so there i am, minding my own business

[trof]

standing in my kitchen last evening, refilling my plastic soda siphon bottle. done it a hundred times before. just as i get the co2 cartridge plugged in to make club soda out of tap water KERBLOOEYPOW!

the sound of the blast brought miz t. running from the other end of the house. that plus me screaming 'HELP' at the top of my lungs. cupping both hands to try and keep the blood off of the floor till i could make it to the sink.

like most wounds, once the blood was washed off it didn't look near as bad. still...there was a half-inch square flap of skin blown back on the fleshy part of my palm, half way between the base of my little finger and my wrist. right hand, natch. i'm right handed. still bleeding pretty good. i mashed the flap back down, grabbed a paper towel and held my hand up in the air, over my head. the bleeding subsided. probably be ok.

miz t. said 'bs, you call tish', our doctor friend. i described the wound to her and she said 'stitches. you get to the er posthaste.' it was around 7 p.m. by then. got home from the er at midnight with 7 stitches in my palm.

it's always something

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Hope they soaked it in betadine

if not...get some and do it and KEEP IT CLEAN!

[trof]

6. kind of reddsh-orange stuff?

they numbed it up and really flushed it out with saline. at some point there was reddish-orange fluid too. i think i was still in a bit of shock then.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. yep...it's almost brown....iodine is nature's natural antibiotic :)

[Wickerman]

2. Wow

glad it caught you in the hand, can't tell from your description but you might have put yer eye out!

7 stitches - yow!

[nini]

3. OUUWIEEEEE

doesn't sound like much fun... feel better!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. You may go after the cartridge manufacturer.

If these things are improperly made it could be a huge, widespread risk.

[trof]

5. not sure what to do.

i've used siphons for years, but the others were either all metal, or heavy glass with kind of a chain mail covering. This is the first plastic one i've had. got it in april.
i e-mailed my attorney son-in-law and he said 'sue everybody'. i think he was kidding.

i sent the company where i bought it an e-mail describing what happened with a picture of my hand. pretty ugly. haven't heard anything back yet. the manufacturer is leland, but i can't find them on the web.

[Maddy McCall]

7. OMG! Are you ok???

That's horrible! I hope you are feeling ok. :hug:

[trof]

8. well, i ain't dead.

hand is sore, and ugly as hell. just took the bandage off to let it air out a bit. miz t. saw it and almost tossed her breakfast.
as you can see, it hampers my typing a bit.

your namesake died. so sad. i liked her.

[Maddy McCall]

10. You take care of that hand! Keep plenty of neosporin on it...

and, yes, the news about Julia was very sad. :(