Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Disclaimer/Justification/Defensive Posture: I am a whiner when it comes to pain. If you are injured, GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. No telling folks “it’s just a flesh wound.” Heroics are not needed. No one’s going to pin a medal on you for being a dum-dum about seeing a doctor. Mmmm…kay?

I certainly don’t recommend that everyone take care of their health solely at home. But I do want to elucidate further about why I didn’t go to the hospital for my second degree burn. It wasn’t about the money. I don’t think it was ‘cheaper’ to do it this way in the big picture. Not at all. Just more convenient and in that case, if time is money, then perhaps I’ve saved, but I think of that as an intangible good to which I am assigning a false/perceived value that may not exist.

First, what is a second degree burn? It’s a blistering burn. No blackening of the skin. (EDIT: On further thought, I think I might have a third-degree burn and I wonder if I should still go to see a doctor.)

I got one on my arm while cooking on Thanksgiving. It’s kind of large, bigger than a 50 cent piece. I’ve had a burn this large before from a motorcycle exhaust pipe. (The guy didn’t tip the bike far enough for me to get down easily because his Ducati was damned heavy. Thank God I didn’t wear hose to my cousin’s wedding that day. I rode on the back of her old roommate’s bike. It was amazing going through the winding streets of the Presidio SF back into the Castro. But I digress.) That particular burn has healed completely and I can barely see a faint outline for it.

I contemplated going to the doctor after the blister popped and I noticed there was a tiny bit of bleeding. The motorcycle burn never had broken skin. All I did for that burn was put on Aquaphor and fresh bandages daily. The trouble with broken skin is that’s where germs and stuff enter. I thought maybe I should see a doctor to make sure my turkey burn didn’t get an infection, and because it hurt a lot more than I thought it should have. Perhaps my calves don’t have as many nerves as my arm does, hence the pain. I wasn’t sure. I also thought of smearing on some Neosporin/triple antibiotic cream, but I wasn’t sure if I had to layer the Aquaphor on top of it to keep the wound moist. It was getting complicated in my head and annoying to do everything with my left hand when I’m not a lefty.

I couldn’t remember which doctor I saw the last time I went to see a GP. So in my laziness, I continued to tend to the burn and there isn’t anymore blood. The wound is very very pink, but closed and healing. I think it’s going to be ugly for a while. I do try to air it out daily to let it breathe, but mostly I’m smearing on the Aquaphor. Honestly, my biggest challenge is the adhesives on the tape I’m using. Even the Micropore is hurting my inner forearm skin. It’s red and angry at me. Moving the bandage around a bit helps, but not really.

Oh well. I’ve never been told I have sexy elbows, so I don’t mind the resulting scar. It’s fine. At this point, I doubt there is much a doctor can do to tell me to treat my arm any different than I’ve done already.