…And Then I Fainted

The dinner Michael and I were making last night was not photographed. It was about 7:30. I made us salads (I’d even picked up mushrooms for Michael like a good girlfriend 🙂 ) and Michael was boiling water for the spinach ravioli when it happened. I was standing at the sink cleaning up the knives. This sucker is the one that cut me:

A serrated, sharp Global cheese knife.

The pain was instant. I dropped the knife in the sink and asked Michael for help. He grabbed a paper towel to hopefully stop the bleeding. It was really deep. The blood was gushing out. I started to feel dizzy–like the world was slowly enveloping me in black. Michael was asking me if I was okay. I felt like I was going to throw up. I leaned on the kitchen counter trying to get rid of the creeping blackness and decided to sit down on the kitchen floor.

I was feeling really OFF…I asked Michael to help me to the bedroom to lay down for a few minutes. I remember him scolding me for not letting him help me up from the floor, and I remember slowly walking down the dark hallway with his help. Then I don’t remember anything else.

I woke up groggy, staring at the ceiling and just like in the movies Michael’s voice was very far away. He was saying “Lisa! I’m calling 9-1-1.”

“What?” I think I asked why but I’m not sure.

Michael grabbed a pillow from the couch for my head. I realized I was laying on the hallway floor.

Michael says my eyes rolled back and my legs just gave out. He caught me and eased me down to the floor. I guess my leg folded under me in a wonky direction.

I told Michael he didn’t need to call 9-1-1. I laid there trying to get my bearings. I felt hot, clammy and I was dripping in sweat. It was really gross. I asked Michael to help me sit up. I sat up, leaning against the wall. He got me a glass of water and two pieces of Halloween candy in case my blood sugar had dropped and that was why I fainted. I felt so nauseated I didn’t want to eat anything but I ate one piece of the Snickers.

Michael asked me what my birthday was, what day of the week it was…I was confused as to why he was asking me those things, but I knew the answers. He asked what I last remembered and I guess I lost about 10 seconds of memory pre-fainting. He thinks I was out for about 10 seconds or so.

Michael said we needed to go to Urgent Care. I wasn’t really in the mindset to argue. The bleeding hadn’t stopped yet and Michael wrapped it in gauze and taped it. We drove to the complete opposite side of town to go to my Urgent Care. The wait was very, very long.

We got checked in and the nurses asked what happened. Michael told them and when he mentioned that he had caught me and guided me to the floor, all four nurses swooned and awwwed. 🙂 Michael was the hero last night! Michael definitely made their night!

The nurses asked if we ate dinner and we said no, that I’d cut myself right before. So they gave me Saltines and Apple Juice.

I slowly munched on the saltines and sipped the apple juice.

The wait was long. I wasn’t feeling well. I ate the other piece of candy. Finally, my name was called. They took my blood pressure, oxygen level and temperature.

The doctor came in. He was clearly Army. Michael referred to him as “Dr. Chuckles.” He was nice and very funny, made jokes the whole time. He told Michael that he should be in charge of knife cleaning from now on. He took the bandage off and opened the wound again to see how it was doing. That HURT!

He said I didn’t need stitches, that the magical burn cream we used will work best. He had the nurse put some more on and wrap it up. Dr. Chuckles went off to see if I needed a tetanus shot.

Dr. Chuckles said that fainting was a natural basal reaction. I explained that I wasn’t queasy at the sight of blood, I’d never fainted before, and I’ve accidentally cut myself many times without incident. He said it was a natural reaction. Okay…

It was about 10pm at this time. We left and Michael said we were going through a drive-thru for dinner since neither of us was cooking that late.

Taco Bell it is!

The salads I made were still on the counter when we got home. I ate my salad and my Taco Bell bean and cheese burrito.

Michael had to open my hot sauce packets. Kinda hard to do when you can’t use one of your opposable thumbs. 🙁

It was a rough night. Not exactly how I wanted to start the weekend!

QUESTION: Have you ever fainted?