Three days ago, (Sunday 3rd July,) I spent just over seven hours in the accident and emergency department of our local hospital after suffering a very nasty fall.
It was just before 1 am on Sunday morning when Emiko brought my attention to a large moth which had settled on one of her flower arrangements in our dining room. Not wanting to harm it I carefully caught it and ran to the front door to release it outside. In my haste and in the dark, I tripped over the door step and found myself hurtling to the ground where I hit my head violently on the stone flags outside the door. I felt my head crack and immediately blood gushed from the top of my head like a fountain, cascading over my face.
The blood flow was profuse and frightening. Emiko rushed to my aide helping me to get up off the ground and brought kitchen towels to apply to the wound but the blood kept flowing, soaking towel after towel and refused to stop. A 999 call was made to summon an ambulance and I was told to apply a wet towel to the wound and to press down hard on it until the ambulance could get to me. A 40 minute wait was what we were told to expect but the ambulance turned up after 30 minutes.
The crew checked my blood pressure and heart rate with a portable monitor. The right side of my upper lip had swollen up and my teeth at that side hurt as a result of bruising to my gums. I had badly grazed my right forearm and elbow and sprained my right wrist. The little finger on my right hand also hurt and I had grazes to my right thigh and knee.
The ambulance crew said that I needed to go to the hospital’s A+E department but that I should be prepared for a wait of several hours. Emiko asked if she could come with me but they said no, so I walked shakily to the ambulance, still clutching a wet towel to my head.
As the ambulance drove to the hospital, various details were logged onto the computer by one of the crew. Soon, the ambulance arrived at the hospital and I was taken into the reception of the A+E department and told to sit with other patients awaiting treatment.
After a couple of hours I decided to ask at the reception desk how much longer I would have to wait to see a doctor. They told me that it probably would be another six hours. I said that my wound was still bleeding so they called a nurse who taped a gauze pad to the top of my head.
Time dragged on. More casualties of different kinds arrived and sat in the waiting area, mostly young people who looked the worse for wear after a Saturday night of substance abuse or fighting.
Eventually, some hours later, a doctor called my name and I followed him to his consultation room. He was a very pleasant, youngish guy who carefully inspected my wounds and put me through various tests to assess any brain injuries. He then told me that he would try to pull the head wound together with a special ‘glue’ but needed a second opinion. He left the room and returned with a lady who examined my head wound and said that there was not enough loose skin to pull the sides of the wound together but suggested trying to seal it with ‘steri-strips.’
The doctor then went to get these strips, cut them to size and carefully stuck them to the top of my head, apologising for the pain I experienced while he did so. A gauze pad was then taped on top of this before he said that I was free to go. I ’phoned Emiko who drove to the hospital to pick me up and take me home.
It was around 20 past 8 am when I walked through the door where I had fallen just before 1 am. There was dried blood on the stone paving slab, on the carpet in the hall and on the dining room and kitchen floor. I was tired and suffering from the after shock of the whole thing.
Next day, Emi changed the gauze pad on the top of my head for a clean one. There was still some bleeding going on but nowhere as much as when it first happened. The pad has been changed every day.
I now have a GP appointment on Friday for the wound to be checked. My lip is still a little swollen and eating is somewhat painful because of the soreness in my teeth but I’ve been told that this will subside in time. I’ve had some mild headaches and bursts of pain from the would but have taken Paracetamol as instructed by the doctor. My wrist has almost recovered. I’m not allowed to wash my hair though so it is still matted with dried blood. The experience was a shock to me and thinking of it now brings a shiver, but I suppose it could have been worse.
It certainly came at a bad time as I was supposed to be doing an interview with Mojo magazine tomorrow but it will have to be postponed until my GP checks the healing process and gives me the all clear.
I haven’t been able to work in my studio since the accident, having been told to rest and avoid stress. Four days without touching a guitar is not like me at all. But I have a great deal of material ‘in the can’, even more than that noted in my previous journal entry, so it’s not like I need to record at the moment.
There's much more I’d like to comment on, particularly the debacle surrounding Boris ‘Greasy Pig’ Johnson who is such a pathetic cretin, but all that will have to wait until next time. I’m going back to the sofa to watch tv and take more Paracetamol.
