First Time for Everything...Even Stitches

This has been a tiring weekend for Nathan and I...mostly having fun with family and friends...except for late Saturday night. That we spent in the ER. 

I plate broke after dinner and a piece flew just the right direction to slice my pinky...pretty deep. All I could think (probably because blood doesn't have an effect on me and because it really didn't hurt all that bad - probably because I was in shock) was "gee, I made it almost 4 years of marriage without breaking a plate! Must be a world record." I was all ready to just bandage it up and get back to dishes so I could eat dessert (after all, I had purposely not stuffed my face at dinner so I could do so with the delicious Serbian dessert that Marija made), but my brother convinced me that I would need stitches. 

Got to the ER around 10:45. Waited the next 3 hrs to be seen by the doctor before I finally got told I needed stitches (I'd been waiting for so long that I would have been supremely disappointed if I didn't need them). I also found out I needed a tetanus shot (if you can't remember, just make up a date rather than giving them the "I don't have a clue" stare to their "when was your last tetanus shot?" question - then you won't have to get it). Those things HURT. Not so much when you get them, but my arm has been hurting ever since. They numbed me up to prepare me for the stitches and cleaned out the cut. Really exciting, right? Finally we got to the actual stitching part. Turns out I wasn't really numb. Oh, the tip of my finger and the finger next to the finger that was cut were numb, but not the part of my finger where they were actually doing the work. I felt the whole thing. I'm quite proud of myself. I didn't cry or really even wince. I'm such a tough guy! The Dr. called me Rambo after I'd told him I felt everything. Whatever that means. By the way, I don't think I mentioned that this whole ordeal was for a cut that required only 3 stitches. Pretty intense, huh?

We finally left the ER at 2:30. When we got home, I immediately stuffed my face with dessert - by this time I figured I had earned it. 

All that said, my brothers think my wound is pretty stinkin' awesome, and maybe rightly deserved after years of tormenting them.  The only good thing I can think of when it comes to having stitches, is that it gets you out of doing dishes...at least when there aren't dish gloves available...otherwise, no dice.