Monday, January 05, 2015

looks much worse than it is

On Saturday night, I was the victim of a freak knitting accident. Well, I wasn't actually knitting at the time, I was pulling a circular knitting needle out of a basket and the end sprung loose and hit me in the eye.

It stung like crazy when it happened but the pain soon went away. There was a little bit of blood but that stopped quickly, too. I called Telehealth, which was very reassuring but ignored their advice to go to Emergency. After consulting Dr. Google, I decided that there is no treatment and the wound will heal with time. And if the biggest risk is infection, I was not going to the ER to sit with a bunch of sick people for hours, only to be told I didn't really need to be there.


 

I saw my GP today, who reassured me that all will be well. My vision is fine, the wound is healing and I'm basically "very lucky". I could just as easily have poked the iris, which would have been a whole different story. She said emphatically that I made the right call re the ER and added "You have no idea how many people are sick right now. In fact, get out of here. And sanitize your hands on the way out. You don't know who was in here before you."

I posted the above photo on Facebook and much hilarity ensued. There were multiple references to "extreme knitting". One friend said, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. I would like to watch you knit. It must be quite the workout." And the best: "Can't you take up a less dangerous hobby? Bungee jumping or cliff diving maybe?"


3 comments:

tccomments2013 said...

dear laurie,

I am so sorry your eye was hurt; anything that even sounds like something that could damage an eyes is scary. so glad you decided not to go to the ER, but sought out you doctor and got reassurance that all will be well. but, ouff - it looks like it would really hurt!

much love,

Karen OXO

Emily said...

You were lucky. I saw a photo of an x-ray of a dog posted on Facebook -- it had a knitting needle inside it that it had become impaled on. All the way in! Horrific.... I'm thinking all you knitters may need to find a new and safer hobby. :-) Glad you're okay.

Jim's Girl said...

Glad to hear you're healing. By the way, does Telehealth ever say anything but "go to the ER?" ~ Kate, of Kate Has Cancer