erm where do I begin??? l At the beginning??

I went down to Portsmouth in the end for a relatively quiet new years eve (well that was the plan!!). As youd expect every pub was jam packed so i settled in one where i had a view so i could easily see the fireworks for midnight.

Being a non drinker, i still occasionally went up to the bar for my diet cokes!! Unfortunately on one occassion i leaned on a piece of broken glass in water and swung arm across the bar while bored waiting to be served only to suddenly notice the sharp pain as i dragged the piece of glass - nice!! and always the pain is too late to stop the inevitable.

What appeared to be a minor gash in the dim lighting was quickly dispatched with a dressing from the bars first aid kit and i promptly carried on the evening, seeing in the new year prior to making a swift departure for a snack then bed.

All thus far so good until i noticed a small spot of blood coming throught the dressing. Duly getting my car first aid kit i decided to change the dressing before bed so hopefully all would be nicely scabbed over by the morning. Thus far all is good, until i change the dressing!!!! Now the cut must have been a lot deeper than i first thought and removing the bandage must have disturbed a damaged vessel or a blood clot as the wound started to bleed profusely!!!

Ok no problem!! simple first aid, lots of dressings and lots of pressureand sure enough soon enough the bleeding will stop, right?? WRONG!!!! Ok so by this point i whack a first field dressing on it (large wound pad for big injuries - like getting shot!) and jump in the car to go to A+E to get it sorted.

In the ten minute drive id filled the dressing which had by now spilled blood all over my leg and torso due to arm movement driving - doh!!! Oh well all is not lost just a "minor" clean up in the morning and a prewash and all clothing should be fine. On arrival its 0230 in the morning and A+E is jam packed with mostly drunks with various fight, trip, fall injuries and even some people under arrest in handcuffs awaiting treatment (somebody had fun!).

The sister comes out and puts on another bandage for me so that while i wait for my turn i dont drip on the floor!!! after about 2 hours of waiting and a questioning session i finally get seen to to have my wound dressed. Luckily by then it had mostly stopped bleeding and after some special clotting bandage pad thing was used they sterri-strip me arm, bandage me up and send me on my way.

All seems good so far! a minor inconvenience and a late night but i can sleep in so it doesnt matter!! So eventually i crawl into bed about 5am looking forward to some well needed sleep!

Then i wake up around 0830 ish feeling rather strange and i felt a strange running water sensation down side of my chest. It clicked to me in my sleepy state that my bandage must be leaking slightly and that was a small drip that had run down my side, so i sit up and turn my light on to be greeted by this horror:



after the initial shock subsides and some initial emergency first aid to prevent me covering the floor in blood (Big Bandage AKA bath towel!!) i quickly dress and clear the bedding into the bath noticing how literally i was laying in a pool of blood that had soaked throught the two blankets under the sheet and into the mattress!!!

Off to A+E again!!!!

This time its a little quieter!! but still its a good hour until i can be seen. Unfortunately my trusting Bath towel reaches its limits without me noticeing (still half asleep!!!) and a slight tip of my arm dumps a load of blood on the floor!! WHOOPS the nurses are going to really love me NOT!!

A nurse comes out quickly to add a huge absorbant sheet to my arm and the pool of blood and they say they will try and get me in soonish. A few minutes later the nurse returns to clean the mess up. I stand up so she can work and over the next minute or so I start to feel reaalllly wierd, cold, sweating and floating round the room before muttering some gibberish ( i actually said im feeling ill but it came out gibberish!!) and falling in a heap on the floor!!

Obviously i was oblivious to the commotion this cuased for a minute or so until i felt ok again. I then got told off for trying to get up again and was wheeled off in a rickety wheelchair straight into A+E. One way to get past the que i guess!!!! After a few initial checks of BP and pulse etc to make sure i was ok they then proceeded to sort my arm out for the second time that day!!!!

By this stage i could sit up on the bed but standing was definite no no!! After cleaning away the obvious mess the doctor plainly announced sounding annoyed that there was no way it should have had sterri strips as the bleeding would just make them come apart and how it should have been stitched in the first place!!!

3 stitches later all bleeding has stopped and im bandaged up except i cant even sit up easily without feeling faint again. Oh dear. so the doc discusses with his trainee doctor how they could do a drip or a couple of cups of tea!!! This was to my surprise having not heard of a cup of tea as being a regular medicine!!!! But sure enough two giant mugs of tea later and they are happy with my obs and let me loose!! Its now 1130 and ive got a huge bandage on my arm with strict instructions to keep it dry for removal of stitches in 7-10 days! Great now i need a plastic bag on me arm in the shower!!!

So i return to base to the joy of cleanng up a huge mess, washing my clothes AGAIN!!!! prior to getting a some more kip.

I certainly wont forget this new year for many years to come!!!!