So I’m lucky… Wednesday night my brother and I went out biking from 11 – 4am. We first checked out the new skate park that is at the forks – it’s actually pretty awsome. We spent most of the night there actually – usually when we go out, we are biking all around the city until the birds start chirping.
To effectivly do tricks one must have speed. If you don’t have confidence, if you falter or want to slow down just to be safe – you will crash. It’s been soo long since I had a bike (I used to do this stuff all the time in my teens) that I forgot this key principle. I also forgot my helmet – which does effect my confdence as well. I’m not stupid – I do like to protect my most valuable assets. Anyways – so I was being, careful.
Flying around and around the pattio area, jumping down stairs, up and down ramps, etc. Then I came to this massive ‘hump’ which goes up about 5 feet and then down again. I started going for it, then slowed down as I realized how high it was…..started sliding backwards – went to hop off the bike and failed as it was too late to do a good bail. I also didn’t have the chain on the top gear in the front – so the largest gear chewed my calf.
I immediatly thought – hrm – that might need stitches. The two gashes were about 1.5 cm in length, and .3 cm wide at the widest part. However, it didnt really hurt that much so I just kept on biking – noting to change the front gear.
Got home, disinfected and dressed the wound. It was pretty deep, but I’ve been injured plenty – and my body always heals itself with minimal intervention. My buddy Ryan came over later the next day and asked if I had got stitches for it, or a tetanus shot or something. I asked why I would get a tetanus shot and he said anytime you get cut by dirty metal you should get one. Hrm….
So the next day I researched tetanus. It’s actually a myth that metal or rusty metal contributes to it. It actually lives in the soil, and feces. The reason that people think it’s rust is because the most common way to get it is from a rusty nail. Here – there are two reasons you would get it.
1. Rusy nails are often found on the ground, and have been there a long time (hence the rust) which gives the tetanus bacterium a chance to grow on it.
2. A Nail wound is a ‘closed’ wound. This provides a great place for the bacteria to live, and makes disinfection / cleaning troublesome.
However, in reading more about tetanus, and the effects (neuro-toxin that seizes your muscles) and how it can take weeks to cure, I decided that a little prevention won’t hurt.
I call my family doctor. Note that this is now over 24 hours after the accident. She can’t see me for a week and a half. Shit. What good is a family doctor if you can’t use it? So I go to my secret walkin clinic (Where I never wait to see the doctor – I literally walk-in…there should be more of these) and see Dr. Mike. Dr. Mike is an interesting character – he’s very crass, and forward. I like that in a doctor. I tell him about my accident, when it was, etc.
“That’s shit – that’s absolute shit! You are so stupid – that needed stitches….now you’re screwed.”
(opens up the wound, starts cleaning it.
“Hrmm…let me see what I can do. Maybe paper stitches will help”
“This could take weeks to heal – stitches and you would be done in a week. Now we don’t know what will happen”
“there we go. come back on Saturday so I can look at it”
“when?”
“first thing in the morning, 10, I usually come in to do some paper work”
There we are. You can see why I like him. He’s acted in several Canadian movies as well. Cool.
I come back Saturday, today, 10am. There’s a bunch of people in the office waiting to see him. However after 1 or 2 people I get in. He looks at the wound –
“looks good – no reddness or anything. You’re lucky you’re a good healer….come out back here I’ll get you a bandaid”
So we go to the back
“I really didn’t expect there to be so many people coming in today…how am I going to do my paperwork?”
I said “heh – if it were me I would have seen all the people and ran in the other direction”
“heh, yeah no kidding, sorry to rush you but..”
“yeah no problem. LAter”
And that was that. The wound does actually look pretty good.
But, I once again have rambled on endlessly. Later.
