it and gave us the number of an orthopedic clinic to call on Monday. The hope is that they will be able to get the damn thing out when they try, otherwise he will probably have to be put under and we're really not keen on that idea if it's at all avoidable. Better still would be if the splinter works its own way out in the next couple of days - that'd be the best outcome.
So, hubby has a 10 day supply of antibiotics and some painkillers, and we need to change the dressing twice a day. What a way to spend Christmas, eh?!
I had to leave the room while the doctor was digging around in hubby's arm, I was able to stomach it for a while and then it just became too much and I left, as I felt as though I would either vomit or pass out. Hubby himself was quite happy to watch the whole thing - I think that made me feel worse! What a wuss I must be!
By the time we got back from the hospital it was after 5pm and we'd already called hubby's brother to let him know Christmas dinner was cancelled. We would have started cooking at around 2.30pm but obviously that didn't work out. So I'll cook our turkey and all the trimmings tomorrow, instead. Brother-in-law won't be able to make it because he's working, so now it'll just be the two of us and pug-pug. I have to say, I'm really worried about the prospect of hubby having to have proper surgery to get this thing out, I really hope it doesn't come to that. I feel so helpless in all of this - I couldn't even drive him to the hospital, seeing as I don't have a license. I'm really sad that he's hurting. The fact that it pretty much ruined Christmas is crappy, but not the main thing. We'll have Christmas dinner tomorrow, and Christmas is only another day after all. It just sucks that this whole thing happened at all.
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