Thursday, June 29, 2006

a funny thing happened on the way to PT

So I ride my motorcycle to physical therapy. Physical therapy is located in the Wilce Student Health center. Think of it as a clinic serving the medical needs of OSU students. It's tucked away in an alley, so I figure I can park my bike wherever. I pull into the alley, and then begin to turn around. What I didn't notice, however, is that part of the street nearest an opposing building had an incredibly warped section.So I turned hard, bounced on the brick, hit the brake (to keep from smashing into the building) and promptly fell over (to my left). No big deal, as I was going roughly 5 mph. I fell over with the bike, cut up my leg a little, and scratched up the underside of my right leg...or so I thought.
I pulled the bike up, parked it, and walked into the health center. I looked at the back of my leg and thought "that looks pretty scratched up, but no big deal." Then I thought, "hmmmm...that actually burns a little bit." the adrenaline begins to leave my bloodstream and I realize that I didn't scratch my leg, I burned the ever living crap out of it. My leg must have fallen against the engine.
So the check in lady sees me looking at my leg and says "are you o.k.?" I say "Um...I think I need a little help." So she points me into the appointment nurse office wherein I say "Wassup. (or something to that effect) I need some first aid. Do you guys have a kit around here?"
The lady looks at me and says "You need to see a doctor before I can give you first aid. Let me see if there's an appointment."
At this point my leg is starting to heat up. Stay cool, I think.
Luckily my usual doctor, Doctor Colgate (who kicks major ass) was avaiable.
"have a seat in the waiting room" says she.
"my leg hurts" says I.
"he'll be with you shortly."

So I sit...and wait...and now my leg feels like someone is rubbing out cigarettes on it. My hands start to shake and I start to sweat. A nurse calls my name. salvation. she brings me in back.
"step on the scale" says she.
"my leg really hurts" says I.
"185 pounds" says she.
She brings me to her desk, sits me down and asks "What seems to be the problem?"
I look at her. I look at the blistering flesh on the back of my leg. I look at her.
"Um...the second degree burns on the back of my leg?"
"O.k. what would you rank your pain on a scale of 1 to 10"
"Um...it's hard to say. Let me show you. Do you have a cigarette?"
Takes my temperature.
"96.5..."
"Yeah, that could be because I'm going into shock because of the second degree-"
"Please have a seat in the waiting room and the doctor will see you shortly."


so I wait.
pain. much pain.


Dr. Colgate (who is my hero) brings me into his office.
"Hey, Peter."
"Hi, Dr. Colgate."
"What's the problem?"
I show him the back of my leg.
"Oh, goodness, hop up on the table." He calls in a nurse.
me: "My leg hurts."
Dr. C:"it looks like you have first and second degree burns here."
me: "yeah, and I weigh 185 pounds. I should really stop eating at McDonalds."

long story short, they clean me up, bandage my leg and send me off.
it feels better with the bandage, but it still hurts. the bike is fine, though the sideview is now loose. ah well.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

great narration. hey, does your leg hurt?

Natalie said...

Does that come in fuschia?

Anonymous said...

Dude! Thats terrible! Sorry to hear about it, but it was funny as all get out to read! And now you and your Alice have a story to tell- a *kapOW!* story.

btw- thanks for the talks, duder.

ciao bello!

-poc

Anonymous said...

a couple days ago i skinned my shin on the car. it hurt a little bit but i forgot about maybe 10 minutes later, but i feel i can empathize. i also had a sliver in my finger when we were planting some shrubs. slivers can really smart.

Jessica said...

Andy got to your blog before me and insisted on reading this one out loud to me...you know how he loves to tell/read a story :). Of course, as I was wincing in sympathetic pain, he was cracking up...hope it heals soon!

Anonymous said...

I feel like I have been wrongfully portrayed by my lovely wife.

I wasn't "cracking up"...mostly. I was trying to capture the wry wit with which the narrative had been constructed--and if the well-crafted tale elicited a smile, then so be it.

Besides, if I did happen to chuckle, my laughter was at least as sympathetic as her wincing!

(On a less egocentric note, I hope you're feeling better--or well soon!)