HOUSEHOLD DANGERS

Last week my husband had been watching TV at the kitchen table. He stood up for some reason, lost his balance, hitting his head on the table. Then he fell backwards, missed the chair, fell to the floor and the chair toppled over on top of him. In a cartoon that might have been amusing, but not in real life.

He ended up with a hematoma the size of a baseball on his head, broken ring finger on his right hand, and a badly lacerated pinky. Since he is on blood thinners, the kitchen floor quickly became covered in blood. I was trying to apply pressure to his wounds, mopping up the floor, and arguing with my husband on the necessity of calling 911. He didn't need no friggin' rescue squad.

What the heck is it with men and their tough guy routine? I was on the verge of hysteria and he wanted me to just help him walk to the bedroom. The big guy wasn't walking anywhere under his own power. It took three EMTs to get him on the gurney. After two hours in the ER, X-rays, CAT scans, and stitches he was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. I was instructed to watch out for any signs of concussion and told to change his bandages daily. His hand stopped bleeding after eighteen hours. The hematoma on his head seems to be emptying down around his eyes, the right side of his face, and his neck. Not sure what this means, but we will see the doctor tomorrow. We were told that some of this would happen, but whether it is excessive or not I do not know.