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advances in medicine
So what happens when you are in a hurry and you neglect to properly close your very, very sharp Felco pruners and then, in a fit of whimsy, tuck a fourteen pound dog under one arm while you're carrying the pruners, a half dozen freshly cut flowers, and an empty yoghurt container in the other hand?
Yes, that is what happens. The pruners decide to go to work on your flesh. You drop the dog and everything else while blood spurts.
It really wasn't as bad as it looked at first glance. Fingers bleed a lot. Lots of blood vessels. Those big drops of blood that led from the front garden into the kitchen? Nothing to worry about. Three hours later, looking into a trash can filled with bloody paper towels? Still no need to go overboard. People are way too read to rush off to the emergency room these days. My father, who cut himself on knives in the restaurant kitchen on a regular basis, would scoff. Scoff, I say, at the paltry nature of this ... minor inconvenience.
And see, it did stop bleeding. Finally, it stopped bleeding, and when I got up in the middle of the night there was no lake of blood. No soaked sheets. A bandaid doesn't hold very much blood, you know. It's no big deal to have to change a bandaid.
Fast forward to a conversation with my doctor, who I happen to like a lot. We talk about books and kids and all kinds of stuff. It's perfectly natural for me to stick my finger in her face and say, hey! Would a butterfly bandage work on this? And, do you happen to have one lying around?
Did she get upset? No. She looked at my finger calmly. She turned on another light to look at it some more. Did she yell at me about going to the emergency room? Speak of dire consequences, blood poisoning, necrotizing fasciitis? No. She whipped a tiny tube of Super Glue out of her pocket, grabbed my finger, and glued it shut.
Okay, so first she asked me how I had cleaned it out. But even as she was asking, the tiny glistening drop of Super Glue was hanging over my rent flesh.
And it worked. I can type, I can cook, I can do anything I need to do. No blood, no pain. In fact, it took google less than a second to assure me that it wasn't only my good doctor who is using Super Glue to close wounds. Apparently (hold on tight, girls) midwives are using it to close tears in the perineum.
Someplace, somehow, I've got to fit this into a storyline.
June 12, 2005 12:30 PM
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Comments
"Bonds skin instantly!"
Actually, I believe Superglue was originally developed as a surgical adhesive, and the other uses are appropriations....
Posted by: elizabeth bear at June 12, 2005 03:13 PM
Hi! I've used super glue instead of stitches, in fact, I keep krazy glue in my camping gear, just in case something not so great happens. I've not been reading your blog very long, but was directed here by a fellow writer who mentioned how helpful your observations on writing sex are. I need to go pick up one of your books! Thanks for your help and I'm very glad your writing didgets weren't permanently damaged!
Posted by: Kelley Cathcart at June 12, 2005 04:04 PM
Thanks for the info! You learn something new everyday I guess! I'm going to buy a Super Glue for the medicine cabinet.
Posted by: Josie at June 12, 2005 08:09 PM
Please dont fit superglue into one of your stories....
Kidding.....do what you want
cynthia in florida
Posted by: Cynthia at June 13, 2005 10:45 AM
Hey, beat you to it -- in "The Cliff," Crichton used cyanoacrylate on that nasty cut on Aeryn's arm (although we did omit mentioning the UT brand name [g])
Posted by: robynbender at June 13, 2005 05:24 PM
Auckland Zoo has been known to use superglue on an injured tuatara with great results.
There is definitely a veterinary version.
Posted by: Alison at June 13, 2005 06:07 PM
I found that retelling of your accident a little distressing. (bit fragile at the moment). Hope you are OK.
Posted by: Jacqui at June 13, 2005 07:11 PM