Current Events > I just discovered a hole in my belly

(+) Yeah! (+)

Dammit, not again! Back story time

A couple weeks back I was killing some trash at work and some of it poked me in the stomach since it was sharp enough to draw blood I put a small band aid on it when I got home, the next day the area became a red bump and eventually started feeling painful to touch so 2 weeks later the red has gone but the bump was still there and oozing pus, today as I go to change the bandage again most of the pus wasn't there anymore but some blood came out and I saw a big hole where the bus and blood used to be.

Dammit, I don't have money for the antibiotics, work won't let me take more time off to go to the emergency room so they can give me some and lately I've been feeling weak, tired and having trouble breathing when exerting myself.

Why did this have to happen now of all times? I won't have another opportunity until next Tuesday I hope it doesn't get worse by then. I hate having a weak immune system, one little poke and now holey belly, it reminds me of a while back where the same thing happened to my leg, one scratch and a big ass hole in my leg. At this rate my body could become swiss cheese by the time I'm 50 if I even manage to live that long.

Not cleaning out a trash wound and it getting infected is rather unsurprising.

god bless the american healthcare system.

usa
usa
us- *dies on the job*

Your life matters more than your job and what they want to allow you to do. And while I can't know your exact circumstances and how much trouble it would cause , none of it matters anyway if you're dead.

Go to the doctor

mercurydude posted...

Your life matters more than your job

NOT IN THE USA, BABYYYY!!!

I have a hole in my butt thats pretty dirty.

jesus christ it sounds like you're infected with flesh eating bacteria

the longer you put off treatment, the worst it's going to get, and this sounds life threatening

go to a doctor, get antibiotics, hell ask ce to crowdfund if money's an issue

tremain07 posted...

Dammit, I don't have money for the antibiotics, work won't let me take more time off to go to the emergency room so they can give me some and lately I've been feeling weak, tired and having trouble breathing when exerting myself.

This is a work comp claim. Go to the doctor, they know how to process this and you shouldn't be paying out of pocket.

Seek immediate medical attention. You won't be able to figure anything out if this takes you out.

Going to hospital

TheOtherMike posted...

This is a work comp claim. Go to the doctor, they know how to process this and you shouldn't be paying out of pocket.

This

good luck, and hopefully it's one of those things that seems messed up, but has a simple treatment

I have no idea what your insurance is like. I have solid insurance through my work and if it were me rather than spending $100 to go to the emergency room Id go to urgent care which cost the same as a normal doctor visit for me. You still get seen right away without any appointment and it only cost me $15 like a regular office visit.

Not to mention this happened on the job and should be covered by workmans comp.

Yeah you needed to tell work about this when you first got injured on the job and if not right then at least when it became obvious you got an infection. This is a workman's comp claim.

Get a Workers comp Lawyer TOMORROW!

That sounds awful. You might be required to pack and dress that hole by yourself later TC. If so do not neglect this packing & dressing process, otherwise your wound won't heal properly on the inside.

I don't know what kind of garbage it was, but I wouldn't put this off. This could easily turn into a dangerous or even deadly complication.

Well I'm back, I have a cellulitis infection and this hole is an abscess, they aren't rare but people who naturally have weaker immunity systems and or are immunocompromised are more likely to get them I'm not in any danger life wise. My body is going to be rather fatigued only fighting off the infection for at least a week or longer without antibiotics but I can get them next week. As for work, that's a conversation for tomorrow the doctor said I just have to make sure I never touch the area physically, apply ointment directly on the whole and cover it with gauze and a bandaid, change daily and it should be gone in a matter of weeks.

Apparently it's not from the trash but rather my own skin, getting poked there gave the natural crap on my body a way to get inside my bloodstream and that led to infection, I am annoyed.

Better be annoyed than contorting in pain unsure of it's deadly or not.

true

tremain07 posted...

Apparently it's not from the trash but rather my own skin,

Yep. This is why they say don't shave in the shower. The water running down your skin is like an expressway for bacteria.

Do you not know the basics of first aid? Disinfect dry and cover. You can use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean most small wounds and both are very cheap.

UnicornRaline posted...

Do you not know the basics of first aid? Disinfect dry and cover. You can use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean most small wounds and both are very cheap.

Band aids have disinfectant already applied on the bandage part. It doesn't always work though.

UnicornRaline posted...

You can use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean most small wounds and both are very cheap.

You can use alcohol but not hydrogen peroxide. Please don't.
https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/health-library/all/2023/04/should-you-use-hydrogen-peroxide-clean-wound

Yeah, you assume it's bubbling and it's just killing everything in there and getting rid of all those germs in your wound. Well, the problem with hydrogen peroxide, it may be killing the germs, but it's also killing the healthy tissue in there too. So that's the biggest challenge with it is we think that we are sterilizing the wound and getting rid of all the bad stuff, but we're also then killing the good tissue in there as well, and that can then cause a larger wound than we would have had otherwise.

tremain07 posted...

As for work, that's a conversation for tomorrow the doctor said I just have to make sure I never touch the area physically, apply ointment directly on the whole and cover it with gauze and a bandaid, change daily and it should be gone in a matter of weeks.

Good to hear that TC

tremain07 posted...

I don't have money for the antibiotics,

but you have money for the hospital???

pupeye posted...

but you have money for the hospital???

I thought the visit would be more expensive but it was just 10 dollars, the antibodtics are 7 dollars I over worried myself.

thisworld posted...

You can use alcohol but not hydrogen peroxide. Please don't.

Yeah, I recently had a pharmacist friend give a visible "hnnng" reaction when I mentioned using hydrogen peroxide on a wound, and she said basically the same thing: Please don't.

Mizznox posted...

Yeah, I recently had a pharmacist friend give a visible "hnnng" reaction when I mentioned using hydrogen peroxide on a wound, and she said basically the same thing: Please don't.

This is the first time I'm hearing this about hydrogen peroxide. So if you're not supposed to use it on wounds, what should it be used for then?

VideoboysaysCube posted...

This is the first time I'm hearing this about hydrogen peroxide. So if you're not supposed to use it on wounds, what should it be used for then?

I use it to clean the mold that accumulates in my shower over time. I'll use bleach on my shower, then the next day there's black mold coming out of the drain, spray that shit with hydrogen peroxide and it's all dead in a matter of minutes. Give the shower a good rinse and it's like brand new again.

This is absolutely a work comp situation if ever I've seen one. I mean, christ.

tremain07 posted...

at work

If it happened at work, then it is their responsibility.

Sounds like the doctor is full of shit tbh. Id get a second opinion asap

I've used H2O2 for years on small cuts and such. The thing is to not leave it on/in the wound. That's why i said to disinfect it then dry it before bandaging. You need to make sure you don't leave anything in there at all, no moisture and no dirt particles or anything. Makes for smoother and cleaner healing.

I have no marks, scars, etc on me from using it.

Edit: Plus the information about it potentially damaging skin is only approx 3 years old from what i could find in a quick google. I've been using it for quite a bit longer than that with, once again, no drawbacks.

Of course my own personal experience is not going to be all the information needed, and with more recent information stating to not use it, probably best to follow that and just stick to rubbing alcohol.

Came in expecting it to be a joke about having a belly button, but damn that sucks, TC.

are you in the US? because pretty sure its not very legal to not let you go to the hospital for an on-the-job injury that you need to go to the hospital for. at least it goes against OSHA stuff or whatever